Photo taken on May 4, 2021 shows an automatic pizza vending machine in downtown Rome, Italy. The vending machine is capable of kneading, seasoning, cooking and delivering the pizza in a carton box in three minutes only.(Photo: Xinhua)

Raffaele Esposito, the 19th century Neapolitan credited with inventing Italy's most famous type of pizza, may be turning in his grave: Rome has a new vending machine which slides out freshly cooked pizzas in just three minutes.

Buyers using the flaming red Mr Go Pizza machine can choose from four different kinds of pizzas costing €4.50 ($7) to €6.

The machine kneads and tops the dough, and customers can watch the pizza cook behind a small glass window.

Reviews by customers of the machine, one of the first in Rome, ranged from "acceptable if you're in a hurry" to outright horror.

"It looks good but it is much smaller than in a restaurant and there is less topping," said Mr Claudio Zampiga, a pensioner.

Ms Fabrizia Pugliese, a Naples native and university student in Rome, gave the machine-made pizza a try and gave it a thumbs down, saying it tasted more like a "piadina", an ultra-thin soft unleavened bread wrap popular in northern Italy.

"It's okay but it's not pizza," was her verdict.

In its current location, at least, the Mr Go Pizza machine will face stiff competition getting a slice of the market.

Nearby is the Napolitano restaurant, which uses a brick oven.

Reuters