DoorDash starts robot food deliveries on the Gold Coast

Order dinner around Southport’s health and university precinct and it might roll up the footpath to your address. There’s no driver, just a robot with a locked lid.

Serve Robotics and DoorDash launched Australia’s first footpath robot delivery service on 29 October. It starts small: one area and one restaurant. But it’s the first time Serve has run its robots outside the United States.

Where the robots go

For now, the service covers the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct, including Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus. The precinct is home to more than 3,000 residents and 20,000 students.

The first restaurant is Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers in Southport. The companies expect more local restaurants to join in the coming weeks.

The City of Gold Coast, Griffith University and the precinct all backed the launch. Serve’s chief executive is Ali Kashani. “This is the first time we’ve taken Serve beyond the United States, and the Gold Coast is the right place to start,” he said.

How ordering works

You order through DoorDash as usual. If a participating restaurant is nearby and a robot is available, a robot delivery option appears at checkout.

From there:

1. The robot collects your order from the restaurant.
2. It travels along the footpath to your address.
3. You get a notification when it arrives, with a unique code.
4. You use the code to open the robot’s secure compartment and take your food.

Customers can opt in or out of robot delivery. Human drivers, DoorDash’s Dashers, still handle longer trips. The robots are meant for short, local runs in busy areas.

Sharing the footpath

The robots travel at walking pace and are designed to give way to pedestrians. Trained remote supervisors can step in when a robot needs help.

Each robot shows a contact number, so anyone with a question about one can call it in. At the end of each shift, the robots return to Serve’s depot at Griffith University. Serve says Griffith is the first university to host a Serve operations team.

The depot brings local jobs too. Griffith says Serve is hiring operations and technician roles based there. Serve’s announcement adds that the two are exploring internships and early-career roles in robotics.

Why this small trial matters

Serve’s robots already deliver in several US cities, including Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Chicago and Atlanta. It says it has deployed more than 2,000 of them there. DoorDash has used Serve’s robots in the US since 2025.

The Gold Coast pilot is the first chance to see how footpath robots fit alongside existing delivery in an Australian city. Kashani credited the council for opening the door, DoorDash for bringing restaurants and customers, and Griffith for giving the fleet a home.

For restaurants, it’s another way to get short orders out the door. Ben Cleary-Corradini, a co-founder of Gnocchi Gnocchi Brothers, said: “If a friendly robot can help us deliver on that, even better!”

Run a restaurant that takes online orders? Customers often find your ordering links on your Google Business Profile too, so it’s worth keeping that listing secure.

Checklist

• Look for the robot option at checkout. If you’re in the Gold Coast Health and Knowledge Precinct, DoorDash shows it only when a robot and a nearby participating restaurant are both available.
• Keep your phone close when you choose a robot. You’ll get an arrival notification and a unique code that opens the robot’s compartment.
• Choose a human driver if you’d rather. You can opt in or out of robot delivery, and Dashers still cover longer trips.
• Call the number on the robot if you have a question or concern. Every Serve robot displays a contact number for the public.