A Round Pizza Box Sounds Ideal, But Here's Why It'll Probably Never Happen

We can fly a drone on Mars and mold avocado-shaped avocado holders, so how come pizzas are circular, but the boxes are square? Where are our round pizza boxes? Sure, Domino's has those angled interior corners, but really the box is just barely trapezoidal. So what's the deal? The question has been asked more than once and even gained some traction in 2023 on TikTok. Why are pizzas round and their boxes square?

Best guesses are all over the place. One commenter on TikTok suggests the empty space created by square corners convinces you you're eating less pizza because it doesn't fill the whole box (not bad!). Some think it's a historic holdover from when pizzas were square or rectangular (it's not). Another suggests it's so you can put a selection of dips in the corners of the box (now that pairing pizza and dressings like ranch and French is so popular, that kinda makes sense). But the reality is more practical: Square and rectangular boxes are cheaper and easier to make in one piece than customized shaped options, and they're simpler to stack flat. Since tradition carries a lot of momentum — like how king cakes are associated with Mardi Gras —once a square box was chosen for serving and delivering pizza, there was really no looking back.

Beginning in the late 19th century, pizzas were delivered in cylindrical or cubical copper containers (called stufas), followed by paper wrappers and bags. The first specially designed cardboard boxes weren't up to the task of holding hot, greasy pizzas and collapsed when stacked. Domino's is generally credited with introducing a successful stackable, corrugated pizza box in the mid-1960s. Called the Michigan-style pizza box, it's still an industry standard 60 years later.

The simple fact is a square box is the most practical option for pizzas. They're cut and constructed as one piece, lay flat when stacked, and are easily folded into delivery shape by store employees. Square boxes hold a round pizza in place, they stack well in a soft-sided transport warmer, and fit easily into warming ovens. The design also makes it easier to reach in and grab a slice compared to a form-fitting circular box.

Some companies are thinking outside the square box: Triangular clamshells for individual slices are now common. Alibaba offers octagonal pizza boxes, and Green Paper Products has a fancy circular tree-free version,, though it's expensive. And in 2019, Pizza Hut (the first chain to deliver pizza to space in 2001) began experimenting with a compostable round pizza box. It was tested/marketed at one Phoenix store to promote the Hut's new Garden Specialty Pizza. However, the company does not seem to have gone forward with the design.