pickOnly Annalee Newitz could write this! Cozy scifi that's grappling with ethical questions about AI consciousness while tapping into real-world xenophobia and the beauty found in community. All told through a group of robots (and their token human) that just want to make good noodles.
pick5/5
Four robots wake up in the restaurant where they work, to learn they've been shut down for six months and are at serious risk of being repoed after their scammer boss fled the country. Now, these robots have an opportunity to make something of their own, in a world that isn't always accepting of robots. I really loved this cozy sci-fi about community that touches on serious topics global warming, war, trauma, and prejudice.
#netgalley
pickCharming, beautiful, emotional and fantastic! this is a book filled with fantastic food, tear jerking scenes, and the ultimate question, what happens when robots become sentient? what rights should they have? follow this group of ragtag robots as they work hard to make some delicious food, and connect to each other and the humans they interact with. 10/10 a must read book!
pickThis excellent sci-fi novella follows a group of Human Equivelent Intelligence (HEI) bots who start their own noodle restsurant when their bosses abandon them. A malicious anti-bot review campaign threatens to destroy their business but their skills-- and their community--help them win out in the end. I think fans of Becky Chambers will find a lot to love in this one.
pickOut according to GR on Aug 5, 2025
I thought this was cute and original. A group of robots fresh off a war that breaks California from the US start a noodle restaurant. Some are passionate about the noodles some just need to make their servitude payments. While some awful topics are touched upon (war, robot slavery, robot phobia) the book stays mostly light hearted as the motley crew try to figure out how to run a biz & who is review bombing
so-soI'll have to give my ultimate rating some thought, but it felt like it just kind of fizzled out. Even given it's mostly about the robots finding a cosy found family, and not about the world it's set against, the pace suddenly accelerated to smooth everything out in a handful of pages at the end.
pickThe cozy small business story of Legends & Lattes meets the progressive sci-fi of Becky Chambers, with a flavor entirely its own, in this fresh, heartwarming tale about a motley crew of robots launching a restaurant amid PTSD, prejudice, and review bombing in a future post-war San Francisco. I ATE this UP and already miss the team at Automatic Noodle and the friendship, pride, and love found at the bottom of a bowl of their biang biang noodles!
pickIn a dystopian future, a bloody war recognizes California as an independent nation away from the U.S. From the wreckage, a group of robots are reactivated and decide to rebuild by starting a successful noodle shop in the Bay Area. As their popularity grows, so do their detractors as negative reviews, xenophobia, politics, and anti-robotic sentiment attempts to tank their restaurant as they continue to persevere in this cozy sci-fi novella.
Automatic Noodle | 
