What’s everybody’s favorite chain pizza. I’m not talking about the places that have a few regional outlets, but the big national restaurants.
My favorite would have to be Pizza Hut, hands down. There’s nothing quite like their pan crust, with it’s nice chewy, slightly crisp around the edge, texture, with just the right amount of grease soaked into it. It’s heavenly. I also love their sauce, thick, slightly sweet, slightly tart, with just the right amount of garlic and basil in it.
My love of the place probably also has to do with the fact that when I was a kid, it was what passed for fine dining where I lived, and was one of the few sit-down, non-burger joints you could go to with your family on a Saturday night. I remember the one in our town actually had a big roaring fireplace in the middle. So it was a real treat when my parents took us there.
On the other hand I’ve never been a fan of Domino’s. If I’m at a party or an office get-together and someone brings it in, and I’m hungry, I’ll take a slice or two, but I won’t spend my own money on it. The problem is that it tastes exactly like what it is - a factory product churned out by some overworked, underpaid teenager. And it doesn’t keep well at all. You try to reheat the next day and it’s like cardboard with really garlicky sauce on it.
Papa John’s is probably somewhere in the middle for me. I like sauce - sweet with a bit of spice in it - and their crusts are pretty good, but they’re lacking that greasy texture that can only come from using a well worn deep dish pan - like Pizza Hut.
re-heat pizza? who the hell does that???
I’ve never found a chain that makes decent pizza in the first place.
Thus to me, debating their relative merits is like debating the best vintage years of RC cola.
'76 was a very good year.
I prefer Pizza Hut to Dominoes but for real pizza I would go to a small family owned restaurant.
I grew up in northern NJ/Manhattan, which have more “authentic” pizza places than just about anywhere, so I never really went to chains. However, since moving to NC, I’ve had the opportunity to sample Papa John’s, Donato’s and Dominos. Can’t say I like any of them, but Donato’s is by far the worst. I’d have to say Papa Johns is my favorite of the group. Luckily, I have found some good local pizza places recently.
Papa John’s gets our business these days, mostly because it’s easy to order online and get quick service with minimal hassle. Their pizza is in the middle of the pile quality-wise but I love Qadgop the Mercotan’s remarks about vintage RC Cola!
Before that it was Roma’s (may be regional) but they drove us off with their rudeness and inconsistency.
It’s long gone around here, but the best pizza in my lifespan has been Shakey’s. They still around where you live?
Pizza Hut seems to be trying harder these days not to produce total shite. After avoiding all chain pizza places for many years, we tried their lasagna about a week ago and found it to be surprisingly edible, if a bit salty.
Definitely Pizza Hut. I also went there as a kid, in the mid-seventies. If you are of the same age, do you remember the candles in the red glass bowls?
As a fellow former New Yorker, I think we should be disqualified from answering this. When I lived in Louisville, I found that if a lifelong Louisville resident recommended a pizza place, that I should eliminate it from consideration. Cincinnati isn’t much better.
But to answer the OP - Papa John’s isn’t so much my favorite chain pizza as it is the least bad option. So I vote for them.
What a tough question. Locally, it would have to be Aurelio’s or Beggar’s. Those are the only chains I ever consider in this area. Even then, I can’t remember the last time I’ve been to either (although I’ve been meaning to hit an Aurelio’s for awhile now.) As for national chains, from what I remember, Pizza Hut and, dare I say, California Pizza Kitchen are the only ones I find edible. Domino’s is the worst, with Papa John’s and Little Caesars close behind.
Pizza Hut is my absolute favorite. In fact it’s the only kind of pizza I’ll eat if I have a choice. Thin crust medium, cheese only.
I do not like pizza from individual shops. Too much cheese and crust and goop. If I’m gonna blow the carbs and calories I might as well go with something I really like. Pizza Hut pizza is nice and normal and clean. I know that’s a weird way to describe pizza but that’s what I think when I eat it.
But seriously if I were really in the mood for pizza and something else with lots of crap on it was all I could get I’d eat it.
Papa John’s or Imo’s
Is Cristy’s big enough to be considered a national chain? It’s the only chain store pizza I eat regularly anymore. Every now and then, I’ll get Papa John’s or Little Ceasars.
Round Table is the best - it’s a big chain that actually makes pretty decent pizza. It’s regional rather than national, though.
Of the Big Three, I think Papa John’s does the best, followed by Pizza Hut, with Donimoes in a distant third.
These days when I get chain pizza it’s Papa Johns. The pizza itself is decent enough, but it’s really about their garlic butter sauce, which is so sinfully delicious I’m pretty sure the Mormons have outlawed it.
I owe my existence to Shakey’s Pizza.
Papa John’s is the best out of the big three (I suppose). Pizza Hut is an abomination unto pizzakind.
That sounds like an intriguing story!
It occurred to me to see if Shakey’s still exists. According to the Store Locator at http://www.shakeys.com/ the closest one to me is in Auburn, AL. A bit too far to drive – either for their delivery guy or me.
When I was a kid in Baltimore we had Joppy’s Pizza, which seems to be kind of the same thing. It was a shopping center Gay 90s-style joint with a player piano and you could get styrofoam boaters with striped bands to wear if you were a kid.
I liked that place. My dad used to take my sister and me there for a treat and to get us out of my mom’s hair on weekends. Cool for us because of the pizza and the hats. Cool for my dad because of the beer schooners.
And I meant it. My parents met at the original Shakey’s in Sacramento, California. (Wikipedia gives the location as 57th and J.) That was in the late 50’s, barely after they started franchising.
I checked their website, and there are still a few of them around. (More than a few, actually; and Wiki says they’re still big in the Philippines.) There are none in Sacramento, though. The nearest one to me is in Warner Robbins, Georgia; a mere 955 miles. (I kinda love that their website actually returns that result; it seems so marvelously optimistic.) And they’re opening new ones. Maybe I’ll track one down for old time’s sake next time I’m in Seattle.