A mainstay of drive-up bank tellers for decades, a New Zealand cafe is finally taking the pneumatic tube to its logical conclusion: as a delivery mechanism for delicious, nutritive sliders. The Press reports the story of Christchurch's C1 restaurant, which is in the midst of installing a network of vacuum tubing to connect its kitchen with every single table; when the system is complete late next year, cooks will be able to shoot burgers directly to their customers at over 80 miles per hour inside reinforced aluminum canisters.

Over 80 mph

C1 already uses pneumatic tubes to get order tickets to and from the kitchen — but obviously, sending a full meal requires quite a bit more suction, so the system is being redone at the rate of roughly three tables a month until the entire restaurant is ready to go. Trials are already underway, and it's expected to be ready for its first customers at a limited number of tables in January.

The best part, though, is the story of how C1's owner got the idea to send food faster than a car traveling at highway speeds: from Futurama, which is where most of the world's best ideas originate.