Hand Tossed / Traditional Pizza Review (Chain)

A review of traditional style pizzas from national chains (specifically those in the Urbana, IL area) including: Domino’s, Jet’s, Little Ceasars, Papa John’s, and Pizza Hut.

Domino’s standard/traditional pizza (top left) has a slightly doughy base with a golden, crisp bottom. At the crust, the dough is crisp on the outside while remaining soft and well inflated on the inside (and covered with a tasty garlic butter). sauce is well distributed and in a good ratio with the other components. Its flavor was light on spices and pleasantly acidic. propietary blend of cheeses (equal parts monterey jack, mozzarella, white cheddar) and the carefully metered cook time means the cheese is both flavorful (properly browned) and tender (not overcooked). This contributes to the overall “tender bite” of the pizza; that is to say the selected bite separates from the rest of the slice with no gnawing or vigorous head shaking.
[COST: $8.49 after tax for 13 inch large.]

Jet’s NY style pizza (top right) has a firm dough with a crisp bottom. At the edges this dough terminates in a substantial, nearly crunchy, slightly tough, unflavored crust. The sauce was acidic and well spiced (almost floral), though a bit on the watery side (often contributing to cheese delidding). It’s distribution was appropriate, though it seemed to be dominated by other components. Even when hot, Jet’s 100% mozzarella cheese was quite tough (almost leathery), likely due to its quite generous application and possible overcooking. This, along with the watery sauce, was the prime cause of cheese deliddings, and contributed to the overall tough texture of the pizza. In the flavor department, the Jet’s cheese fails to make much of an impact, almost certainly since it is all mozzarella (great at melting, but low on flavor). These factors combine to make the sizable cheese layer the dominant component of this overall tough pizza. In a single sentence, the best way to describe this pizza is perhaps to mention that it is strongly reminiscent of arcade pizza (specifically Chuck E. Cheese’s, curse that place).
[COST: $12.48 (after 20% discount for text-to-order) for a ~14 inch pizza.]

Little Ceasars traditional round pizza stakes its claim on a spongy, blonde, and slight dough layer. At the crust this results in a rather deflated profile, which flattens to a point in the radial direction without ever ballooning up. Though the rest of the crust has a largely uniform texture, this pointed edge around the outside of the pizza does provide a firm and welcome crunch. Though applied in reasonable proportion with everything else, the sauce fails to make its presence know outside of its red color. Likewise, the cheese lacks any distinct or heavy-hitting flavors, though it too is applied in a reasonable proportion and cooked appropriately. This pizza is geometrically and flavorifically flat.
[COST: $6.68 for a ~13 inch Classic Cheese pizza.]

Papa John’s standard (and in fact only style of) pizza builds atop a thick and doughy base layer with a light crisp on the bottom and a chewy, pillowy, almost undercooked pull at the sauce interface. However, the crust portion suffered from the opposite problem. Though well inflated and crisp on the outside, the crust seemed to deflate and become quite chewy when bitten, making it difficult to take a courteous bite (requiring mild head shaking at best, and crocodile death rolls at worst). This may have been due to the fact that my crust was likely somewhat burnt (evidence of which was the fishy taste of overcooked garlic and cheese, which I suspect is not part of the intended experience). The sauce, though very sparingly applied compared to the amount of cheese and dough, had a pleasant, well balanced flavor profile. Much like the dough layer (excluding the crust), the cheese contributed to the tender and soft, but tangible resistance of a non-crust bite. The cheese also brings a subtle but welcome flavor, both accentuating and strengthening the overall buttery note that runs throughout this pizza. I’m confident the cheese is not just 100% mozzarella, but I have had trouble finding the actual blend.
[COST: $10.39 for 14 inch large, though I could have sworn I found a $7.99 pretax deal.]

Pizza Hut’s hand tossed pizza begins atop a dough layer with a slightly crisp bottom. This time though dought smells of, but does not taste like, biscuits. The texture of the dough layer throughout (including the airy, crisp, and well risen crust) was tender and only required a light pull to separate a chosen bite. Though the sauce was very generously applied (perhaps even too much for some people) and well distributed, its flavor was mild enough that the flavor of the sauce was overpowered by the other components. The cheese was applied in a good ratio with the other major components, but was almost certainly completely mozzarella, contributing to its back seat in the bus to Flavortown. However, it was properly baked, so the cheese layer behaved itself when taking bites and did not try to slide off into your lap all at once.
[COST: $11.15 for ~13 inch large.]