How It Works: Pizza ATM

Pizza is the holy grail of late-night study sessions across college campuses. At Case Western Reserve University, there’s no need to wait for the delivery guy anymore thanks to the Pizza ATM. In the Sears [think]box building, hungry students will find the cleverly cheesy contraption created by the French company Paline. While Pizza ATMs are popular in Europe, CWRU’s installation is the second Pizza ATM in the U.S. In about three minutes, customers can withdraw a three-cheese ($9), pepperoni ($11) or veggie ($10) pie. We pulled an all-nighter to deliver this in-depth report on how it works. 

Refrigerator: Before it’s dispensed, your pizza lives in the refrigerator in the back of the machine. Pizzas are scanned before being loaded. “The machine will give it a timestamp so it’ll know which ones to pull out first,” says Vincent Gaikens, manager of CWRU’s Bon Appetit catering service. “It’s pretty awesome.”

Touch screen: An easy-to-use touch screen lets customers choose from three-cheese, pepperoni or veggie pizza. Paying is also a breeze. The machine accepts credit and debit as well as CaseCash and CaseCharge, which are part of CWRU’s dining plan.

Window: Through the small window on the side of the machine, you can watch a slender metal arm unbox your selected pizza, which is made with local ingredients such as Middlefield Cheese and tomatoes from Dei Fratelli in Toledo. The box is set aside to house your 12-inch pizza after it has reached cheesy perfection.

Oven: The oven stays at an idle temperature of about 400-405 degrees. “When someone orders a pizza, it kicks it up to about 450,” says Gaikens. At this temperature, a three-cheese pizza can get extra gooey in just three minutes.

Slot: Once your pizza is ready, the red arrows below the touch screen light up to show where your pizza will be dispensed. “People get excited to get a hot pizza in less than three minutes,” Gaikens says. “I have this picture that I think is fantastic of a guy doing a little dance because he was so excited.”