I just ate part of a “wombocombo” pizza from Round Table and, like all the other chain and store-bought pizzas, it too was disgusting garbage.
Aren’t there any pizza joints that make truly great pizzas? Domino’s, God Father’s and all the rest … are just so disappointing.
I haven’t tried all the national pizza chain products, but I’m guessing they’re all the same tired, old thing. Is that true or not in your opinions?
Thanks. now feeling ill
Good grief… They put “womb” in the name of their pizza?
I’ll admit it; I like Pizza Hut! There, I said it. Especially the pan meat lovers.
The quality of the pizza is inversely proportional to the number of restaurants in the chain. One restaurant = good pizza. Many restaurants = mediocrity.
Depends. I never eaten a pizza that I felt was garbage(though I’m of the school that you have to work at making a bad pizza), though some are certainly better then others.
This is not true in the sense that one restaurant <> good pizza. I have tried several local pizza places that deliver and can say that many of them are worse than even Domino’s.
I hate Pizza Hut and Domino’s, but I really like Papa John’s. Unfortunately there aren’t any around where I live.
There’s a fantastic family-owned pizza joint right across from my apartment building, though. They know my regular order too, and they start preparing it as soon as I walk in the door. 
RealityChuck’s formula is not true, though. There are lots of individually-owned pizza places with awful stuff.
If your ever around St. louis, theres a good pizza chain called Imo’s
and even if your not from st. louis, you can get it delivered frozen to your door
I think it’s only regional, but Pizza King/Sir Pizza is fine by me. When I get a pizza, though, it’s more often a local one from Scampy’s or Art’s.
The best pizza I ever had was from Lou Malnati’s in Chicago. Thick, hearty, deep dish pizza with spinach and pepperoni on a whole wheat crust. They have several locations in the Chicago area so technically they’re a chain, but damn are they fantastic.
Pizzeria Uno, another Chicago-style restaurant, is a national chain with a few restaurants in the Orlando area, and I think they’re pretty good too. So is California Pizza Kitchen, which is delicious (if expensive). But both Uno and CPK are sit-down restaurants that happen to specialize in pizza, so it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that they blow away your typical Pizza Hut/Domino’s/Little Caesar’s.
Mellow Mushroom is a franchise. Some are great and others not so much. Alot of it depends on what you’re looking for. The Chi-town style described by Lou is not my bag. I much prefer the NY style. That being the case, most neighborhood pizzerias are pretty okay (it’s all in the sauce and the application thereof)
Slight hijack: I keep hearing this, but every Pizzeria Uno I’ve ever seen has been a grease-to-go joint attached to a gas station…and I’ve seen quite a few. Is this a seperate chain that happens to have the same name, or do the sit-down versions (which I’ve never encountered) serve up a markedly different product from their fast-food bretheren?
Pizzeria Uno, California Pizza Kitchen and Bertucci’s are three that I find incredibly tasty. On the other hand, they are all on the pricey and frou-frou side of pizza.
Are all national pizza chain pizzas garbage?
Yes. Yes, they are. Fortunately, I recently found a good place that delivers.
Pizza Hut isn’t horrible, but they pissed me off recently. I bought a fundraiser card from some mother of band member at work. Supposed to get 30 free pizzas (with regular order) over the course of a year. I got one. Next time I ordered, they said, “we don’t accept those cards anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Someone was selling them illegally, so we don’t take any of them anymore.”
Oh well.
There are actually a few good mom & pop shops in my area of Las Vegas that are better, so it is not like I can’t get my pizza fix elsewhere.
BTW, some of those newer self-rising frozen pizzas are not all that bad if you add some toppings to them. Just get the plain cheese pizzas and then get your own fresh ingredients to add to it. Not the best pizzas in the world, but cheap enough and faster than waiting for some delivery guy to show up.
Yep… though I’m normally a Papa John’s kind of girl (when I lived in NB the nearest pizza place we had was Pizza Shack - okay, but not great), I went to California Pizza Kitchen recently. Seemed a little frilly to me, but I thought, what the hell. I tried the Pear and Gorgonzola pizza.
To. Die. For.
I long for gallbladder surgery so that I can go back for more of that shit.
I think Old Chicago is a national chain, and I love their Taos pizza. It is obviously made fresh, from fresh ingredients. I know from personal experience that some of the chains use frozen and/or canned ingredients.
There’s a chain in the Portland area calle Pizza Schmizza that is really good - I don’t think they’re national, though.
Yes, there are. You’re taking a chance. But an individually owned pizza place at least has a chance of serving great pizza, whereas a chain will never do better than OK. People go to chains to eliminate risk, not to get great pizza.
I like our Mellow Mushroom pizza here in Lexington… and they have a great beer selection including a lot of microbrews.
Sir Pizza is a free pass to the ER around here. Ugh.
As a native New Jerseyan, all pizza chains that try to do standard Italian pizza are junk, compared to the local pizza joint. OTOH, I like Pizza Hut because it tries to do something different and does it well. Also, I love BBQ Chicken & Red Onion pizza, and that’s usually only available at semi-upscale chains.
I like Papa John’s. In fact, I crave it on occasion. I think it’s the tomato sauce.