Robot News

Food delivery robots are rolling into downtown Dallas

Avride robot

Avride

Self-driving robots are rolling out in Dallas: Launched by a company called Avride, they'll roll through the sidewalks of downtown Dallas carrying small food deliveries.

Avride, which has been creating self-driving vehicles and robots since 2017, formed a partnership with Uber in October 2024 to expand food delivery with both its sidewalk robots and autonomous robotaxis. So far, more than 160 robots have made over 200,000 deliveries across five countries, including the U.S. and South Korea.

All the cool cities have them including Austin, where Avride robots made their debut in mid-November, delivering food from restaurants in the Mueller district, including Colleen's Kitchen, Rebel Cheese, and Xian Sushi and Noodle.

Now that list includes Dallas, says Avride Head of Communications Yulia Shveyko in an email.

“Starting today, customers can enjoy robot deliveries from participating restaurants in the area, with more locations and restaurants to be added soon,” Shveyko says.

The way it works is that users will place an order through the Uber Eats app, but choose autonomous delivery to have a robot drop off a meal at their doorstep. Users can track the robot’s location just as they would an Uber in the app.

Once it arrives, there’s an “unlock” button in the app that opens the hatch of the robot to access the food inside. Rain or snow doesn’t interrupt service; the little robot is water resistant and designed for any weather.

The hatch that holds the food can accommodate approximately six boxes of pizza and three 1.5 liter bottles or bags of groceries.

Some of the participating restaurants so far include Salsa Limón and Bread Zeppelin. A bonus perk of the service is no tipping is required.

According to a memo from a Dallas assistant city manager, the delivery robots are 35 by 27 by 47 inches, featuring six wheels with a speed of five miles per hour, and carrying up to 44 pounds. They deliver within a two-mile radius.

To make the robots look more "friendly and approachable," they’re designed with a face on an LED screen that can "wink" and change eye expressions and neutral colors.

The next step in Avride’s Uber partnership is debuting robotaxis in Dallas by 2025.

downtown technology

Healthy Eats News

Alabama chain Urban Cookhouse opens first DFW restaurant in Prosper

Urban Cookhouse

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A healthy restaurant chain from Alabama has made its DFW debut: Urban Cookhouse has opened its first outpost in Texas at the Gates of Prosper, a small center at 1151 S. Preston Rd. #10, taking over a former location of Sauce Pizza.

Urban Cookhouse was founded by David and Andrea Snyder, an entrepreneurial couple who opened their first location in Homewood, Alabama in 2010. The chain now has eight other locations in Alabama and one in Tennessee.

The concept has a healthy, homey vibe with a menu featuring more than a dozen sandwiches and wraps, salads, soup, and fork and knife offerings such as pork tenderloin with red chimichuri, lime-marinated steak & rice, and ‘The Down Home’, a BBQ-style plate with smoked turkey, pasta, and broccoli salad, as well as vegetarian options and a kids' menu.

A weekend brunch on Saturday and Sunday features a breakfast charcuterie board for $25 with pastries, deviled eggs, yogurt parfait, and bread. There are mimosas, bloody Marys, Micheladas, sangria, beer, and wine by the glass, plus a coffee bar with a signature blend from 1418 Coffee in the works.

There's a whole thing with their orange rolls, one of the three items Urban Cookhouse is best known for (along with their Broccoli Salad and Half-Baked Cookie). It's like an orange version of a cinnamon roll, featuring a yeast roll been smeared with a sweet paste flavored with orange zest, baked, then and topped with a thin orange glaze that hardens as it cools.

Urban Cookhouse serves a complimentary orange roll with its meal-size salads and entrees.

Their other shtick is that they prepare their meats on The Big Green Egg, the dome-shaped ceramic oven favored by many a gourmet home cook.

A portion of the Prosper restaurant is dedicated to a petite market selling sauces, dressings, chicken salad, broccoli salad, the signature orange rolls, spiced pecan, honey and pickles and cheddar pasta to-go. Family-style meals are also available for pick up after 3 pm.

Bringing the concept to Frisco is James Zemlock who has 30 years of culinary and management with Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, The Capital Grille and Tommy Bahama.

openings