Pizza Vending Machine Debuts in Italy and Locals Are Not Happy

Italians might love pizza, but they are still divided when it comes to vending machine pizzas. A new “Mr. Go Pizza” vending machine was installed in Rome, and reviews for the quickly-heated dish have ranched from “acceptable” to terrible. There’s no way this machine is going to get the same acclaim as a fine dining restaurant in Italy, where one person even refused to call the machine’s product “pizza.”

The machine sells four different pizzas, casting between 4.50 to 6 euros, about $5.20 to $7.20, notes Reuters. The machine even has a small glass window so customers can watch it knead the dough and throw toppings on it while it cooks. One customer, Claudio Zampiga, told Reuters the pizza was only “acceptable if you’re in a hurry.” He also noted how much smaller the pizza was compared to what you usually get in a restaurant.

Pizza was born in Naples so it is unsurprising that one person really unimpressed by the machine pizza was Fabrizia Pugliese, a Naples native studying in Italy’s capital city. She said it was “OK, but it’s not pizza.” Pugliese compared it to “piadina,” a thin unleavened bread wrap common in northern Italy. Gina, who did not give her last name, called the pizza that came out of the machine “terrible,” adding that pizza “really needs to be eaten hot, immediately. This doesn’t work for me.”

The new “Mr. Go Pizza” machine is not the only one of its kind causing a stir. In Glasgow, Scotland, a pizza vending machine, simply dubbed the Pizza Machine, was installed on Blackfriars Road in November and has been popular with students ever since. The machine can hold 96 frozen pizzas, which are then cooked and delivered within three minutes, reports Glasgow Live.

The only problem now is that it was installed without the city’s permission and planners are now refusing to allow it to remain. They cited the noise and cooking fumes, which “would unacceptably impact on the residential amenity of neighboring properties.” The machine’s owners objected to this, noting that the machine is completely electric and does not create fumes. The owner’s plan to appeal the decision.

In January, Toronto-based PizzaForno said it was planning to bring its “Automated Pizza Ovens” to the U.S., reports The Spoon. Its machines can hold up to 70 pre-made pizzas of up to eight different varieties. API Tech, a French company, is also looking to bring its pizza vending technology to the U.S. The French firm plans to sell its technology to food companies, which will then stock the machines with whatever pizzas they wish to sell.