American pseudofood delivery service Domino’s has shuttered its last 29 franchises in Italy, claiming that the shutdown was due to consumers returning to their old habits of going out to eat and not relying on delivery services as they did during the pandemic, Bloomberg reported.

Shockingly, however, Italians did not cotton to the menu of the American company, which promoted pizza as a platform for variations of cheeseburger, Buffalo chicken and cheesesteak toppings.

The history of pizza starts in Italy, with the word first being used in the town of Gaeta around the year 1000 A.D.  Pizza is very different in its home country than what Americans tend to think of it:  dough, tomato sauce (sometimes), cheese and virtually any food that you want, from pineapple to anchovies to gyro meat.  And while Italian pizza varies from town to town, American versions run a much wider spectrum from “stuffed” pizzas to a casserole called Chicago deep dish pizza. 

Domino’s had planned to spend millions to open as many as 800 franchises in Italy when it first entered the market in 2015, but they topped out at just 37.  Local pizzerias began to offer delivery services to counter Domino’s invasion and bastardization of a national icon, and food delivery apps made getting local versions as easy as getting the American product.

ePizza SpA, the primary franchise operation for Domino’s in Italy, filed for court protection in Milan, claiming it has more than ten million euro in debts and no prospect of revenue now that its store have closed.