Hollerbach’s German restaurant in Sanford is testing a new kind of helper during its busiest hours: BellaBot, an automated food runner designed to move orders from the kitchen to the bar.

Restaurant owner Theo Hollerbach said the robot has been in use for three days and has already helped keep bartenders and servers focused on guests instead of making long trips for food.

He says the “horizontal food elevator” complements the vertical one that carries food from the kitchen to the rooftop bar.

BellaBot follows a preprogrammed path from the kitchen to the Lodge bar area. Once it arrives, the bartender removes the food from the trays and delivers it to the guest.

“Our kitchen is 150 feet from the bar area,” Hollerbach said. “And I like my bartenders to stay with the guests. And my servers didn’t want to get away from their guests.”

Hollerbach said the robot is intended to help during rushes, when staff members are juggling multiple responsibilities and the distance between the kitchen and bar can slow service.

The restaurant is paying $600 a month to use BellaBot. Hollerbach said the cost makes sense compared with hiring a food runner for limited peak-hour coverage.

“If I have a food runner, I only need them for two hours,” he said. “But then nobody comes to work for two hours, so I gotta pay them for four.”

Hollerbach plans to use the robot for the next three months to see how effective it is during Oktoberfest and other upcoming events.