San Mateo has a new Korean barbecue and seafood restaurant helmed by celebrated Korean barbecue Chef Han Sungil. But it’s the robot chefs at this restaurant that take center stage.
OLHSO, a Korean barbecue restaurant brand, made headlines when it debuted a mobile robot kitchen. The mobile operation specializes in serving its KBBQ hot and fresh to customers on the go using robots.
The brand held a grand opening May 1 for its first brick-and-mortar location in downtown San Mateo, set to operate as its flagship. Here, though, the kitchen isn’t fully automated, and people do work in the kitchen to prepare the food, according to cofounder Jay Shin. The restaurant hosts two concepts in one: Korean barbecue and seafood hot pot, and visitors have to decide before they take a seat which option they’re choosing, since the cooking equipment installed at those tables differs, he says.
Company cofounder Jay Shin opens the side door of the OLHSO Korean BBQ & Seafood Truck in Foster City, Calif., on Friday, July 26, 2024. This is a new meal delivery service model in which the food is fully cooked autonomously by a computer while providing the customer hot fresh cooked meals in a timely manner. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)
He and cofounder Kish Shin (no relation) established their company in Seoul about five years ago, working for about three years to develop the necessary technology, and another couple of years to commercialize the product, Jay Shin says. Their research and development operations are based in Korea, while the rest takes place from a Redwood City location, he says.
Their robots are able to, from the time an order comes in, take out the ingredients from a specialized refrigerator, put them into a cooking device, stir-fry the ingredients according to an algorithm’s parameters, and place the food into a bowl for the consumer, he says. “Every meal is prepared hot and fresh.”
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They’re also in the process of creating a 24/7 fully-automated microrestaurant, a concept Shin says airports are particularly interested in.
Details: Open 5-9:30 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday at 236 S B St, San Mateo; olhsohouse.com.
