Posted by Adam Kuban, September 9, 2008 at 1:45 PM
This Tombstone deep-dish-pizza vending machine made the rounds on the blogs yesterday. K., of the site She Eats, found it on the Houston Architecture Info Forum (registration required).
K., perhaps, set the tone of the online discussion, calling it a sign of the apocalypse. But I'd like to advocate for this thing. I, for one, welcome this technological development. I've been gunning to try pizza from a vending machine for years now. The folks at Wonderpizza haven't been able to get on the horse, but it looks like Tombstone, a division of Kraft Foods, has the money and gumption to get 'er done. If anyone knows where to find one of these things, lemme know. I joined the HAIF site to try to get more info, but it appears that no one there has a 20 on one of these things, either. I've got a call in to Tombstone, so we'll see how that pans out.
If you know of one somewhere, do me a solid, will ya? Buy one and take some photos or video. I'd love to see it and share it with serious Sliceheads.
Reminds me of my favorite vending machine ever: the grilled cheese vending machine that used to be in the Union Square movie theater in Manhattan. It also served fries and burgers, but the grilled cheese was the thing. Managed to combine dryness, and greasiness.
@dozertx: Yes. Well aware of Japanese vendos. I want PIZZA VENDO in the U.S., tho.
@trillian42: OMG. Awesome. Thank you. I saw a similar hot dog vendo a couple weeks ago. Will have to go back to where I saw it to investigate. (I didn't have a camera with me when I saw it.)
Seems to be a "Hot Choice" machine with a Tombstone ad insert in the front. The site is http://www.hotchoice.com/index.html but TBH it really looks like some nasty stuff. Plus the 'pizza' only weighs 4.1 ounces, can't be very filling. I've got a call in to Dave at KRh Thermal in regards to locating a machine in NYC, I'll update when he calls back.
Has been here on my college campus for a while now. But with "real" food (quotation marks due to the debatable nature of that statement in our dining halls) just a few steps away, I haven't tried. Pay $2-3 to experiment when I have my meal plan? C'mon, I'm a poor college kid :)
Ooh. I had experienced this vending machine a few times 3 years ago before our campus removed it -.- After you feed the machine your 3-5$ (forgot excalty how much), you wait a little more over a minute for your pizza to cook. The pizza is in this slide-container and its quite small...I would say about a little less than half the size a regular sheet of writing paper. The pizza was okay but what can you say its frozen and cooked in a vending machine =]
Though, I do miss the other vending machine which did bbq chicken strips, french fries, and other fast food.
I wonder how long before some doofus shows up on pizzamaking.com and wants to know how to duplicate the recipe for a Tombstone vending machine pizza. Now that WILL be a sign of the apocalypse!
@Pammeh: Interested in trying it if I give you money to buy the pizza? ;) Email me (adam@sliceny.com), and we can work something out. I would need pix and/or video. Would reimburse for pizza plus a little extra for your trouble.
@blackwinged: You wouldn't happen to go to Brown, would you? I know they had not a Tombstone machine but a Wonderpizza vendo there. But since Wonderpizza USA division seems to have collapsed, I bet the machine at Brown has been taken away.
OK the guy from the manufacturer just called back. There's a machine at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, 585 Schenectady in Brooklyn. He wasn't sure where exactly but it shouldn't be too hard to find.
I'm 100% certain that there used to be one in the Union Square movie theater (Regal), on the second floor by a bunch of other vending machines; less certain whether it's there today, though I just saw a movie there a few weeks ago.
I'm with the National Automatic Merchandising Association. If you're interested in fun vending machines go over to ww.CoolVending.biz. There are a variety of different machines, some history and "The Secret Life of Vending Machines."
Adam, If you're interested in attending the vending expo in October, let me know.
Now, what would be cool if someone made an AMAZING pizza that came out of a vending machine. Combo proof box, 825F oven, San Marzano tom's, Caputo OO and so on...
Visiting my old alma mater last week, I was drawn like a gluttonous moth to a vending machine reading "Tombstone Pizza." Yes, pizza from a vending machine. I stood, perplexed, imagining the birth of warm pizza from this cold mechanical womb. An undergrad strolled by and chuckled, obviously familiar with this pitiable sight. "Have you tried it?" I asked. "It sucks. No one even bothers," she responded. With that, of course, my mind was set. I would do what no one else had the heart to do—I would venture into the future.
