38 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 

I

t’s 3 a.m. and you’re hungry, 
but all the restaurants are 
closed, and you don’t want to 
cook. No, you’re not out of luck. 
A new local option can give 
you a fresh, hot pizza and treats 
within 3-4 minutes — surely, 
the definition of quick and easy.
ZaBot Pizza Robot is avail-
able 24/7 in the parking lot of 
Southfield-based Capri Pizza. 
While the machine may strike 
some as odd, most users seem 
to agree with company CEO 
David Tessler that it’s actually 
a genius idea. He and busi-
ness partner Paul Chambers 
launched ZaBot in early 
October and plan to offer many 
more.
The partners bought Capri, 
an independent New York-style 
pizzeria serving beer and wine, 
at the beginning of the COVID 
pandemic in 2020. Capri’s sec-
ond owner since it started in 
1960 was looking to retire after 
25 years. Tessler, 40, of Beverly 
Hills said he wanted to own 
Capri “to preserve the recipes I 
love and keep it from becoming 
just another pizza chain.
”
A labor shortage proved to 

be a challenge for the busi-
nessmen. Seeking to automate 
the kitchen, they became 
interested in purchasing robot-
ic equipment after learning 
online about pizza-dispensing 
machines in Europe. It was an 
intriguing concept that hadn’t 
caught on yet in the United 
States.
Research revealed that Pizza 
Robotics is a cloud-connected 
platform that combines robotics 
and machine learning, allowing 
restaurants to operate autono-
mously. An example of a robot 
operating at full capacity stated 
that it can deliver customized 
pizzas in five minutes (or less), 
make 10 pizzas at the same 
time and allow one pizza to be 
dispensed every 47 seconds. 
A robot can cost upwards of 
$100,000.
Tessler said, “We fell in love 
with the design of the machine” 

they imported to become their 
first ZaBot. 
The machine’s most import-
ant feature is that it uses two 
built-in pizza deck ovens. “Most 
pizza machines on the market 
use microwave or convection 
technology, which we felt com-
promised the quality of the 
product.
”
According to the ZaBot web-
site: “The two pizza ovens cook 
your pizza on the bottom and 
top, so you get perfect crust, 
tantalizing cheese and your 
choice of toppings — all in as 
little as three minutes.
”
A group of chefs and con-
sultants, including existing 
Capri Pizza staff, spent more 
than eight months developing 
and testing the ZaBot recipes. 
A third partner in the ZaBot 
company, formerly retired Ray 
Friedrich, brought 35 years of 
experience in the vending and 

corporate food service industry.
I decided to try ZaBot in 
November. After parking in 
Capri’s lot, I approached the 
large touchscreen on one side 
of a tall, cheerily decorated 
orange metal box. Touching 
the screen brought up the food 
options, including three styles 
of pizza: Pepperoni, Cheese 
and Veggie. “Meat Lovers” and 
“Capri Hawaiian-style” are 
newer options that might be 
stocked.

“We have some cool ones — 
like a breakfast pizza, Coney 
dog pizza and bean burrito 
pizza — that will be featured 
periodically in the ZaBots,
” 
Tessler said. “We are having a 
lot of fun with the development 
process and plan to continue to 
innovate new and exciting food 
offerings.
” 

The screen I touched, before 
ordering what I wanted with 

ZaBot Pizza

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

NOSH
DINING AROUND THE D
The ZaBot 
Pizza Robot

Esther Allweiss Ingber 
receives her finished 
pizza from the machine.

ESTHER ALLWEISS INGBER