# The big 3 USA pizza companies, which do you prefer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2018, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962 "2018-07-15T20:13:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/61 "2018-07-16T22:15:04Z")
The correct answer is **no**. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/62 "2018-07-17T01:47:19Z")
Here in Peru: Papa John’s Domino’s (coming back last year after a two-year, cockroach-related incident) Pizza Hut ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/63 "2018-07-17T02:57:29Z")
Dominoes has brownies and lava cakes that aren’t too bad. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/64 "2018-07-17T03:04:42Z")
Of the three listed, my answer is, “Um, I guess Pizza Hut, since I’ve actually had it.” For chain pizza, I love Round Table. More often than not, we get take and bake from Papa Murphy’s. ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/65 "2018-07-17T03:27:33Z")
Dominos - we just had it a couple of weeks ago. I usually get the Pacific Veggie pizza and that’s what I ordered except I had them add bacon. I’d have to say that was possibly the best pizza I’ve ever had. The cheesy artichoke one at Pizza Rock was a close second. I used to love Pizza Hut pan pizza but it seems more greasy but less buttery than I remember. It is second choice when we want something cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/66 "2018-07-17T04:00:39Z")
I’ll echo many - of those three the re-formulated Domino’s if I really had to choose. It’s vaguely edible. Round Table is passable if you could expand the list to top 10, but way over-priced relative to quality. But 95% of the time I prefer local pizzerias. In my area Gioia with a staggering two outlets is my go-to. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/67 "2018-07-19T23:08:07Z")
I haven’t eaten Dominoes regularly since the 80’s and not at all since 94 when I had one in Canada delivered to a motel in Niagra Falls. They’ve completely revamped since then but there are none near enough to bother with when I could get Jet’s or a half dozen other places closer. Papa Johns I’ve only had a few times, I think they were more expensive and again, not a convenient location nearby. PIzza Hut, most of the close ones shut down and yeah, no close ones to go to, but I liked them back before they became so hard to get. I wouldn’t put Papa Johns in the “big 3” btw, I’d say Little Caesars is far more prevalent anyway. Cheap and easy… er Hot and ready may not be gourmet, but it’s certainly been successful. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/68 "2018-07-20T11:58:45Z")
Pizza Hut, but mostly because it offers a better experience. You can sit down, have a waiter, drink a beer or wine, and get a pan pizza. The others don’t do table service. If we limit ourselves to counter service stores, then my favorite (Jet’s) isn’t even on the list, but they’re not quite national yet, either. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/69 "2018-07-20T12:47:32Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > I wouldn’t put Papa Johns in the “big 3” btw, I’d say Little Caesars is far more prevalent anyway. Cheap and easy… er Hot and ready may not be gourmet, but it’s certainly been successful. [Papa John’s](https://www.pizzatoday.com/pizzeria-rankings/2017-top-100-pizza-companies/) actually has more stores as of 2017. On that last list, they’re also number three by sales (though just barely.) But store-wise, they’re ahead by 10%-ish, 5097 vs 4456. I’m sure it varies by region, but if I were making a “Big 3” list of Pizza places, it would be the same as the OP. That said, it probably should be “Big 4”, as the next big drop off in units and sales occurs from place #4 to #5 (Papa Murphy’s, which we don’t even have around here. Closest one is apparently 70 miles away.) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/70 "2018-07-20T14:02:08Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Pizza Hut, but mostly because it offers a better experience. You can sit down, have a waiter, drink a beer or wine, and get a pan pizza. The others don’t do table service. When I was a kid (thirty or forty years ago), Pizza Hut locations were only the traditional red-roof sit-down restaurants with a salad bar, wait staff and tables where you could sit and enjoy a meal. But they’ve mostly switched to smaller storefront locations that are designed for pickup and delivery. The one closest to me has a couple of two-top tables, so you could in theory eat there. But you’d be sitting directly in front of the cash register. Pizza is now something that people order for home delivery when it used to be something that you went out for. ---
