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<\/p>\nOn her smartphone map, she watched the tiny dot scurrying toward her Fort Lauderdale address in real time. Then her phone buzzed with an alert: \u201cYour food delivery robot is here!\u201d<\/p>\n
Karla Joan Nelson-Thatcher raced downstairs to the sidewalk outside her Veneto Las Olas apartment and found, waiting near the front steps, what resembled a 3-foot-tall picnic basket\u00a0on wheels with glowing Pac-Man eyes.<\/p>\n
It chirped, as did her phone: She scanned a QR code, the top lid unlocked and she grabbed the prize inside: a still-steaming order of dumplings from nearby\u00a0Temple Street Eatery.<\/p>\n
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Gretchen Day-Bryant\/South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/p>\n
An Uber Eats-branded branded food delivery robot from Serve Robotics makes its way down the sidewalk on Northeast First Street in downtown Fort Lauderdale, as seen on Dec. 27, 2025. (Gretchen Day-Bryant\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was delivered at the perfect temperature,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was easy-peasy. I checked the box for the little robot to make delivery, and they even refunded my tip.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meet Fort Lauderdale\u2019s newest restaurant food couriers: automated self-driving robots. Since December, you\u2019ve seen them rolling over train tracks near U.S. Highway 1 and Sunrise Boulevard, roaming Flagler Village and rolling down Las Olas Boulevard, winking their digital eyes at passersby, and bearing names like Gretchen, Phyllis, Julio and Gaspard.<\/p>\n
There are just 10 in Fort Lauderdale so far, with plans to widen the artificial-intelligence-powered fleet in coming months, and some are already testing deliveries in pockets of Wilton Manors and Dania Beach, says Ali Kashani, CEO of California-based Serve Robotics, which builds the bassinet-sized carriers and partners with Uber Eats for deliveries.<\/p>\n
Why Fort Lauderdale first? \u201cIt\u2019s the population density,\u201d Kashani says. \u201cWe need lots of residents living close by and infrastructure for robots to get around on sidewalks. Uber also has a big presence there already.\u201d<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in Broward County, robots already made their debut at Nova Southeastern University in Davie last April, where slightly shorter versions \u2014 picture chest coolers on six wheels \u2014 use Grubhub to pick up and drop off Chick-fil-A and Starbucks exclusively to hungry students and faculty. These sleek, stout bots waive orange antennae flags but never leave the sprawling 314-acre campus, says Zubair Hossain, customer success manager for California-based Starship Technologies, which makes the bots.<\/p>\n
But Fort Lauderdale, by contrast, marks the first Broward city to welcome the autonomous invasion on public streets and sidewalks \u2014 sometimes with disastrous results. At times, these automated robots have been captured on camera looking like lost, doe-eyed puppies, especially when they\u2019re trapped behind bus stops, ramps and pillars, or stand blank-faced at crosswalks, or get into staring contests with trash cans, or drive in glitchy figure-eights on the sidewalk like timid teenagers taking driving tests.<\/p>\n
SoFlo TikTok feeds are littered with examples of bizarre robot snafus: Just last month, video caught a Brightline train demolishing one. In another clip, a cute, pink-colored bot with heart-shaped eyes blocked car traffic in the Brickell area<\/a>, including an ambulance rushing to an emergency. A possibly disgruntled customer tried to pick up one Serve Robotics robot and pitch it into the Miami\u00a0River<\/a> in December, but settled for kicking it when that failed. (Social media is also littered with random encounters<\/a> of robots tipping themselves over<\/a>.)<\/p>\n When robot bullying goes viral on TikTok, it creates bias and ignores how useful robots can be, Kashani argues.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are definitely times when folks aren\u2019t a big fan and react a certain way,\u201d Kashani says. \u201cBut they\u2019re reliable. They complete 99.8% of all deliveries. And they make the roads less congested, so what goes viral doesn\u2019t represent what\u2019s happening out there day to day.\u201d<\/p>\n Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/p>\n Mike Alkurdi, resident district manager at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, puts an autonomous robot back on track after it got stuck while delivering food on campus on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n Viral videos of error-prone robots don\u2019t exactly inspire confidence, some local restaurants say, especially when they interfere with business. Adam Shidlofsky, co-owner of Mitch\u2019s Downtown Bagels in Flagler Village, says a Serve bot showed up at his business in December \u201ccompletely out of the blue, without asking permission.\u201d He used it anyway, because the order came from delivery partner Uber Eats.<\/p>\n \u201cWe put someone\u2019s order in the [robot] once and it rolled away, and then its wheels got stuck on the curb,\u201d Shidlofsky says. \u201cI\u2019m like, this food my team works hard to prepare is getting rocked back and forth. We don\u2019t get to control who picks it up, which is why we prefer humans. I don\u2019t want to be a guinea pig for a glitchy robot.