When Wao Bao opens its newest Chicago location on December 1st, it will be quite a departure from fast-serve restaurants:  no human interaction, thanks to technology first implemented by the chain Eatsa…and now being applied elsewhere.

According to Eater magazine, you will enter the restaurant, order your food on tablets, and then pick up the grub from a bank of shiny glass-windowed doors.  Like this:

Number of intentional interactions with another person: 0.0

Despite a handful of this style restaurants closing already, Wao Bao says it’s pushing forward with the concept in all of the new stores they open.  A number of food establishments are also pushing forward with “self order and pay” technology at restaurants.

This isn’t new technology by any means:  automat restaurants were popular for decades, and likely went by the wayside when the nuisance of coin-only payment and the rise of drive-in restaurants drove the popularity into the ground.

So, is this a passing phase?  Or does this spell the end of an era?  — [eric]