Pizza Forno - Canada's 1st Automated Pizza Machine, Toronto Canada (Various Locations in the GTA)

Foodies,

Have you heard about Pizza Forno? Canada’s 1st Automated Pizza machines located at 7 various locations (to date)? To best describe this machine is to think of it as an ATM machine but an ATM for ordering pizza. There are no human staff around, it’s just simply a machine parked at a small space on the street, you tap the touch screen and place your order. Wait for a few minutes and a heated hot pizza comes out of the machine.

Today, April Fool’s Day, all Pizza Forno locations were selling any pizza flavour for $1 (including tax), no joke, this is REAL, but for April 1st ONLY. It started midnight and I decided to make a late-night pizza run, I saw the post from the Pizza Forno’s Instagram post and decided to check it out before heading home.

One of the locations were located at 535 Adelaide Street, across the VW dealership. In front of me, there were 3 dudes waiting. At this location, you could see a small space showing “Pizza Forno” around the space, it’s right next to the Adelaide Street. You are standing outside, so make sure you dress warm in case there is a lineup.

Here are the basic steps to order the pizza from Pizza Forno:

First, go to PIzza Forno website and search for the nearest locations near you.
You go to the machine, when it’s your turn, tap the touch screen, there are a number of pizza flavour/styles for you to choose from. So, you can’t choose toppings or size, there is only 1 size, and you can’t alter the pizza toppings. At the Adelaide location, there was pepperoni, 4 blended cheese, honey and goat cheese and BBQ chicken.
It’s quite simple to order the pizza. You simply tap the pizza style you want, then you just need to choose “Hot Pizza” or “Cold Pizza“. Since I ordered it on the day it was doing a $1 deal, all styles were $1 including tax (only on April 1st until quantities last). But from what I heard, the pizza styles ranges from $11 to $15, depending on the style.
Tap your debit/credit card and just wait for the pizzas to come out.
If you choose frozen pizza, I was told it’s $1 or $2 less than the hot pizza. But remember, sometimes you just want to bring it home and store in your fridge and you bake it in the oven, as you may not able to consume all the hot pizzas in one shot.
If you choose the frozen pizza, it takes less than 30 seconds for the conveyor belt (you can’t see it) to bring it out to you via the machine slot.
However, if you choose hot pizza, you have to wait for 3 minutes and it comes out nice and hot at the slot.

During my visit, there were a few guys waiting behind me, so out of courtesy, I didn’t order crazy as I want others behind get to purchase them and besides, I don’t even know how it tastes. Always be considerate and be reasonable. For me, I decided to order 2 hot pizzas (pepperoni and BBQ chicken) and 3 other frozen pizzas (so I can store them in my fridge). But more importantly, I wanted to see how the machine works when ordering both frozen and hot pizzas.

MoVernie Fun Fact #1: By the way, luckily, you want to order 4 pizzas, you can pay in one transaction and you don’t have to pay 4 separate times (thank goodness!)

MoVernie Fun Fact #2: Each customer has to wait for the pizza coming out 1-by-1 as there is only one slot to give out the pizzas, whether it’s frozen or hot pizzas.

Before I visited this Pizza Forno automated machine, I had lots of questions. Is there a staff behind the machine bringing out the pizza? Are there pizzas being warmup at the back of the machine and a staff simply just bring the pizza and put it in the slot?

After my experience, it’s 100% automated, there are no human beings. There is a oven or machine of some sort that can heat up the pizza in 3 minutes.

MoVernie Verdict:

Well…overall, it’s something different. It’s fun and interesting to learn how this particular pizza machine works. There is indeed gimmicky, fun and different. But for me, it’s more like try it once and that’s it.
If there is a lineup of people, it’s not worth my wait coz it’s still take some time waiting, I rather go to a real pizza store to grab pizza. Especially if you are in a group, it’s much faster ordering pizza at a fast food pizza store than one by one waiting and ordering especially in the cold winter.
If you have specific allergies, there are no alteration to your pizza coz everything is pre-made and you just choose what is available by Pizza Forno.
It tastes alright, but it doesn’t look photogenic when it comes out and it doesn’t taste super good or bad, just eatable.
At regular price of $11-$15 CDN per pizza, I think it’s a bit overpriced.
Some of their locations are located away from any subway or bus lines, so it’s not worth your time to go out of your way to grab it unless you live close to the machine.
However, if you happen to walk by and you are hungry, the pizza machine is an option.
When all the food eateries around you are closed and the pizza machine is nearby, it’s still good to order since this machine is 24/7.
Personally, I like the BBQ chicken more than the Pepperoni.

MoVernie Rating:

Fun Factor – 8.5/10
Locations – 7/10
Taste – 6/10
Price – 5/10

There you have it. Would I recommend you to at least give it a try, just to learn how the machine works and for the unique overall experience, absolutely! But do I go back frequently? Properly not, as there are other better alternatives and more delicious food out there than this pizza machine.

These types of vending food machines have been existed especially in Japan for a very long time and it shows a great amount of success due to its good taste, a variety of food options and good prices. For now, Canada is a bit slow in adapting selling heated food via machines, but it’s better late than never.

NOTE: I spent $5 in total for these 5 Pizzas at Pizza Forno. Opinions are simply my own.

Pizza Forno (number of locations in the GTA)
Website: www.ThePizzaForno.com