Midwestern pizza brand invests in cutting-edge tools to stay at the forefront of the restaurant industry’s technology boom
Happy Joe’s Pizza & Ice Cream, a 50-year-old family favorite brand, is advancing with the times by introducing robotics and AI voice ordering to its guests.
Starting at Happy Joe’s Bettendorf location, the company has been testing a robot built by Bear Robotics to bus tables, deliver orders and even sing “Happy Birthday” to guests celebrating their big day. The robot has a 270-degree circle of visibility, which enables it to efficiently carry drinks to tables and dirty dishes to the dishwasher. Not only has the robot been popular with employees and parents, but kids are predictably fascinated by it. In fact, many parents have noted how the robot has had a calming effect on their children.
The founder of Bear Robotics, John Ha, has a Ph.D in computer science and a background as a Google software engineer. He developed the service robot after managing the operations of his own restaurant. When faced with busy work, Ha envisioned a better way to do it and Bear Robotics was born.
The service robot isn’t the only advancement Happy Joe’s has embraced. The brand has also partnered with Voicify to simplify and streamline the over-the-phone ordering process that is integrated with Speedline, Happy Joe’s POS system. The AI company is leading the way in voice ordering and boasts several features including:
- Automatic Speech Recognition
- Natural Language Understanding
- Text-to-Speech Processing
- Complex orders with changes in real-time
- Accurate upsells and order review
- Transaction details and loyalty info
“Many industries are learning just how powerful AI tools can be,” said Happy Joe’s CEO and Chief Happiness Officer Tom Sacco. “We wanted to be at the forefront of these changes. Being able to sync with our point-of-sale system and walk our guests through the ordering process allows our employees to spend more time crafting perfect pizzas and creating memorable experiences for our guests.”
Happy Joe’s is renowned for its specialty pizzas – such as the 200+ pepperonis stacked on a Lollapalooza pepperoni pizza and the iconic Taco Joe, with its layers of ground beef, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, refried beans and taco sauce. Children can play games, win prizes and top off each visit with a trip to the ice cream counter. Happy Joe’s is proud to be a brand that has created magical memories that last a lifetime for generations of families across the U.S. and now even overseas.
To learn more about Happy Joe’s, visit HappyJoes.com. For those interested in Happy Joe’s franchising opportunities, email Kat Davidson at KatD@DRHnow.com or call 678.485.8413.
Founded in 1972 by Joe Whitty in Davenport, Iowa, Happy Joe’s dream was to create a restaurant concept that focused on serving America’s two favorite foods – pizza and ice cream – in a family-friendly, celebratory environment. Owned and operated by Dynamic Restaurant Holdings Inc., Happy Joe’s has been named a FastCasual “Top 200” concept, Franchise Times “Top 400” business, and Nation’s Restaurant News “Top 500” restaurant. The family-centric pizza brand has eight company and 34 franchise locations throughout the Midwest with more in the pipeline. To learn more, visit HappyJoes.com, or follow Happy Joe’s on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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