# Well, Domino's just displaced Papa John's in this house **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2010, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852 "2010-02-13T13:17:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/21 "2010-02-15T03:32:27Z")
Wow. _Really?_ Y’all like this new sauce _better?_ Best I can tell, they have made the sauce much sweeter, and cut back on the oregano. So _sugary_ and _bland_ is the “new and improved” flavor? It is more like ketchup than it was before. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/22 "2010-02-15T17:03:17Z")
I think it’s very good. I’m glad my palette/stomach isn’t too picky. And Pizza Hut/Dominoes seem to be competing on price which is great too. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/23 "2010-02-15T17:10:14Z")
I don’t hate it; then again I can tolerate most any chain pizza. I’ve never really liked Papa Johns and it’s been around me literally for years; it was founded in Louisville and I ate it when it was just a local chain. That said, who’s with me on Sir Pizza? That stuff can rival your local mom ‘n’ pop, at least the one near me, which has been in business since the early '70s, at least. The dough is hand tossed and you can smell it is actual yeast dough! Whee! The toppings are yum too. Too bad it’s like $25 for a large. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/24 "2010-02-15T17:11:52Z")
I’ve always liked Domino’s, in the “cheap delivery pizza” category. That is, I’ve always preferred it to Papa John’s or Pizza Hut. Naturally it’s not nearly as good as Mom & Pop pizzeria down the street. I haven’t tried the new formula, but if the sauce is sweeter, that’s not a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/25 "2010-02-15T19:43:38Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > 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. I had Pagliacci’s Pizza when I was in Seattle. I liked it pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/26 "2010-02-16T12:52:55Z")
So I tried it yesterday. Not as bad as it used to be. But not as good as it should be. The pieces were okay, but the diced tomatoes on top tasted… too tomato-ey. Makes me wonder if they’re soaking their tomatoes in MSG or something. They tasted like super-concentrated tomato essence… it was a little off-putting. ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/27 "2010-02-16T22:08:47Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > 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. Hey \*\*Lissner \*\*! Any good deep-dish pizza joints you could recommend for a fellow Seattle-ite? I moved here from Chicago and all I can find is floppy (but tasty) Pagliacci’s and such. I’ve not tried the new Dominoes, but I think I’m one of the few folks that actually liked their pizza beforehand. I look forward to trying the new and improved version. I’ve got a 2-month break from work coming up in a few weeks, and I plan to spend my first few days off and do nothing but order pizza, drink beer and play Bioshock 2. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/28 "2010-02-16T22:19:11Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > I had Pagliacci’s Pizza when I was in Seattle. I liked it pretty well. Serious Pie was pretty good when we had it a few years ago. For Pizza Hut, the only thing I’ll eat from there in a pinch is the lasagna, which isn’t bad at all. Locally, we have Pizzacato, which is pretty tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Zelski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c67d28/32.png) [@Zelski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zelski)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/29 "2010-02-16T22:46:15Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > 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. > [@CandidGamera](#): > > I had Pagliacci’s Pizza when I was in Seattle. I liked it pretty well. When I lived in the Seattle area, I noticed that the local custom seemed to favor undercooked crust. The crust was therefore doughy, flavorless, and usually too thick. Pagliacci was my favorite joint and I always ordered my pizza Well-Done. In that fashion, I say Pagliacci makes good pizza. I also liked Post Alley Pizza for a New York style before I walked to the Symphony. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/30 "2010-02-17T06:09:34Z")
The white sauce that Domino’s offers is a tasty alternative as well. Their website is fun, and it allows me to craft complicated alternatives on each half of the pizza, which I would never be able to communicate to the staff over the phone. Mom & Pop pizza is like Mom & Pop Chinese – it can be really good, but it can also be really nasty. Small size is not a guarantor of good quality. I think that to some extent “I can’t get good pizza around here” may be more accurately expressed as “I can’t get my preferred regional variant on pizza around here.” People who like New York or Chicago pizza are often quite passionate about it, but for most others, those styles aren’t what defines pizza quality. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/31 "2010-02-17T07:18:30Z")
I know pizza. Beside Little Caesars, I have worked for every major pizza company out there. I have visited dozens of “Mom and Pop” type pizza shops. The notion that “small pizza shops have a better product” is as true as it is false. Some of the smal shops have “o.k. pizza” Some have what I would call “Phenomenal” pizza. FTR I started my pizza experience with Papa John’s, and I still like that pizza the best out of the major chains. Outside of the chains, it’s a totally different story. I have not had the new Dominos, but it _has_ to be better than the slag they used to sell. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/32 "2010-02-17T14:53:14Z")
Well, my cousin once owned and operated his own pizaa shop. How to make good pizza? Simple: use : -good quality flour (cheap third-grade stuff won’t do) -use good quality tomato sauce (real crushed italian tomatoes-not cheap stuff which is thickened with corn syrup) -use good mozzarella cheese (not the fake cheese which is made from lard and powdered milk). My cousin told me that his cost for a large pizza (materials only) was about $4.00 (using high quality ingredients). The cheap chains use crap, which is why they get away with about $1.30 in costs). There IS a difference. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/33 "2010-02-17T15:07:02Z")
