A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz.
You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.
But when their robot-run …
A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz.
You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food—the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around—for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war.
But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they’ll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other—and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn’t built for them.
A Macmillan Audio production from Tor.com
Digital audio read by Em Grosland; unabridged; 4 h 13 m
English language
Published Aug. 5, 2025 by Macmillan Audio.
This was a cool short story.
Centered around the rights of robots. Mixed group get together and open a noodle restaurant.
I hope there's more coming because the story kinda trailed off leaving a lot left to cover just when I felt I was invested.
Fun imagining of abandoned robots in the future and their restaurant.
It’s about robots in San Francisco our newly liberated after a war that decide together to open bang bang noodle shop. They all have competing hopes and dreams and worries together they are able to find a way. It’s low stakes, comfy sci-fi with a heart.
It’s about robots in San Francisco our newly liberated after a war that decide together to open bang bang noodle shop. They all have competing hopes and dreams and worries together they are able to find a way. It’s low stakes, comfy sci-fi with a heart.
"Automatic Noodle" by Annalee Newitz (@annaleen@wandering.shop) is a cozy, sci-fi novella with a lot of heart. Set in a war-ravaged San Francisco after Californian independence, the book follows a group of robots trying to start a restaurant serving hand-pulled biang biang noodles. In this world, robots with Human Equivalent intelligence have been granted Civil Rights by California. But their existence is limited - they can earn money but cannot have a bank account, vote, or reproduce. Through the experiences of these non-human characters, we see explorations about identity, community, and belonging in a world that resists recognizing the person-hood of those characters. The strength of the book is in its gentle world-building. Newitz does not hit you over the head with too much exposition (one of the big sins of a lot of speculative fiction). The author always keeps the focus on the interior lives of the robots …
"Automatic Noodle" by Annalee Newitz (@annaleen@wandering.shop) is a cozy, sci-fi novella with a lot of heart. Set in a war-ravaged San Francisco after Californian independence, the book follows a group of robots trying to start a restaurant serving hand-pulled biang biang noodles. In this world, robots with Human Equivalent intelligence have been granted Civil Rights by California. But their existence is limited - they can earn money but cannot have a bank account, vote, or reproduce. Through the experiences of these non-human characters, we see explorations about identity, community, and belonging in a world that resists recognizing the person-hood of those characters. The strength of the book is in its gentle world-building. Newitz does not hit you over the head with too much exposition (one of the big sins of a lot of speculative fiction). The author always keeps the focus on the interior lives of the robots as they navigate a complex and exciting new world. Plus, the book is really fun. I enjoyed reading it and found myself smiling as I read. Definitely recommend the book!
If you have time to read this book, please do it. The characters are well developed, the world building is amazing, and the coziness is top notch. This book is fun, quick, and also quite impactful (or at least it was for me).
I'm not normally much of a cozy fiction reader, but this was lovely: smart, funny, and pointed in highly relevant ways. The story is a simple, warm hug in so many ways, but there's a lot going on underneath to inform the world that Newitz builds; a very dark, involved tale sits just out of frame. Beautifully done as always.
On the surface, this is a story about a diverse group of adorable people (most of whom happen to be robots) taking care of each other while starting a hand-pulled #noodle shop. Slightly below the surface, and done with a lot of #kindness, Annalee Newitz does a wonderful job of putting the reader in a perspective to see how various kinds of #discrimination and #unskillful action make things unpleasant for everyone while at the same time showing that #handicraft, #compassion, and community-building have lovely results across the board.
