Dominos Revamping Pizza Formula

[Chris Hennes]

According to this article at Slice, Dominos is changing basically everything about their pizza at the end of December. They are switching to a garlic crust, making the sauce sweeter and spicier, and changing up the cheese blend. I know there are a lot of Dominos haters here: are you going to give them another chance? Or did you think their old sauce was already too sweet? Anyone willing to confess to liking the old pizza? (I've certainly eaten my share, even once I left college!)

[HungryC]

When I read the subject line, I thought, "the pizza could only improve". Then I read your list of supposed improvements--proof that things can always get worse. Sweeter sauce? A garlic-flavored crust? Blech. I certainly ate my share of Dominos when it was the only thing available (why do Dominos franchises pop up in rural corners of our country? The franchise buy-in must be low.), but I can't say I ever chose it over almost any pizza alternative (excluding Papa John's, which I won't eat. Ever.)

Edited December 16, 2009 by HungryC (log)

[nakji]

I used to eat it in Korea when they were the only alternative - after our Sbarro closed. I wouldn't say it was great pizza, but since it came with pepperoni and without sweet potato or mayonnaise, it was an improvement over the alternatives.

But why a sweeter sauce? Is that to appeal to kids? Why not put ketchup on it and be done with it?

[pax]

Nothing they could do would induce me to eat there. They could have the Neopolitan Triple Platinum Star of Approval and I wouldn't support them.

[Moopheus]

I know there are a lot of Dominos haters here: are you going to give them another chance? Anyone willing to confess to liking the old pizza?

No and no.

When I was a freshman, the local Domino's had a deal where you could get a soda for 25 cents with a pizza. So we'd order a small pizza and sodas for everyone on the floor in the dorm. After a while, we could no longer get this deal, and stopped ordering from Domino's.

[pastameshugana]

Like Nakji, Dominoes used to be one of our few 'american' alternatives here in Bangalore. We ordered about once a week (of course, with spicy chicken tikka instead of pepperoni) and they delivered in 30 minutes, which was miraculous for this city.

Then Papa John's came to town, which is a couple degrees better, so we switched. For expats, it's more about eating something 'from home' than something really good.

Although, I don't think I ever ate dominoes even once in nearly 30 years in the US - and that's not likely to change, regardless of what they do.

[Dianabanana]

So naive am I, when I heard that they were changing their formula, I thought "Wow, it must be because Americans have been increasingly exposed to higher-quality pizza over the last 20 years and are losing their taste for such ridiculously sweet sauce." Sigh.

[rickster]

I read once somewhere that the taste profiles of Pizza Hut and Domino's pizzas are designed to appeal to kids and young teens, which were their core consumers. This was one reason why the sauce was so sweet.

[Chris Hennes]

Yet again the good folks at Slice have taken one for the team (actually, two) and gotten their hands on a couple of these "new, improved" pizzas, which are apparently available in Dominos' hometown of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Their basic verdict is that the sauce is improved and doesn't actually seem sweeter, the seasonings are applied on the outside of the crust and are near-imperceptible, and no difference in the cheese was evident at all. So, the pizza overall is better, but probably still not good enough to actually eat (unless you are a drunk and/or fiscally-challenged undergraduate, in which case, carry on...)

[gfweb]

(why do Dominos franchises pop up in rural corners of our country? The franchise buy-in must be low.),

My answer would be that urban areas, esp in the Pizza Belt (Boston to just north of Baltimore, in a 40 mile wide belt on either side of i-95) have enough good to great pizza that Domino's cannot survive.

[Moopheus]

And you would be wrong. There are a lot of Domino's in urban areas--even New York City and Boston. We have Pizza Hutts, Papa John's, California Pizza Kitchen, Sbarro, etc. also.

[Shamanjoe]

Whenever I get a pizza (usually as part of a deal to get a bunch of their cheese bread) I can rarely find the sauce on it at all, so i'm not sure how the change will improve things. As for the other stuff, they've come out with so many crazy pizza options of late that ordering anything from there is a chore, especially considering that half the time they muck up the order and send me the wrong sauce/toppings/cheese/etc.

[gfweb]

And you would be wrong. There are a lot of Domino's in urban areas--even New York City and Boston. We have Pizza Hutts, Papa John's, California Pizza Kitchen, Sbarro, etc. also.

Then only aliens from the rest of the country eat there. The kind of people in Letterman's studio audience. Or perhaps recent immigrants.

