Wonder Deploys Robot Kitchen That Makes 500 Bowls Per Hour

Wonder Bets Big on Kitchen Automation

Marc Lore's Wonder has acquired robotic kitchen technology capable of assembling 500 burrito bowls, salads, and poke bowls per hour—more than 10 times the output of human workers who typically prepare 30 to 45 bowls in the same timeframe. The system uses a turntable that rotates each bowl while ingredients dispense according to customer orders, producing what Lore claims is zero-error output.

Wonder paid $186.4 million in December to acquire the Infinite Kitchen automation system from Sweetgreen, according to Bloomberg. The deal transfers ownership of the technology to Wonder while Sweetgreen continues operating the system in its own restaurants under a supply agreement. The technology currently runs in more than 20 Sweetgreen locations, Restaurant Dive reported.

Why it matters

Labor represents the largest cost pressure in food service, running at a median 36.5% of sales for full-service restaurants. With only 42% of U.S. restaurants profitable in 2024 and minimum wages rising across 22 states this year, automation that cuts labor costs while increasing throughput addresses the industry's most pressing financial challenge. Wonder's multi-brand kitchen model amplifies the economics—one automated system handles volume across multiple restaurant concepts from shared facilities.

Aggressive Rollout Timeline

Wonder plans to test the Infinite Kitchen in a Manhattan location this year, with 50 to 100 installations scheduled across Wonder kitchens in 2027, Restaurant Business reported. The company operates 29 restaurant concepts from shared kitchens and owns delivery platform Grubhub, which it acquired for $650 million in 2024. This structure allows a single automated system to handle volume across multiple menus and brands.

Sweetgreen's parallel expansion includes approximately 15 new restaurant openings in 2026, with roughly half featuring the Infinite Kitchen technology. The simultaneous rollout across two major operators will test the system's scalability and economics at significant scale.

Beyond Bowls

Wonder is expanding automation beyond bowl assembly. Lore announced an "infinite sauce machine" capable of producing 500 sauces per hour from 152 raw ingredients, according to Fortune. An automated beverage system is planned for next year. Food On Demand reported that Wonder aims to install the Infinite Kitchen in half of all new locations starting in 2027, with a goal of operating more than 100 restaurants spanning multiple cuisine types from compact shared kitchens.

The economics favor automation in restaurant environments because workflows are structured, repetitive, and measurable. Unlike general-purpose robotics that must navigate unpredictable conditions, kitchen automation handles standardized tasks where the same product gets assembled the same way thousands of times daily. Each bowl produced by machine rather than human worker eliminates a unit of labor cost while adding throughput capacity.

With restaurant labor costs climbing for three consecutive years, the 500-bowls-per-hour capability represents a direct answer to the industry's margin pressure. Details were first reported by Fortune, Bloomberg, Restaurant Dive, Restaurant Business, and Food On Demand.