Robot-made pizza comes to Rancho Cordova’s Nimbus Winery shopping mall. How does it taste?

PizzaForno is a mall kiosk for the 2020s.

The red-and-white stand in Rancho Cordova’s Nimbus Winery shopping mall hawks not cellphone accessories nor photo booth pictures, but robot-made pizzas ready in less than five minutes. Opened in June, it’s the first of its kind in the Sacramento region — and the first PizzaForno in California.

Customers order PizzaForno’s 12-inch pies through the Toronto-based company’s smartphone app or, more likely, the kiosk’s touch screen. There are six pizzas when fully stocked, classics such as Hawaiian, barbecued chicken and pepperoni, with take-and-bake options available for $1 off.

PizzaForno’s production is centralized at a facility outside of Chicago, where all proteins are cooked and crusts are baked 90% of the way through. The pies are then frozen, individually wrapped and shipped in bulk to PizzaForno licensees around North America, who insert up to 70 pizzas into the machines to be heated upon order.

After ponying up $11-$14 per pizza via card or mobile payment, you’re invited to sit back and watch a progress bar gradually make its way across the screen as the machine hums along. A small side window offers a glimpse into the machine’s arms at work, though you don’t see much of the actual pizza assembly.

In the Bay Area, the robot pizza revolution has already come and (largely) gone. Mountain View-based industry pioneer Zume was founded in 2015 and raised $445 million in funding, but shut down in June 2020 after several failed tweaks to its business model.

That hasn’t stopped others from trying, though, including a former SpaceX rocket scientist in Los Angeles and a Seattle pizzaiolo whose pies are sold at Mariners baseball games. PizzaForno markets itself as North America’s fastest-growing automated pizza chain, with more than 60 locations from hospitals to college campuses.

PizzaForno’s pizza itself leaves something to be desired, in my opinion. While the medium-thick crust has a nice level of chewiness, it’s noticeably droopy in an unattractive way, and scant mushrooms and wilted red peppers made a vegetarian option look particularly sad. The pizzas aren’t cut into slices, and individually-wrapped biodegradable knives somewhat hidden in a cubby aren’t ideal tools for that purpose.

Yes, it’s available 24 hours a day, but so are freezer pizzas in your own home, and you’re unlikely to notice much improvement in quality with this version. If you’re interested in trying this novelty item for yourself, it’s inside the mall at 12401 Folsom Blvd. in Rancho Cordova.

What I’m Eating

Sometimes, you just want a really good burger. Northeastern Sacramento County residents have gravitated toward Skip’s Kitchen for the past 13 years when that feeling has struck.

Everything is approachable at Skip Wahl’s “gourmet-casual” restaurant, a Carmichael dive along El Camino Avenue that emphasizes down-home food done right. Your meal will be comforting, and it might be free: employees fan out of a deck of cards after every order, and anyone who pulls a joker gets their food on the house.

Mini beef Wellingtons ($11.59) are a unique starter that exemplify that highbrow/lowbrow model. Five bite-sized strip steak pieces are marinated in oil and a proprietary spice blend, then wrapped in white wine-cooked mushroom duxelles before being covered with buttery, flaky puff pastry and served with a piquant dipping sauce. It’s the rich man’s version of pigs in a blanket, a happy hour version of a 1960s classic.

A hamburger feels mandatory for any first-timer, and while deluxe versions have cherrywood-smoked bacon or mushrooms sautéed in garlic butter, I opted for the Skip’s original ($12.70) featured in “Sacramento Eats: Recipes from the Capital Region’s Favorite Restaurants.”

A six-ounce, 85% lean blend of ground sirloin and chuck came nestled with tomatoes, red onions, pickles, lettuce and a house sauce (ketchup, mayonnaise and whole grain mustard) between two brioche buns. It comes with your choice of criss-cut or sweet potato fries: the former were fried too long on my visit to keep a fluffy center, so my recommendation is the latter.

Skip’s underrated star is a salad, of all things. The heap ($9) is as big as it sounds, a mound of spring greens and romaine lettuce with wonderfully contrasting bites sweet candied walnuts and dried cranberries, crunchy carrot ribbons and celery and savory bacon and blue cheese.

Skip’s Kitchen

Address: 4717 El Camino Ave., Carmichael.

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday, closed Sunday.

Phone: (916) 514-0830

Website: http://www.skipskitchen.com/

Drinks: Beer, wine and soda in old-fashioned translucent Coca-Cola cups.

Vegetarian options: Housemade mushroom-walnut patties are available for all burgers, and a few salads are meatless.

Noise level: Pretty loud.

Outdoor seating: A shaded patio with faux turf and picnic tables that’s nicer than the interior, though roadside.

Openings & Closings

▪ Badlands and The Depot co-owner TJ Bruce is opening Marilyn’s Pizza, a New York-style pizza parlor one block away from his LGBTQ+ bars at 2011 J St., Suite A in midtown Sacramento. It’ll replace Cafe Marika, once Sacramento’s lone Hungarian restaurant that closed in 2020 after 30 years in business.

▪ Kajiken will open its first area location Thursday at 7470 Elk Grove Blvd., Suite 120 in Elk Grove’s The Ridge shopping center. The San Mateo-based Japanese restaurant was recognized in California’s most recent Michelin Guide and specializes in abura soba, a brothless ramen.

▪ Tahoe Park’s new coffee and boba tea bar, Chaii, will host its grand opening Sunday at 2992 65th St., Suite 100. Look for macarons, banana-topped chocolate waffles and stuffed peanut butter cookies in addition to chai lattes and butterfly pea lychee lemonades.

This story was originally published August 22, 2024 at 11:00 AM.