\u201d<\/p>\n Serve Robotics, for its part, admits wires do get crossed, and some of the 3,500 restaurants using Uber Eats delivery aren\u2019t informed in advance. \u201cUber or Serve do communicate the enablement of robot deliveries to merchants, but there is a possibility that certain team members of a merchant are unaware of this program,\u201d Serve spokesperson If customers are unsatisfied with robot deliveries, they have avenues to fix the issue, according to Uber Eats: \u201cIf an autonomous order goes wrong, the customer can contact Uber Eats support directly in the app, like they would for any other order.\u201d<\/p>\n For skeptics who say restaurants handing prepared meals to robots is risky \u2014 given that their reputations are tied to how well the meals travel, food temperature and timeliness \u2014 human drivers are just as prone to mess-ups, argues Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Steve Glassman.<\/p>\n \u201cHuman drivers get bogged down in traffic all the time, delaying the order,\u201d says Glassman, adding that he hasn\u2019t heard robot complaints yet from Flagler Village\u2019s urban professionals living in his district. \u201cI don\u2019t mind us being on the cutting-edge of technology now. At least with robots on sidewalks, it\u2019s removing more cars from the roads.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, at least, customers and curious commenters remain as skeptical as the restaurants. In the \u201cLet\u2019s Eat, South Florida\u201d Facebook group run by the Sun Sentinel, reactions swing widely from bullish to post-apocalyptic<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen enough \u2018Terminator,\u2019 \u2018Matrix\u2019 and \u2018I, Robot\u2019 to know where this is going,\u201d resident Stephanie Kesten Barber quipped<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cStop replacing people\u2019s jobs with robots,\u201d poster Christina Marie added<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve seen them and I\u2019m happy they are helping out,\u201d another commenter, Shari Howard, wrote<\/a>. \u201cDeliveries are hard to make downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n Like it or not, the robot revolution is here, so get used to them sharing Fort Lauderdale\u2019s sidewalks. We asked hospitality experts, restaurant owners, customers and city officials these 10 questions, and here are their answers.<\/p>\n Q: Can customers choose robot delivery over a human driver?<\/p>\n A: Short answer: Yes and no, and it depends on where you live within a delivery radius, says Ali Kashani, CEO of Serve Robotics.<\/p>\n For now, that radius spans Dania Beach north to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and west to Wilton Manors, according to Uber Eats. Customers can toggle between robot or human delivery in the app, but even then a robot isn\u2019t guaranteed, especially if they\u2019re all in use or down for maintenance.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you pick one of the restaurants supporting robot delivery, then Uber Eats will decide if a robot is available and assign that robot to you,\u201d Kashani says. \u201cYou\u2019d get notification right away that your order is coming via robot, and you track it in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: What security measures do the robots have in place to stop thefts?<\/p>\n A: When robots perceive animosity or tampering from humans, they freeze up, says Marc Crocquet, Nova Southeastern University\u2019s vice president of business services.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s an immobilization,\u201d he says. \u201cAn alarm goes off, and then the robot connects to a contact center where a live person can see the situation and monitor.\u201d<\/p>\n Robot lids are kept locked unless a QR code is scanned or a code is entered by the person who ordered, Kashani adds.<\/p>\n At NSU, robots are aided by on-campus security and surveillance \u201ccameras all over campus\u201d to protect students, Crocquet says.<\/p>\n Rod Hagwood \/ South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/p>\n An automated food-delivery robot named Julio waits on the corner of Southeast Sixth Street and Andrews Avenue in downtown Fort Lauderdale. (Rod Stafford Hagwood\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n Q: Can you tip a robot?<\/p>\n A: You can\u2019t monetarily tip a robot \u2014 yet, Kashani says. For now, tipping is waived on Uber Eats for robot delivery, an incentive so customers pick automated delivery over a human driver.<\/p>\n Q: Gretchen? Phyllis? What\u2019s with the robot names? <\/p>\n A: Simply put, nicknames humanize robots, Kashani says, especially if one \u201cneeds assistance on the street and needs to be identified.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s basically AI with a physical body,\u201d he explains. \u201cAI controls how it behaves, how it navigates among people, and part of that is being predictable. So they try to respect other people\u2019s personal space and match their movement speed to humans nearby.\u201d<\/p>\n Gretchen Day-Bryant\/South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/p>\n An Uber Eats-branded food delivery robot named Gretchen makes its way down the sidewalk on Northeast First Street in downtown Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 27, 2025. (Gretchen Day-Bryant\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n Most robo-monikers come from the real names of aunts, uncles, siblings and pets of Serve Robotics employees, he adds, although users can contact the company directly to suggest names, too.