California Pizza Kitchen wants to put pizza vending machines in airports, college campuses, hospitals and hundreds of other high-traffic spots across the country, and the chain has already tested one right here in Ohio. The company plans to deploy up to 1,000 automated food kiosks nationwide over the next three years, using TurboChef ovens and touchscreen ordering systems to hand customers a finished pizza in as little as 90 seconds.
The Ohio test run happened at Dayton International Airport, according to a report from the Cincinnati Enquirer, part of the USA Today Network. Ohio currently has just one traditional California Pizza Kitchen restaurant, located at 1500 Polaris Parkway in Columbus, so the kiosks could mark the brand's biggest expansion into the state in years. The newspaper's report notes CPK could ultimately bring pizza vending machines to airports, colleges and other high-traffic locations throughout Ohio as the national rollout continues.
What's Actually In The Machine
These aren't just pizza dispensers. Per the Enquirer's report, the kiosks are set to sell pizza, bolognese spaghetti, kung pao spaghetti, several mac-and-cheese varieties and California Pizza Kitchen's butter cake. The company has already tested prototype kiosks at several airports, and Fast Company reports the machines produce seven-inch pizzas at an average price point of $12, using the same ingredients found in CPK's brick-and-mortar restaurants. CPK executive Michael Beacham told Fast Company the machines address consumer demand for convenience without delivery app fees or labor overhead.
CPK has partnered with retail tech firm T-ROC Global to make the 1,000-unit rollout possible, and the company will handle far more than just delivery. T-ROC is set to manage kiosk deployment, replenishment and maintenance through a logistics network of 32 regional warehouses, dedicated service vans and thousands of field technicians across North America, according to VendingFoodservice. The initial rollout will focus on clusters of at least 20 kiosks in 30 major U.S. markets, per the Enquirer's report, with locations planned for colleges and universities, sports venues, EV charging stations, residential communities, hotels, hospitals and office buildings. CPK also plans to install another 15 kiosks at universities later this year.
Beyond Dayton: Airports Already Testing The Concept
Ahead of finalizing its plan with T-ROC, CPK tested prototype kiosks in 2025 at major travel hubs including Boston Logan International, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Dallas Love Field, according to Inside Retail US. Those airport trials helped the company evaluate performance before targeting the 30 major metro markets now on the table. The Dayton airport test fits that same pattern of using travel hubs as proving grounds before wider deployment.
A Chain Rebuilding After Bankruptcy
The kiosk push comes as CPK works to reverse a rough stretch for its physical footprint. Franchise disclosure documents cited by Restaurant Dive show the chain's restaurant network shrank from 167 total locations in 2021 to 121 locations by early 2026, following 10 net store closures in 2025. That contraction occurred primarily among company-operated restaurants, while franchised locations stayed stable, the outlet reported.
CPK filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2020 after racking up more than $400 million in debt during pandemic shutdowns, emerging that November by exchanging debt for equity and shedding $220 million in liabilities, according to Restaurant Business Magazine. The chain, founded in 1985 in Beverly Hills by former federal prosecutors Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, was acquired in December 2025 by an investor group led by Consortium Brand Partners, with Convive Brands taking over global operations under CEO Jon Weber. The acquisition, backed by Bain Capital Credit, was aimed at accelerating franchise expansion and non-traditional restaurant formats like the kiosks.
A Crowded Vending Landscape
CPK isn't the first to try automated pizza. PizzaForno has already expanded across North American college campuses and convenience stores using French-developed convection baking technology, with equipment costs ranging from $85,000 to $109,000 per kiosk, according to Restaurant Technology News. The white-label kiosk technology allows operators to run 24/7 automated food service in as little as 50 to 80 square feet. Food and beverage vending machine sales across the U.S. and Canada hit $3.3 billion in 2025, a 5% increase over the prior year, and competitors including Chick-fil-A and White Castle have tested similar automated formats on a limited scale, Fast Company reported.
CPK has already had a presence in some high-traffic venues beyond traditional restaurants. Hoodline previously reported on Orange Chicken Touchdown as Panda Express Lands in Harry Reid D Gates, which noted CPK's food offerings sitting alongside other quick-service brands in a busy airport terminal, and on a Tampa entertainment venue that featured CPK alongside other concepts. Whether the new vending machines can maintain food quality across 1,000 unstaffed locations remains to be seen as the rollout expands.
