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Brooklyn’s Coffee Shop Run by Robots Is Now Selling $5 Cold Brew

Plus, a 20-year-old bakery leaves New York for New Jersey — and more intel

A two-armed robotic barista sits motionless on a counter of a Greenpoint coffee shop, Botbar.
Botbar is a coffee shop run by a two-armed robot.
Emma Orlow/Eater NY

Botbar Coffee, a new Greenpoint coffee shop run by a two-armed robot barista named Adam, opened its doors this weekend at 666 Manhattan Avenue, between Norman and Bedford avenues. Opening hours were 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.: Call it first-day jitters, but the robot was sold out of cold brew and cortados on opening morning and slow to execute customer orders. “Refill hot coffee cup,” it repeated in a lifeless voice. The shop advertises its robots online as a cost-cutting measure. Drinks range in price from $3 for an espresso to $5 for a cold brew with standard food items like croissants and pastries on the menu. Eater has contacted manager Sunny Lam for more information on the shop’s hours and days of operation moving forward.

The next new location of Dave’s Hot Chicken

Yet another location of Dave’s Hot Chicken is on the way: The Los Angeles chain of Nashville hot chicken restaurants announced its latest location with a “coming soon” sign this week at 1498 Third Avenue, between 84th and 85th streets, on the Upper East Side, the website East Side Feed reports. It’s the second new location planned for New York City, following storefronts already open in Midtown and Bay Ridge and another on the way in Downtown Brooklyn.

An automated dumpling shop heads uptown

Also headed to the Upper East Side is a location of Brooklyn Dumpling Shop from lightning rod restaurateur Stratis Morfogen. His burgeoning chain revives and updates the mid-century automat, where customers order from kiosks and collect their pepperoni pizza and bacon cheeseburger dumplings from lockers. The website Upper East Site reports that the business with locations in Hoboken, New Jersey, and Elmhurst, Queens is opening at 453 E. 78th Street, near York Avenue, in Manhattan. An opening date has not been announced for the new location. Beyond the Upper East Side, there are 75 locations in the works.

A 20-year-old bakery leaves New York for New Jersey

Bruno’s, a Staten Island bakery known for its panettone, closed after two decades to relocate to New Jersey. The business opened a second location at 356 W. Main Street in Freehold last fall that will now serve as its headquarters, according to a spokesperson. The last day was May 13.