<\/p>\n Q: How far can robots deliver food and drink from a restaurant? <\/p>\n A: About a mile away, according to Kashani and Uber Eats say, but up to 2 miles if needed, with the average food delivery taking 18 minutes.<\/p>\n Delivery robots are \u201cpretty well-insulated to keep my food warm,\u201d says Diego Ng, owner of Temple Street Eatery in Fort Lauderdale. \u201cWhich is good because if something happens to it, people don\u2019t blame the robots, they blame the restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n But a mile or two is as far as he\u2019s willing to allow. Any farther and \u201cI will cancel the order,\u201d he says. \u201cI see the robot drives slowly and it stays on driveways, sidewalks, crosswalks, so it can\u2019t handle big distances.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: Will robot delivery take jobs away from human drivers?<\/p>\n A: Yes, if you ask Andrew Moreo, assistant professor of hospitality management\u00a0at Florida International University.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of the gig economy workers are going to lose out on their deliveries,\u201d Moreo says. \u201cRobots don\u2019t make a wage, so it puts downward pressure on the gig workers.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to fear change, but robots will only make deliveries quicker, argues Peter Ricci, Florida Atlantic University\u2019s director of hospitality and tourism management.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they\u2019re faster and safer than human drivers, as a consumer, why wouldn\u2019t I want to use them?\u201d Ricci says. \u201cIf it\u2019s saving that operator money and enhancing the experience, why not?\u201d<\/p>\n Still, robot delivery only works well in dense urban cities, not suburbs, says Anil Bilgihan, an FAU professor of marketing and hospitality management.<\/p>\n \u201cIt will take a lot of these last-mile delivery issues and solve them,\u201d Bilgihan says. \u201cBecause the robots have a short battery life, it won\u2019t replace human drivers for longer distances like in Pembroke Pines or Weston.\u201d<\/p>\n Amy Beth Bennett \/ South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/p>\n Pedestrians pass robot delivery vehicles staged along on Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. (Amy Beth Bennett\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n Q: Where\u2019d all these robots come from, anyway?<\/p>\n A: Companies like Serve Robotics, Coco Robotics, Starship Technologies, Pinkbot and Wing are leading South Florida\u2019s autonomous invasion. Before that, delivery robots first rolled out into tech hubs like Silicon Valley and San Francisco post-pandemic before making their debut in downtown Miami and South Beach, Bilgihan says.<\/p>\n So far, restaurants have been slow to adopt them. Only 5% of national restaurants use drones or \u201cautonomous vehicle delivery,\u201d according to 2025 National Restaurant Association 2025 National Restaurant Association data<\/a>, but 74% say using technology will help human labor instead of replacing it.<\/p>\n Q: What\u2019s with the robots getting stuck on roads and sidewalks and \u201cglitching\u201d out?<\/p>\n A: If a robot glitches out mid-delivery, Kashani says a human being remotely takes over from a Serve command center and manually completes the robot\u2019s intended destination using controls.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team can remotely log in and kind of help it out,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if that doesn\u2019t work, there are pedestrians nearby who can go assist the robot.\u201d<\/p>\n Robots won\u2019t glitch out forever, adds FAU\u2019s Ricci.<\/p>\n \u201cAI constantly adapts,\u201d he says. \u201cIn the future, when palm fronds fall in front of it, or a dog crosses the street, or FPL trucks are fixing power lines, robot AI will learn to find different routes.\u201d<\/p>\n Q: Where will we see autonomous delivery robots showing up next?\u00a0<\/p>\n A: Uber Eats, Starship Technologies and Serve Robotics declined to say, although there are plans to roll out more robots in Fort Lauderdale soon, Kashani says.<\/p>\n CORRECTION:\u00a0This story has been updated to correct the delivery provider at Nova Southeastern University in Davie and one of its food retailers. They utilize the Grubhub app for orders from Chick-fil-A and Starbucks.<\/p>\n Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel<\/p>\n Food delivery robots are part of the scene on the Nova Southeastern University campus in Davie. (Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n \t\t\t![\"Mike](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771623147_676_Tfl-l-automated-food-robots.jpg\")
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Malory Van Guilder said.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771623147_599_Tfl-l-automated-food-robots-1-020726.jpg\")
A balloon salesman passes robot delivery vehicles stationed along Wilton Drive in Wilton Manors. (Amy Beth Bennett\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)<\/p>\n![\"Nova](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771623148_96_Tfl-l-automated-food-robots1.jpg\")
Nova Southeastern University freshman Christel Salazar picks up her food delivery from an autonomous robot on campus in Davie. (Carline Jean\/South Florida Sun Sentinel)
\nQ&A: Most-asked questions about food delivery robots<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771623148_731_tfl-l-food-delivery-bots-04.jpg\")
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