GOLDEN, Colo. (KDVR) — Matthews Jones, owner of ‘Robo Esso’ coffee shop in Golden, latched on to the idea of a robot barista for his coffee shop, months before the pandemic started. 

Jones originally wanted to open a cafe that had a barista working beside a robot, but when businesses started to close down in the spring, Jones took a different turn, going all in on automation.

“The whole concept of tips and $15 hourly wages, if you’re not serving 200 cups a day it is really hard to make a profit,” said Jones.

Jones dove into research on how to automate a robot and found it fairly easy. His robot is able to create over 700 beverages completely on its own. For Jones, it’s a money saver. He estimates it costs less than $5 an hour to run the robot that can do the jobs of two people.

For customers, the robot is peace of mind as COVID-19 cases take a major spike across Colorado.

“Anyone that watches it has a huge grin on their face,” said Jones. “The whole experience and the end product is the same quality that you’d get at any other coffee shop.”

Robo Esso opened in early November at 741 Corporate Circle in Golden. Watch the video to understand how it works.