After some deliberation, I opted for the pepperoni pizza, choosing it over other, less traditional choices such as chicken fingers, barbecue chicken pizza, or a warm Oreo brownie. I fed it my three dollars (!) and eagerly watched the baking process on a small digital screen.
The result? One minute later, the machine spit out a small cardboard package, which it warned would be "Very Hot." Inside was a hot (not very hot) "pizza" about the size of a video iPod. Approximately 75 percent of this tawdry square was composed of dough, which was thick, salty, and tasted something like baked Silly Putty. The bright-red pepperonis were tiny, faintly reminiscent of Bacos ("MADE WITH PORK, CHICKEN, AND BEEF," the package proudly proclaimed), and actually more numerous than the shreds of cheese by a ratio of 2-to-1. Needless to say, I devoured it in a matter of seconds.
After one bite, I understood the undergrad's grave warning. Never eat pizza from a machine. It's like making love to a Terminator: almost satisfying, but slightly creepy, and there's always the possibility that it will collapse your chest cavity with one fatal blow. Thank you, Tombstone, but I'll take my pizza the way it was meant to be prepared: baked lovingly by burnt-out hippies and their disgruntled, overweight, mustachioed Italian managers. Or underpaid illegal immigrants. Whichever.
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This Tombstone deep-dish-pizza vending machine made the rounds on the blogs yesterday. K., of the site She Eats, found it on the Houston Architecture Info Forum (registration required).
22 Comments:
And, for those with less pocket change, a Totino's machine.
worldcupfever at 2:10PM on 09/09/08
Whoo-hoo! I made it onto Serious Eats! :D
The pizza vending machine is just one of many signs, you know. Not the harbinger of the apocalypse itself. ;)
sheeats at 2:36PM on 09/09/08
Reminds me of my favorite vending machine ever: the grilled cheese vending machine that used to be in the Union Square movie theater in Manhattan. It also served fries and burgers, but the grilled cheese was the thing. Managed to combine dryness, and greasiness.
bonnie at 3:06PM on 09/09/08
I thought we saw the real harbinger in the photo of the mini pillow-shaped Hostess Fruit Pies.
worldcupfever at 3:12PM on 09/09/08
Frankly, I found the Johnsonville vending machine at the National Zoo at least equally as frightening.
trillian42 at 3:31PM on 09/09/08
Heck, go to Japan and you'll have vending machines from everything from soup to shark fin to sushi.
dozertx at 3:56PM on 09/09/08
@dozertx: Yes. Well aware of Japanese vendos. I want PIZZA VENDO in the U.S., tho.
@trillian42: OMG. Awesome. Thank you. I saw a similar hot dog vendo a couple weeks ago. Will have to go back to where I saw it to investigate. (I didn't have a camera with me when I saw it.)
Adam Kuban at 4:11PM on 09/09/08
I, for one, welcome our pizza vending overlords.
Prairie at 10:58PM on 09/09/08
Just need a beer vending machine next to it and we'd be good to go.
UncleVic at 10:31AM on 09/10/08
Seems to be a "Hot Choice" machine with a Tombstone ad insert in the front. The site is http://www.hotchoice.com/index.html but TBH it really looks like some nasty stuff. Plus the 'pizza' only weighs 4.1 ounces, can't be very filling. I've got a call in to Dave at KRh Thermal in regards to locating a machine in NYC, I'll update when he calls back.
ratbuddy at 2:13PM on 09/10/08
Has been here on my college campus for a while now. But with "real" food (quotation marks due to the debatable nature of that statement in our dining halls) just a few steps away, I haven't tried. Pay $2-3 to experiment when I have my meal plan? C'mon, I'm a poor college kid :)
Pammeh at 7:37PM on 09/10/08
Ooh. I had experienced this vending machine a few times 3 years ago before our campus removed it -.- After you feed the machine your 3-5$ (forgot excalty how much), you wait a little more over a minute for your pizza to cook. The pizza is in this slide-container and its quite small...I would say about a little less than half the size a regular sheet of writing paper. The pizza was okay but what can you say its frozen and cooked in a vending machine =]
Though, I do miss the other vending machine which did bbq chicken strips, french fries, and other fast food.
blackwinged at 7:58AM on 09/11/08
I wonder how long before some doofus shows up on pizzamaking.com and wants to know how to duplicate the recipe for a Tombstone vending machine pizza. Now that WILL be a sign of the apocalypse!
grampart at 9:24AM on 09/11/08
@Pammeh: Interested in trying it if I give you money to buy the pizza? ;) Email me (adam@sliceny.com), and we can work something out. I would need pix and/or video. Would reimburse for pizza plus a little extra for your trouble.