**Author:** ![Hi\_Neighbor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hi_neighbor/32/494_2.png) [@Hi\_Neighbor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Neighbor)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/71 "2018-07-20T14:42:30Z")
Pizza Hut Papa John’s Domino’s John Schnatter is a piece of fucking shit, but eating Domino’s makes me physically ill. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/72 "2018-07-20T15:14:41Z")
Little Caesar’s would be my choice if it were on the list. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/73 "2018-07-20T18:18:13Z")
Papa johns was the first with online ordering so became entrenched as a favorite for me and most of my associates, socially anxious people with the internet. I prefer Dominoes but no one else in my immediate family will eat it. I agree with the “top 3” selection, though Donato’s would probably replace one of them in my region. I ate Little Caesar’s a couple times in college in the late 90s but consider it about the same as the hot pizza you can buy from Walmart or at a gas station. I don’t really consider it a pizza place, without even getting into “my local place is the only real pizza” snobbery. Pizza hut was the place for birthday parties and eating in and getting the salad bar, a mint, and playing the jukebox in the 80s. I’ve ordered carry out a few times in the past decade and the service was always really bad and the food (which I really only got because of heavy promotions) not great. I don’t really do delivery too much because that’s an extra 8-9 bucks on average and I have a fuel efficient car and live close to most of these places. Plus places like Dominoes only do good prices on carry out sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/74 "2018-07-20T18:23:59Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > anyone remember the huts “bigfoot” pizza ? that was my go to for years after my pizza king went under (I miss the 24" inchers the one here made) Yes, and I remember when the current POTUS was the pitchman for the “Big New Yorker - The pizza so big it needs 3 zip codes.” I probably mostly remember it because of my then-GF’s jokes. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2018, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/75 "2018-07-20T19:00:03Z")
Of the three choices provided, I have eaten at Pizza Hut the most. My family likes to stop there on road trips for their lunch buffet. Personally I myself have always preferred their Thin N Crispy pizza over their Pan Pizza. Years ago Pizza Hut use to offer a thin crust pizza called The Edge that was really great too. Also New England has the Papa Gino’s chain which makes a fairly decent pizza as well. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/76 "2018-07-21T10:26:48Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Papa John’s overtook Little Caesars. I wonder how long that’ll last as the founder’s racism has become more well known. My brother and I were discussing this. He’s avoided Papa John’s since their take on the NFL players came out, and wondered if they’d finally lost me as a customer. I don’t think I’ll penalize the 15 or so people working at my local store for the antics of some guy they’ve never met. I really don’t have a favorite between the Big 3, but I voted Papa Johns because I go there the most often. I like it slightly more than Pizza Hut (there’s one in the same shopping center as Papa John’s), and Dominos is out of the way so I only get a pie there when I’m going to the Wal-Mart they’re next to (I only do carry-out). ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/77 "2018-07-21T12:48:37Z")
I haven’t had any of them for a long time. Vegan pizza from those places lost its charm when other places served vegan pizza with fake cheese or more vegan toppings. I remember being in a Papa John’s but don’t remember what the pizza tasted like. It couldn’t have been that good. Of the two remaining, I liked Pizza Hut. People in the thread are saying that Pizza Hut pizza was greasy. True enough. But my recollection was that Domino’s was greasier, so maybe things have changed. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/78 "2018-07-21T13:06:05Z")
I would have picked the same top three as the OP. I haven’t seen a Little Caesar’s in years. Given that, my answer is easy—Dominos. Dominos thin crust is a quality pizza crust, as good as any average sit-down pizza place. Pizza Hut is garbage ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/79 "2018-07-21T13:27:20Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2018, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962/80 "2018-07-21T17:15:06Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > Papa John’s started in Indiana but is hardhearted That is what I understand to be the problem with their boss: hardhearted, inhuman, callous jerk. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-3-usa-pizza-companies-which-do-you-prefer/817962.md?page=5)