It’s ridiculously easy to make good pizza. My wife gave me a pizza cookbook one year, and the very first pizza I tried (the sauce was made by cooking down canned tomatoes; the dough was just flour and yeast) was better than anything I’ve ever eaten at a chain pizzeria and close to what you get at a good local place. The shortcuts you use to make the pizza for a chain kill the quality. ---
**Author:** ![dnooman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/839c29/32.png) [@dnooman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dnooman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/34 "2010-02-18T07:20:05Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s ridiculously easy to make good pizza. My wife gave me a pizza cookbook one year, and the very first pizza I tried (the sauce was made by cooking down canned tomatoes; the dough was just flour and yeast) was better than anything I’ve ever eaten at a chain pizzeria and close to what you get at a good local place. > > The shortcuts you use to make the pizza for a chain kill the quality. Making good pizza _is_ easy, it’s just not cheap, not ideally suited for mass production, and not super easy to make large profits from. I’ve been to dozens and dozens of pizza shops, and it really does come down to quality, depending on whom you ask. The cheese is (usually) the money sink, but it has to be good. The sauce has to have the right sweet/tart ratio, and can’t be bottom shelf quality. The dough can vary, especially by region, but it has to have a well thought out recipe, as well as proofing cycle, flour/corn/whatever agent, and time-to-cook rack time (for those that delay baking). There are three key secrets to selling pizza, but I really can’t relate them here. I’d like to save that for a potential business. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/35 "2010-02-18T07:36:24Z")
> [@dnooman](#): > > I have not had the new Dominos, but it _has_ to be better than the slag they used to sell. I tried it. The best I can say is that it’s an improvement in the way that being attacked by two rabid dogs is an improvement over being attacked by three. The pizza is BAD. Probably even worse in comparison to its competition than it was 20 years ago, when all pizza was bad. There’s plenty of good, cheap pizza out there now, but Dominoes is still far and away the worst of the bunch (including Little Caesar’s). I’ve never even had terrible mom’n’pop pizza (which can be pretty goddamned miserable itself) as bad as the new Dominoes, and the only pizza I’ve had worse than the new Dominoes is the old Dominoes. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/36 "2010-02-18T16:22:25Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > I tried it. The best I can say is that it’s an improvement in the way that being attacked by two rabid dogs is an improvement over being attacked by three. The pizza is BAD. Probably even worse in comparison to its competition than it was 20 years ago, when all pizza was bad. There’s plenty of good, cheap pizza out there now, but Dominoes is still far and away the worst of the bunch (including Little Caesar’s). I’ve never even had terrible mom’n’pop pizza (which can be pretty goddamned miserable itself) as bad as the new Dominoes, and the only pizza I’ve had worse than the new Dominoes is the old Dominoes. Maybe you should just stop eating pizza… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/37 "2010-02-18T16:40:23Z")
You people keep talking like Dominos’ new **sweeter** and **less spicy** sauce is an _improvement_. In what strange alternate universe do those changes “improve” pizza sauce? It was better _before_. Not that it was great before, but it was _better_. Y’all are just mindlessly buying into the Dominos “new and improved” ad campaign. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/38 "2010-02-18T16:52:42Z")
People like what they like, **spoke-** , and an ad campaign can’t make you like something you wouldn’t have without it. All it can do is get you to try it. It got me to try it. And I fully agree with the fundamental point of the OP. It used to be worse than Papa John’s, the new recipe is a bit better. I also agree with you–an ideal pizza sauce would be spicier & less sweet than what Domino’s is currently using. That doesn’t mean _any_ spicier and less sweet sauce would be better; for example, the spicier and less sweet sauce Domino’s used to use would definitely be a step down. Lord, that was foul. And in conclusion, I also agree with most everyone else in the thread. I have no plans to order from Domino’s pizza at any point in the future; the improvement, while noticeable, does not reach ‘good’. My pity for the OP, who apparently has no other choices than this or Papa John’s (where’s the puke smiley when you need it?), is beyond anything I can put into words. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/39 "2010-02-18T17:34:26Z")
The best “chain” pizza place here in New England is **Papa Ginos** , Domino’s is bland (although I do like their grilled sandwiches), the best small pizza shops in my local area are Pizza Market in Eliot, Me, Wildcat Pizza in York, Me, and Smileys in Dover, NH Pizza Hut/Dominos are just bland mass-market pizzas ---
**Author:** ![notsoheavyd3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/85e7bf/32.png) [@notsoheavyd3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notsoheavyd3)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852/40 "2010-02-18T18:01:04Z")
> [@MacTech](#): > > The best “chain” pizza place here in New England is **Papa Ginos** , Domino’s is bland (although I do like their grilled sandwiches), the best small pizza shops in my local area are Pizza Market in Eliot, Me, Wildcat Pizza in York, Me, and Smileys in Dover, NH > > Pizza Hut/Dominos are just bland mass-market pizzas Bah, the best pizza chain in NE is Pizzeria Regina. (Hey, they’ve got about 10 locations so they’re technically a chain.) Worst for me is oddly enough not Dominos but another local chain, Sweet Tomatoes. (I’m sorry, pizza sauce is not supposed to be sour like vinegar. Well ok, the sauce is really just a bunch of chopped up raw tomatoes which is why it’s sour. Alot of people seem to like it but I thought it was just horrid.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/well-dominos-just-displaced-papa-johns-in-this-house/528852.md?page=3)