Robot, AI to help Happy Joe’s make modern memories

A waitress serves customers in this photo with the help of a Servi robot. Happy Joe’s in Bettendorf successfully tested a robot restaurant staff member named Happy 2.0. CREDIT BEAR ROBOTICS

The half-century-old Happy Joe’s brand is preparing to make “magical memories” in some very modern ways thanks to a robot named Happy 2.0 and an AI-driven pizza ordering system that could go live as soon as this week.

Happy 2.0 Happy Joe's Bettendorf
Happy 2.0 stands ready to serve during a recent successful trial run at a Bettendorf Happy Joe’s. CREDIT BEAR ROBOTICS

Fittingly, a pair of Quad Cities Happy Joe’s locations served as testing grounds for the entry into artificial intelligence and robotics by the iconic American pizza parlor chain that got its start here. 

Happy Joe’s 2430 Spruce Hills Drive, Bettendorf, location launched the chain’s first robot. A product of Bear Robotics and dubbed Happy 2.0, this high-tech addition opened to rave reviews from staff, management and guests, particularly children, company leaders said. 

The Bettendorf location along with the Happy Joe’s at 201 W. 50th St., Davenport, also rolled out the brand’s partnership with Voicify, an over-the-phone AI ordering process. 

In its successful test run, Voicify has been answering telephone lines and responding to questions. Happy Joe’s CEO and Chief Happiness Officer Tom Sacco told the QCBJ late last month that after a successful start he anticipates the Voicify system will become an ordering option; maybe as early as this week.

Why this big leap into technology by a family-centric brand committed to “making magical memories?” 

Happy Joe’s leaders — including Mr. Sacco, Director of Marketing Josh Spiller and Director of Public Relations Kristel Whitty-Ersan — are quick to stress that these high-tech additions aren’t about slashing staff or services. 

“No, robots are not taking people’s jobs. It just allows us to create more moments with the customer,” Mr. Spiller said. “It wasn’t because of staffing challenges. It wasn’t because we were short staffed. It was just Happy Joe’s way of staying with the times and going where we feel our history is headed.”

He added: “We’re a brand that has been around for over 50 years and we‘re always looking at ways that we can optimize and make the family experience more magical for our customers and so we felt that this was the way that we can try to ensure that those magical moments keep happening for the future to come.”  

History of innovation

Few know the history of this brand that launched Nov. 16, 1972, in the Village of East Davenport as well as Ms. Whitty-Ersan, daughter of the late founder Lawrence Joseph ‘Happy Joe’ Whitty. She thinks the man who made Taco Pizza famous would have been a Happy 2.0 fan. “I think he would get a kick out of it but he probably would want to put a hat on it or dress it up, knowing Joe,” Ms. Whitty-Ersan quipped. 

“He liked new ideas. He liked inventing new experiences for how to enjoy restaurants,” she added. “It wasn’t just a restaurant. It was making a memory with your family and your friends and it wasn’t just going out to eat. I think all of that are the things we’re trying to preserve and build upon for a happy experience that builds positive memories for generations to come.”

That also has been Mr. Sacco’s mission since he joined Happy Joe’s. Indeed, he said, it was the generational memories created at Happy Joe’s that lured him out of retirement to lead the brand’s expansion and growth.

Technology is another way to get there and Mr. Sacco said he first learned about this pair of innovations at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March.

He was invited to serve on a panel focused on new pizza industry products. He was intrigued by fellow panelist John Ha’s Bear Robotics’ Servi robots as well as the Voicify AI ordering system. 

“I came back pretty fired up by it in a real positive way, not because I’m looking at it from the perspective of how do we cut labor, but more so from the fact that we’re all about creating magical memories and I thought the Bear Robotics would be very, very cool for children to see,” Mr. Sacco said.

“We could use it to make our front of the house employees’ jobs a little bit more family friendly, meaning that the little robots can carry the dirty dishes back and forth to the kitchen and bring the pizzas and stuff out to the dining room, so the server staff can stay out talking to guests, refilling beverages, answering questions or whatever it would take to keep the service at the highest level possible,” he added. “We thought, why not try it.”

Happy to multiply in 2025

Mr. Spiller credited a group of children at a Happy Joe’s birthday party with providing the robot’s name. After one of them said, “Look, Mom, it’s Happy 2.0,” the staff quickly said “That’s it,” Mr. Spiller said.

The robot is easily programmable. It can sing “Happy Birthday,” play a special song (for example, the recently requested Star Wars theme), favorite tunes or jingles. It easily navigates the floor, sensing when anyone or anything is too near and does a variety of tasks that free time for servers and cashiers.