[technogypsy]

Sadly in the small Texas town I live in, Domino's is the best local pizza unless we make it ourselves. I think I just may cry as it sounds like they are making it worst.

<sigh> I miss real pizza...(That means NY style - that stuff from Chicago is bread )

Kevin

Edited December 24, 2009 by technogypsy (log)

[Marya D.]

I'm pretty convinced that I live in the worst place to get Pizza east of the Mississippi; Columbus Ohio.

There is a tradition here of cutting round pizza into squares, not that the edges pieces have any crust on them anyway, as there is a tradition of covering pies edge to edge, with too sweet sauce and an obscene amount of toppings. Does the surface need to be literally paved with pepperoni?

Still, I'd rather toil away an afternoon making my own pizza than go to Domino's.

[Scout_21]

I'm pretty convinced that I live in the worst place to get Pizza east of the Mississippi; Columbus Ohio.

There is a tradition here of cutting round pizza into squares, not that the edges pieces have any crust on them anyway, as there is a tradition of covering pies edge to edge, with too sweet sauce and an obscene amount of toppings. Does the surface need to be literally paved with pepperoni?

Still, I'd rather toil away an afternoon making my own pizza than go to Domino's.

I used to live in Columbus and the best purchased pizza I had there was Mama Mimis ...I really do miss their pizza as I'm now in Phoenix and soon to be Anchorage.

Edited January 8, 2010 by Scout_21 (log)

[Shamanjoe]

The box now has this whole spiel about how they've revamped their formula, it's so much better, etc. I think one of their new catch phrases is "Oh yes we did!"

Let's just say their crust is still horrible. Though definitely better than it was, their "light dusting of garlic" leaves your fingers greasy and covered in little granules, which is annoying. The sauce doesn't taste any different, when I can taste it at all. Their pizzas always seem to have little to no sauce, even if you order extra.

Bottom line, good in a pinch, but still nothing to compete with even the crappiest home-baked pizza.

[culinaryagent]

I just tried their new pizza the other day, I actually liked it. I thought they did a good job changing all of the ingredients and you can tell that their is definitely a difference in taste. I do still prefer Papa John's over all other pizzas however. Sadly, I miss "real" pizza that I used to have when I lived in New York.

[rad1964]

Being in CA, I really don't give Domino's a chance to full-fill my pizza needs. However, their cinnamon sticks with frosting are just what the sweet tooth craves. [very rare treat] since I have to order a few boxes of them to get delivery!

[Lilija]

Drunky guy at my house ordered two extra large cheese pizzas, this evening. I tried to talk him into the local joint, but he insisted, and since he was paying...

Well, I had two pieces. It's not killing me. The crust is better than the old stuff. The sauce might be a little better too, less acrid. The cheese is still crap. Maybe it's the alcohol talking, but it's actually, legitimately improved.

[LizD518]

I only order Dominos for a very specific taste-craving - their thin crust ham and pineapple. It is akin to having a carr's water cracker as the crust for your pizza- for some reason I like that. I like H & P from other places, but only Dominos does the thin crispy crust like that. Do they still do that crust, or have they improved that too?

[Chris Hennes]

I finally got around to trying their new pizza, two different ways. First, since I normally get their thin crust I got a couple of those. The sauce is better, but I don't really notice much difference in the cheese. The crust is the same on the thin crust, with no extra garlic stuff. Which it turns out is a good thing, because I think they need to go back to the drawing board on that one. The regular crust pizzas I tried were OK, until I got to the crust. I really am not a fan of dumping quite that much garlic on there. Has anyone tried and liked the garlic crust?

[Lilija]

I kinda liked the garlicky crust. It was like a big soft "buttery" breadstick, but very thin under the toppings, with a decent overall texture. It was markedly better than the dry cottony business going on before the improvement. I did like the sauce a lot better, I thought of all the things they replaced, the sauce was the most improved. Once upon a time, maybe as far back as the early 90s, they tried doing garlicky things to the crust, although back in those days, it was just dusted on, and it was absolutely horrid.

I'm an outspoken hater of Dominos, but I had some by chance, and I can honestly say it wasn't the worst thing.

[Dave the Cook]

Former Top Chef aspirant Fabio Viviani is hawking Domino's new "Artisan Pizza: hand-stretched crusts and "balanced" -- whatever that means -- ingredients. They look pretty good in the commercials and on the website. Should I now feel better about Domino's, or worse about Fabio?