Critics Pan pizza vending machine in Rome

The idea of ​​a pizza vending machine doesn’t sound half bad, but installing one in Italy, where they are practically invented Pizza? This is the recipe for disaster.

One of Rome’s first pizza vending machines, “Mr. Go Pizza ”, was recently installed in Piazza Bologna. In three minutes, it bakes four types of pizzas that cost around $ 5.40 to $ 7.20 (4.50 to 6 euros). After the machine has kneaded the dough and added the toppings, customers can watch their pie bake behind a small glass window.

The locals are not impressed, to say the least. Thursday, Reuters reported that customer reviews ranged from “okay if you’re in a rush” to outright horror.

“It’s okay, but it’s not pizza,” said Fabrizia Pugliese, a student from Naples, in an interview with the store. She described the taste as more of a “piadina,” an ultra-thin soft unleavened bread wrap popular in northern Italy, than a pizza.

“It looks good but it’s much smaller than in a restaurant and there is less toppings,” retired Claudio Zampiga said in an interview with Reuters.

Gina, another retiree who declined to give her last name, called the concept “terrible”.

“The pizza really needs to be eaten hot, immediately,” she told Reuters. “It doesn’t work for me.”

The location of the machine does not give it any advantage either. Down the street is a Neapolitan restaurant that uses a brick oven, a staple for any authentic Neapolitan pizza. In fact, many Italians would argue that much of the classic pizza experienced is watching the pizzaiolo, or “pizzaiolo,” knead the dough and bake the pie while you wait at your table. So you can understand why getting a slice made by a robot can be considered sacrilege.

“I wouldn’t even think of eating machine-made pizza,” Giovanni Campana, a customer of the restaurant, told Reuters.

While people have been eating pizza-like flatbread dishes for centuries, much of modern pizza’s roots can be traced back to Naples, Italy, where it was popular on the streets for the poor. 19th-century Neopolitan chef Raffaele Esposito is widely recognized as the inventor of the classic “Pizza Margherita”. As the story continues, Esposito created the dish in 1889 in honor of the unification of Italy, using basil, mozzarella and tomato as garnishes to represent the colors of the Italian flag. The start of something like a A pizza vending machine so close to his hometown probably makes him turn in his grave.