As for Happy 2.0’s impact, Mr. Spiller said, “The reaction so far in the restaurant has been great. We’ve heard that consumers and customers love that it enhances their overall dining experience.”

He shared this note from a grateful mom: “I came in with two upset children and as soon as they saw Happy 2.0, their faces lit up with excitement. They immediately rushed over to the robot and wondered how it worked. It seemed to settle them. Thank you!”

With Happy 2.0’s successful test run behind it, Mr. Sacco is preparing to make robots available to any franchisees who want one. But he’s waiting to roll them out company wide until Bear Robotics’ next generation of Servi robots are ready to go.

This Bear Robotics Servi robot named Happy 2.0, used a downloaded diagram of Happy Joe’s in Bettendorf, as well as multiple cameras to navigate the busy restaurant.

“Then in the first quarter of 2025 my intention is to bring it back in and try it in all the company stores,” Mr. Sacco said. “Then if it works out as well as it did just in Bettendorf we’re not going to force it on anybody, but we’re going to make it available to anyone who wants to do it.” 

He anticipates some older franchisees will not. And, he added, robots probably would offer little benefit for drive-through-only locations in places such as Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Servi robots are available for purchase or monthly lease, Mr. Sacco said. “It’s not that expensive, particularly if you look at it as a way to improve productivity of the staff that you have.”

One of the industry’s biggest complaints is the time that servers are forced away from providing customer service to bus tables and repeatedly circle around to the kitchen to see if a customer’s pizza is done. “They’re leaving the dining area, where now this little character can deliver the pizza or take a bus tub back and it keeps the human staff person that we have in the dining room doing what they‘re supposed to be doing, which is trying to enhance the guests’ visit with us,” Mr. Sacco added.

Voicify advantages

Voicify ordering is coming online for many of the same reasons. Mr. Spiller said, “It allows our employees to spend more time crafting the perfect pizza and then also crafting and creating the most memorable experiences. That’s really the reason behind the transition.”

The AI innovation is a product of Slang.ai and includes automated speech recognition, natural language understanding and text to speech processing. 

“It can handle complex orders and we can change it within real time,” Mr. Spiller added. “So if we get complaints or something’s wrong or we need to add words to it, we can change right then and there in real time and it’s updated in the blink of an eye.”

Happy 2.0 is ready to bus tables during its recent introduction at Happy Joe’s 2430 Spruce Hills Drive, Bettendorf, location. PHOTOS BY BEAR ROBOTICS

Importantly, too, AI can help ensure Happy Joe’s never misses a call. With Voicify, Mr. Sacco said, “nobody has to get a busy signal.”

Customers checking out also will no longer have to wait while the cashier scrambles during busy Fridays and Saturdays to take phone orders.

“We can allow it to accurately upsale, and it can review orders and transaction details,” Mr. Spiller said. “It can even bring up your loyalty information all within the system. It’s very tech savvy integration and we’re super-excited to kind of help us streamline the process of over-the-phone ordering with our team.”

Ms. Whitty-Ersan has sampled the service, which currently features a pleasant female voice. “I think it’s working pretty well,” she said. “I called the other day and, you know, kind of forgot for a minute that we had it and I was, ‘Oh, this is nice.’”

It’s also good for customers who order the same thing every time. Happy Joe’s leaders also stressed that customers can easily bypass Voicify. “Some people like to chat,” Ms. Whitty-Ersan said. “They want to hear, ‘what do you like?’ or ‘what do you think’s good?’ Other people are like, ‘let’s get the job done’.”

She also understands that some guests will be taken aback by the robot at work, or to discover that AI is answering the phones. But she said she doesn’t want anyone to worry that “Oh, they’re going to take away that human connection.” 

Ms. Whitty-Ersan added “We are very grateful to our guests and we’re grateful to new people that give us a try. We wouldn’t be here without them.

“And they give us all kinds of feedback on what they think and we appreciate that. That was part of the reason we were testing the robot to see what the guests have to say about it. We can think everything we want, but the guest is the boss.”   

Bear Robotics At-A-Glance 

Founded in 2017 by CEO John Ha, it introduced its first innovation “Penny.”

In 2018, CEO Ha delivered the keynote on “The Future of Restaurants” before the National Restaurant Association.

In 2019, Bear Robotics was selected Kitchen Innovations Award winner on the 100th anniversary of the National Restaurant Association.

In 2020, Bear Robotics and SoftBank Robotics rolled out Servi, its first mass production restaurant model.

Its Servi robots have been deployed in hospitality, health care, retail, logistics and multi-story real estate venues in North America, Europe and Asia. 

Find more information at: www.BearRobotics.ai

SOURCE: Bear Robotics

 

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