An automated knife sharpening and cleaning system is provided. The system comprises a container body that is configured to hold a utensil holder that is configured to releasably couple to the container body, the utensil holder configured to hold a utensil. The system further includes a drive assembly and a gripper assembly, the gripper assembly being coupled to the drive assembly and the drive assembly being configured to move the gripper assembly within the three-dimensional coordinate space of the container body. The system further includes a grinding assembly that is configured to sharpen the utensil. During operation of the system, the gripper assembly is configured to grip the utensil and remove the utensil from the utensil holder, hold the utensil within the grinding assembly during sharpening, and replace and release the utensil in the utensil holder once the sharpening is complete. Moreover, the system may clean and sanitize the utensil.