Hello!

So far on Tube Talk I’ve touched on how pneumatic tubes — pipes that move objects at brisk speeds using compressed air — have become a signifier of retrofuturism and/or absurdism. The thought of mail traveling miles through a series of underground pipes in New York City is bizarrely quaint, and one merely has to watch Futurama’s opening credits to get the joke.

But pneumatic tubes are still a novelty today (well, they’re more than that in certain industries… but we’ll get to that later), and certain restaurants and bars have embraced the tubes as a fun gimmick — an elaborate, Instagram-friendly way to mix a cocktail or deliver an order of fries.

Here’s a list of some establishments where you can witness the glory of pneumatic tubes in action.

403 E. Market Street Louisville, KY 40202

I don’t drink whiskey, but I confess I’d likely order a drink called “When Pigs Fly” at Louisville’s WhistlePig The Vault, a bar housed in what used to be an old bank. Why, you ask? Because the cocktail is mixed in a container sent through the building’s old pneumatic tube system.

Is this necessary? No. In fact, the bartender still has to shake it at the end because the tubes don’t mix it enough. But it’s whimsical and silly and comes with a paper airplane garnish, and those in the comments of this Instagram post who think it’s dumb need to find a little more joy in their lives.

Unit 205, 18 Stoney St, London SE1 9AD

Cahoots Postal Office is nestled in London’s Borough Market and is known for its “pneumatic cocktail delivery system.” The venue is themed as a secret drinking locale, with its storefront designed to look like a large postbox. Inside is a two-floor venue themed like a wacky, illicit post office from the 1940s. Aerocom UK, a company that builds pneumatic tube systems, installed over 300 feet of tubes that are 4.3 inches in diameter — the perfect size to carry a tiny container of booze.

Customers sitting at their tables order drinks using the most clandestine technology of them all: a QR code! Their beverages then whiz to them overhead in a canister that they then pour into a glass with ice (presumably brought by a human server). Efficient? No! But what a delight!

779 N Front St, Milwaukee, WI 53202

The SafeHouse has been a Milwaukee establishment since 1966. It’s an espionage-themed restaurant bar whose entrance is only marked by a plaque that says, “International Exports, Ltd.” The photo above is that nondescript entrance and sadly the only image I could find of SafeHouse that seemed safe… to use copyright-wise.

You’ll need a secret password to get in (don’t worry, if you don’t know it, you can take a “test” that involves a silly dance… one that everyone inside can watch, no less), but once you’re inside, you can enjoy secret passageways, spy memorabilia and, yes, 600 feet of tubes that will send the contents of their “Great Spy-Tini” around the restaurant before coming back to the bar for your enjoyment.

It’s it a bit of a tourist trap? Yes. Is it fun? If you like spy stuff, puzzles, and cocktails mixed by tubes, also yes. 

Currently have cafés in New York, Washington DC, Detroit, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and London.

Alcohol isn’t the only beverage-related thing that is moved via compressed air through a series of tubes. Roasting Plant Coffee, in fact, has made a business around it. The company was founded by former Starbucks executive Mike Caswell, who, according to corporate legend, built a machine called the Javabot in his garage using an old Electrolux vacuum and a bunch of old tubes.

Each Roasting Plant café has a Javabot, which allows for roasting of coffee beans on site. The device uses pneumatic tubes to transport specific blends of beans in micro-batches, which are then brewed for an individual’s enjoyment.

Do you like coffee freshly roasted thanks to the help of a series of tubes? If yes, then you’d likely get a kick out of ordering at a Roasting Plant café.

185 High Street, Christchurch, New Zealand

Are you in Christchurch, New Zealand, and want french fries and a torpedo-shaped burger delivered via tube to your table? If the answer is yes, head to C1 Espresso. There, you order at a counter, that order is sent via tube to the kitchen and — depending on what you ordered (soup’s a no go) — the food is sent to your table via the same system. (You can even have a beer sent through the tubes, if you don’t mind it a being a little bit fizzy when you open it.) The restaurant also roasts their own coffee on site, and is generally regarded to have actually good food.

Tom Scott gave a good overview of the place in one of his videos a few years ago, including an interview with the owner, who describes how they maintain and troubleshoot the tubes. There’s a company in Auckland who periodically comes down to service the tubes at the hospital down the road (a post for another day!), and they stop in at C1 Espresso during those visits for give their system a lookover as well. The team at C1 also sometimes has to unstick containers that opened during transit, either by pushing it through with more air or by sucking it back to the kitchen. If those methods don’t work, there’s a third and least desirable option: to cut it out of the tubes.

Out of all the places today, I think the one I’d most like to visit is C1; here’s to hoping I’ll make my way to New Zealand one day to try it.

Thanks for reading! We’re back next week with a post that combines weird history with today’s TV! Stay tuned.