Donatos to open autonomous airport restaurant in June
A pizza chain is bringing a high-tech franchise location to John Glenn Columbus International Airport in Ohio.
Columbus, Ohio-based Donatos Pizza and its sister company, smart kitchen technology developer Agape Automation, are partnering with robotic food tech provider Appetronix to open the pizza chain’s first robot-operated restaurant in its headquarters city.
The new fully automated Donatos Pizza restaurant will debut before security in front of Concourse B at the John Glenn Columbus International Airport in June 2025 and will be operated by franchisee HMS Host.
The autonomous restaurant will operate 24/7, leveraging robotics and data science technologies to streamline the customer experience from placing orders to receiving their pizza while they watch it being freshly prepared in real time.
"We're not just adding tech to a restaurant; we're jumping in with a fully autonomous restaurant,” said Kevin King, president and CEO of Donatos Pizza. “But, most importantly, we're going to continue to serve great tasting abundantly topped pizzas and provide a top-notch customer experience that Donatos has always been known for."
The new automated restaurant is part of a larger four-point strategy Donatos Pizza launched in March 2025, which includes innovating for the future, staying relevant, driving sustainable growth and leading with vision. Other high-tech efforts Donatos is undertaking include implementing a new voice AI-based ordering system from Revmo AI that will automate its phone orders.
[READ MORE: Donatos Pizza automating phone voice ordering]
Rollout to all 174 Donatos restaurants across multiple states is expected to be completed by May 2025. The company anticipates that Revmo's AI-based voice ordering technology will enhance the customer experience and increase order conversions, ultimately driving revenue across its locations nationwide.
"Bringing this first-of-its-kind autonomous kitchen to life in collaboration with Donatos has been an extraordinary journey and marks a defining moment for the future of the restaurant industry," said Nipun Sharma, Co-Founder & CEO of Appetronix. "With our state-of-the-art, AI-powered robotic technology, we're delivering hot, fresh pizza with unprecedented precision and efficiency. This is more than innovation-- it's a transformative leap for the QSR space, setting a new standard for consistency, speed, and customer satisfaction."
According to Donatos, this technology has the potential to transform food service in airports, hospitals, college campuses, industrial environments, and other location where a traditional kitchen may not be feasible.
Headquartered in Columbus, Donatos and its franchise partners operate over 175 stores. Donatos Pizza is also served in nearly 300 non-traditional locations nationwide, including select Red Robin restaurants.
