{"id":46513,"date":"2025-11-10T14:08:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/46513\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T14:08:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T14:08:23","slug":"a-new-solution-for-the-drunchies-fried-chicken-vending-machines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/46513\/","title":{"rendered":"A new solution for the drunchies: Fried-chicken vending machines"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 2 a.m, the music fades, and the overhead fluorescent lights flip on at the bar. Suddenly you\u2019re terribly aware of your rumbling stomach and the tequila sodas you\u2019ve been throwing back all night. Is there a hot-dog cart nearby? Do you have time to run to the halal food truck down the street before it closes?<\/p>\n

If Syed Saquib has his way, you won\u2019t even need to leave the bar to satisfy your case of the drunchies. Instead, you\u2019ll just grab a bucket of crispy chicken nuggets from a vending machine conveniently located at your favorite watering hole.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ABrd Bot\u2019s co-founder and CEO Syed Saquib. | Source: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/p>\n

Saquib is CEO of Brd Bot, a San Francisco startup that builds robotic kiosks that dispense buckets of deep-fried chicken in three minutes. The kiosk operates like a typical vending machine: You tap the screen to place your order, pay $6.99, and \u2014 after a mere 180 seconds \u2014 a crispy eight-piece bucket of boneless nuggets emerges from behind an automated sliding door. Saquib\u2019s machines can be found at Rick & Roxy\u2019s and Jaxson in Cow Hollow, Rotator Taproom in Walnut Creek, and Guildhouse in San Jose.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The chicken won\u2019t reach the quality level of your favorite soul-food joint, nor is the seasoning mindblowing. In fact, it probably has more in common with Costco-style boneless bites than restaurant fried chicken. But it is hot, crispy, and ready to eat \u2014 arguably the most important qualities in a meal when alcohol-induced hunger hits. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love fried food,\u201d Saquib says. \u201cIt\u2019s been something that\u2019s been a huge part of my life. I have South Asian heritage, and fried food is a big part of our culture.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"AAn order of freshly fried boneless friend chicken from the Brd Bot vending machine. | Source: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard\"AThe vending machine produces a bucket of fried chicken in just three minutes. | Source: Morgan Ellis\/The Standard<\/p>\n

The vending machine has a freezer that holds flash-frozen, pre-cooked chicken, which is dropped into temperature-controlled oil and fried until crispy. While this process takes place inside\u00a0 the machine, out of view, Saquib assures skeptics that it\u2019s safe.<\/p>\n

Each machine sends regular reports to Saquib and his partners about freezer, oil, and food temperatures. Vending partners refill and maintain the machines, which are equipped with a Class K fire extinguisher\u00a0 in case of an oil fire inside the unmanned machine. \u201cIn the worst-case scenario, we have that safety procedure in place,\u201d Saquib said.<\/p>\n

He was inspired to launch Brd Bot during the fried-chicken-sandwich craze of 2019, when a viral Twitter debate led to a sandwich being listed on eBay for $7,000 (opens in new tab)<\/a> and a fatal stabbing (opens in new tab)<\/a>. But after trying a few of the most popular and readily available fried-chicken sandwiches for himself, he was dissatisfied.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHalf the time I\u2019d go [to a fast food restaurant], but what I\u2019d get back is like this soggy piece of shit,\u201d Saquib said. \u201cPart of that is because fast food can\u2019t anticipate demand. They make a bunch of chicken, and then they sit it under a heat lamp, so by the time you get it, it\u2019s no longer crispy. So I thought, what if we could deep-fry it on the spot every single time, and make it to where it\u2019s fresh and crispy when you get it, so people genuinely enjoy it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Saquib was drawn to the idea of a vending machine after recognizing Americans\u2019 bottomless appetite for fast, convenient fried chicken. Researchers estimate that by 2033 (opens in new tab)<\/a>, the fried-chicken restaurant industry will be worth $65.8 billion, led by giants like Chick-fil-A, which last year (opens in new tab)<\/a> brought in more than $22 billion and opened some 2,000 (opens in new tab)<\/a> locations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a UC Berkeley graduate with a background in business, computer science, and electrical engineering, Saquib knew he needed partners with mechanical and software expertise. That\u2019s how he connected with his cofounder, Ninaad Sridharan. Together, they created Brd Bot\u2019s first prototype in 2023. Later, they brought on software expert Nidhin Madhu. The trio has secured funding from Neo, a San Francisco venture capital firm and mentoring community, and Mass Robotics, a Boston-based nonprofit.<\/p>\n

The machines carry only one item \u2014 a red cardboard bucket of chicken nuggets \u2014 but Saquib hopes to improve them so they can sell fries, mozzarella balls, and desserts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople always crave novelty, so we want the option to be able to switch stuff around,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s 2 a.m, the music fades, and the overhead fluorescent lights flip on at the bar. Suddenly you\u2019re…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[8697,15231,5397,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-46513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-bars","tag-cow-hollow","tag-fast-food","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}