Adam Kuban at 11:12AM on 09/11/08
@blackwinged: You wouldn't happen to go to Brown, would you? I know they had not a Tombstone machine but a Wonderpizza vendo there. But since Wonderpizza USA division seems to have collapsed, I bet the machine at Brown has been taken away.
Adam Kuban at 11:14AM on 09/11/08
OK the guy from the manufacturer just called back. There's a machine at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, 585 Schenectady in Brooklyn. He wasn't sure where exactly but it shouldn't be too hard to find.
ratbuddy at 1:35PM on 09/11/08
@ratbuddy: You RULE! Thank you for finding that info. I might be heading out to Kingsbrook soon!
Adam Kuban at 1:49PM on 09/11/08
I'm 100% certain that there used to be one in the Union Square movie theater (Regal), on the second floor by a bunch of other vending machines; less certain whether it's there today, though I just saw a movie there a few weeks ago.
Wousin at 5:26PM on 09/11/08
NASTY! Why don't they make a doughnut-dispensing machine? Or come out with a new SAFER Cornballer?
Vegas
SputnikHQ at 10:17PM on 09/13/08
I'm with the National Automatic Merchandising Association. If you're interested in fun vending machines go over to ww.CoolVending.biz. There are a variety of different machines, some history and "The Secret Life of Vending Machines."
Adam, If you're interested in attending the vending expo in October, let me know.
mascan at 12:52PM on 09/15/08
Now, what would be cool if someone made an AMAZING pizza that came out of a vending machine. Combo proof box, 825F oven, San Marzano tom's, Caputo OO and so on...
Can you imagine the publicity that would garner ?
Chefhorn at 5:39PM on 09/15/08
"Hot Choice" Tombstone Deep Dish Pepperoni Pizza
Submitted by Robert Moor
Visiting my old alma mater last week, I was drawn like a gluttonous moth to a vending machine reading "Tombstone Pizza." Yes, pizza from a vending machine. I stood, perplexed, imagining the birth of warm pizza from this cold mechanical womb. An undergrad strolled by and chuckled, obviously familiar with this pitiable sight. "Have you tried it?" I asked. "It sucks. No one even bothers," she responded. With that, of course, my mind was set. I would do what no one else had the heart to do—I would venture into the future.
After some deliberation, I opted for the pepperoni pizza, choosing it over other, less traditional choices such as chicken fingers, barbecue chicken pizza, or a warm Oreo brownie. I fed it my three dollars (!) and eagerly watched the baking process on a small digital screen.
The result? One minute later, the machine spit out a small cardboard package, which it warned would be "Very Hot." Inside was a hot (not very hot) "pizza" about the size of a video iPod. Approximately 75 percent of this tawdry square was composed of dough, which was thick, salty, and tasted something like baked Silly Putty. The bright-red pepperonis were tiny, faintly reminiscent of Bacos ("MADE WITH PORK, CHICKEN, AND BEEF," the package proudly proclaimed), and actually more numerous than the shreds of cheese by a ratio of 2-to-1. Needless to say, I devoured it in a matter of seconds.
After one bite, I understood the undergrad's grave warning. Never eat pizza from a machine. It's like making love to a Terminator: almost satisfying, but slightly creepy, and there's always the possibility that it will collapse your chest cavity with one fatal blow. Thank you, Tombstone, but I'll take my pizza the way it was meant to be prepared: baked lovingly by burnt-out hippies and their disgruntled, overweight, mustachioed Italian managers. Or underpaid illegal immigrants. Whichever.
(i shamelessly copy-pasted this from http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/newfood/. internet faux pas?)
boltchloer at 1:00AM on 09/17/08