Robots made me Donatos pizza — and it tasted great
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Travelers stop to watch pizzas being made at the new robot-staffed Donatos inside John Glenn International Airport. Photo: Alissa Widman Neese/Axios
Donatos' new pizza-making robots have been turning heads, so I stopped by the airport to see the "sci-pie" in action.
Dining the news: The fully autonomous restaurant is a first for the locally founded chain, cooking a 10-inch pizza in just over 10 minutes.
- It opened two weeks ago to national attention and the hype hasn't died down. I saw several travelers gawking and snapping videos.
What they're saying: "A computer makes your pizza?" quipped one puzzled passerby.
- "Did you try the robot pizza?!" another asked me with an excited smile.
How it works: Scan a QR code to place an order (currently just cheese or pepperoni).
- A robotic arm pulls pre-rolled dough out of a refrigerator and sends it through machinery to layer on sauce and toppings.
- It even shakes Parmesan on top before sending it through the oven on a conveyor belt.
When it's done cooking, another robot places the pizza into a cutting machine, then slides it off the pan and into a cardboard box.
- You retrieve it inside a pickup area that's unlocked with a unique code.
💭 My thought bubble: To my surprise, the pizza was the perfect temperature. It tasted just as good, if not better, than ones I've picked up from local Donatos restaurants.
- Novelty aside, I'm just happy our airport finally has a filling late-night food option for us red eye travelers.
Yes, but: A human employee still must occasionally stock and clean the robot restaurant, which can take a little while.
Stop by: Open 24/7 at John Glenn International Airport, just before security in Concourse B.
