Technological breakthroughs, combined with the demographic challenges of an aging population and the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, spur new business opportunities in the service robot industry. From a management perspective, these technologies are positively evaluated in terms of increasing productivity, new business opportunities, and financial benefits (Belanche et al., 2020). However, although automation and robotics have already gained attention in the tourism and hospitality industry, research on their use in restaurants and the customer's attitude toward these new service solutions is still limited (Berezina et al., 2019; Ivanov et al., 2019; Kuo et al., 2017).

• Joanna Santiago(ISEG-Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Portugal)
• Flávio Tiago(University of the Azores, Portugal)
• Teresa Borges-Tiago(University of the Azores, Portugal)