Well, Domino's just displaced Papa John's in this house

Cafe Society
1

A month or two ago we saw a really ballsy, memorable ad for Domino’s, where they showed people complaining how their pizza sucked, and they said they had heard and revamped everything.

Around here not many local places deliver, and honestly, sometimes I just want to push buttons on my computer and have pizza magically appear, rather than calling. So we have been known to use Papa John’s every couple weeks or so. But we were intrigued by this crazy Domino’s ad, so I gave them a shot.

Ways in which they rock:

  1. You can order normal, heavy, or light for every topping, including sauce. Since we’re trying to eat more sanely, it was nice to be able to plug in “light cheese” and be done.

  2. Their sauce is indeed better - just a bit of spice, enough so we noticed, but my 6yo didn’t reject it.

  3. You can get spinach and roasted red peppers, which helps us up the vegetable quotient.

  4. This kind of counteracts the healthy eating thing, but they paint the edge of the crust with a garlic concoction that is delicious.

  5. Once you put in your order, a status bar pops up that tells you what’s happening to your pizza, and who is in charge of it, as in “Jay put your pizza in the oven at 5:02.” It’s pretty nifty!

(Also, in case you’re wondering, the founder, who was the one who gave gobs of money to conservative causes, including pro-life groups and thus spawned the “Domino’s is anti-choice” meme, is no longer associated with the company.)

2

Lately I have heard many people have been saying good things about Dominoes, and I wondered if they were right, so I tried them also.

Everything you said is right. They have much improved taste and texture, and many nifty little features.

The commercial is true, Dominoes has gotten better.

3

But they can no longer fax me a pizza in 30 minutes or less.

4

I will return to Domino’s when they overturn Tom’s biggest mistake and bring back the original Twisty Bread and Goop™, and not a single second before.

5

From some places a fax of a pizza would be just as tasty as the actual pizza.

6

Hasn’t been for 22 years, actually.

7

?? Per Wikipedia, Tom Monaghan sold the company in 1998, and it sounds like he was active in management until then.

Oh, or was “22” a typo for “12”?

8

22 was a typo for 12.

9

Yeah, like the cops will buy that one! :smiley:

10

22 is the new 12.

Haven’t had a pizza delivered in many many years, but tempted to try.

11

I can’t defend Papa John’s on any of the others, but they do allow you to choose extra, light, or no sauce, and light or no cheese. I love getting extra sauce on my pizza, and my friend, who’s more or less forced into a vegan diet, will get no cheese on hers. It works very well.

12

Papa Johns is mediocre pizza. So is Pizza Hut. Dominos was a little bit worse before the reboot; I haven’t tried it’s new version, but I expect it to be no more than mediocre, either.

We have two pizza places within a three-minute drive that is better than anything any of the chains put out – and several others that I’d try before them.

The rules of pizza chains is the same as the rules for bookstores or Italian restaurants – the smaller the chain, the better the quality.

13

Domino’s is the most disgusting pizza I have every had. Doughy, bland, tasteless; the taste it drew from the cardboard it came in actually overpowered any native pizza taste. It would have to be one hell of a reboot to get me to give it another go.

That said, there IS no pizza in Seattle: what people out here call pizza resembles real pizza only in that it’s vaguely round and wider than it is high. But there’s a little mom & pop sandwich joint in my neighborhood that makes a pizza-like dish that doesn’t actually trigger my gag reflex, so I don’t see myself even bothering to try Domino’s any time soon.

14

I’ve never understood the appeal of Papa John’s pizza. Their crust is always a soggy, gooey mess. I’ve tried the new Domino’s and it definitely seemed better, and I’ve always enjoyed the pizza tracker.

15

I"ll echo this.

I’ve declined over the years to eat either Papa John’s or Domino’s. I tell my kids and associates, “you eat the pizza, I’ll eat the box.” And, I meant it. They both sucked.

I’m not really into giving Domino’s a second chance, not when there are many, many local pizza places that do it right the FIRST time. They don’t need a second chance.

16

Bah. The new Domino’s is still horrible.

17

I think The Onion’s AV Club article nails it.

A few quotes from the article:

[ul]
[li]“Way better than Domino’s used to be. Instead of the worst pizza in the city, this is entirely generic pizza.”[/li][li]“Last time I ordered Domino’s, I literally couldn’t eat it. This is boring, as opposed to bad.”[/li][li]“With its new pizza, Domino’s has finally, conclusively risen to the level of mediocrity. Almost.”[/li][/ul]
But the best quote, and the one most relevant to me:

[ul]
[li]“I honestly can’t remember the last time I ate Dominos—not to be a snob, but we live in Chicago. Why would you need to settle?”[/li][/ul]

That said, there’s a Domino’s nearly a stone’s throw away from me, and one night I did want some cheap, delivered (I was a bit buzzed, didn’t want to drive) pizza. So I gave it a whirl.

It is improved, no doubt. Not good. But no longer an affront to taste.

That said - and here comes the TMI -

(spoilered for disgusting biological TMI)

[spoiler]Though it didn’t taste horrible, I got the shits something fierce the next day. I even decided to give the pizza the benefit of the doubt, ate a few more slices of leftover pizza that same next day. Exact same result. Stomach was rumbling and I made like a dozen trips to the restroom, with the same unpleasant results.

I will not be repeating the Domino’s experience, my GI tract forbids it. And I don’t have a delicate stomach by any measure. I can eat BK, White Castle, local tacquerias with no problems. But Domino’s new pizza completely wrecked me.[/spoiler]

18

I thought perhaps you were talking about the new “puffery” commercial that Domino’s put out, dissing Papa Johns.

I have been meaning to try the new Domino’s pizza. I’ll give it a whirl. If it’s better, I’ll stick with them. I don’t eat much delivery pizza, so it’s not like either of their flavors are fresh in my mind.

19

Oh, there’s no doubt that privately owned mom & pop places turn out something that is really almost a different (superior) food. I don’t consider Domino’s to compete with a good local-store pizza.

But for us, Domino’s is good for what it is: generic mass-produced pizza. And never mind driving to the local joint - sometimes I’m just not in the mood to talk to someone on the phone. (While the characters are being satirized, I laugh at them while also totally understanding the discussion at the end of this Best In Show clip:))

20

Okay, I finally gave in to the new hype and ordered a Domino’s pizza yesterday. Although I haven’t had Domino’s since the mid '90s, I remember it being the absolute, hands down, worst pizza I’d ever tasted. It actually tasted like the box it came in smelled, and the texture of the dough was horrible.

This time 'round, they’ve found a way to eliminate the cardboardy taste and texture, and the sauce is different but, don’t be fooled, Domino’s is still NOT good pizza. I’d say it’s about on par with Papa John’s but with less of a pizzaey taste, so it’s slightly less flavorful/more bland than both Papa John’s and Pizza Hut.

Although Domino’s is not as bad as when I had it about 15 years ago, any local pizza place in New York or Chicago, on their worst day, will sell pizza that’s far superior in every way. I’m afraid looking like pizza is about as close to being pizza as Domino’s will ever get.

My curiosity has been satisfied. I won’t try Domino’s again.