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Let’s talk national chain pizzas 🍕 (1 Viewer)

Honestly I don’t really frequent them since there are good local brick oven places near me. However, traditionally  before a trip somewhere we always get Little Caesar’s. We call it trash pizza, but it’s a guilty pleasure.

 
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Thanks to my years as a poor college student, I will always always always love Hungry Howie's.  Back in the early 90s, the HH's in Gainesville sold large 1-toppings for $3.99, and I was good for at least two extra-cheese/cajun crust pies per week.  By the time I was in grad school, the price went up $4.99, but hell, that was still two meals for 5 bucks.

Whenever I visit Florida, I always hit the nearest Howie's immediately after exiting the airport.  I pair it with a 20 oz. Mountain Dew (also the only time I ever drink that swill anymore) and it's like I'm transported back to 1992 (except the total is like $10 now).  I'm not gonna claim it's good, but if I had to eat chain pizza, it's gotta be HH.

 
scorchy said:
Thanks to my years as a poor college student, I will always always always love Hungry Howie's.  Back in the early 90s, the HH's in Gainesville sold large 1-toppings for $3.99, and I was good for at least two extra-cheese/cajun crust pies per week.  By the time I was in grad school, the price went up $4.99, but hell, that was still two meals for 5 bucks.

Whenever I visit Florida, I always hit the nearest Howie's immediately after exiting the airport.  I pair it with a 20 oz. Mountain Dew (also the only time I ever drink that swill anymore) and it's like I'm transported back to 1992 (except the total is like $10 now).  I'm not gonna claim it's good, but if I had to eat chain pizza, it's gotta be HH.
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HH still has specials in the 5.99-6.99 range but now it's just a 6 piece small with 1-2 toppings.

 
So many seem to like dominos....it was crap for so long I gave up on that if forced to go chain.  With that...its Jets or Marcos here...and a nod to Jets as Marcos doesn't deliver to our neighborhood.  

So if forced to do delivery...its Jets.  Otherwise a few local places are priced similarly to the chains and way way better to go grab a slice or a full pizza.

 
Leroy Hoard said:
HH still has specials in the 5.99-6.99 range but now it's just a 6 piece small with 1-2 toppings.
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Probably would be better for me at this point to go that route.  Last time I flew into Orlando, I devoured an entire large HH pizza while driving through town - just couldn't contain myself.  Unfortunately, I didn't feel quite right for a good 24 hours afterwards.

 
gianmarco said:
MAC_32 said:
The rare times we go this route we get Aldi pizza. It's better and cheaper than both. 
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Their large cheese pizza is ridiculous value and actually pretty tasty.  Great for a quick meal in a pinch or when kids come over to play.
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We live in central Jersey so we're spoiled with NY, Trenton, and Philly pizzas. But my wife discovered the Aldi's pizzas recently and they're not bad if you're in hurry. Better than the other frozen pizzas for sure.

For the chains, my only comment is Papa Johns is the absolute worst. Several years ago we had one open up near us and I suggested we try it. Wife said no way, they're awful. I got one anyway thinking how bad can it be. Turns out it was that bad. Never again.

 
Capella said:
Is Costco a chain pizza? Because they put like 1 pound of cheese on each slice and then charge you about 80 cents for the slide. It’s good. 
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Yea, it's not terrible, but there is way too much cheese on it.

However, not enough places sell ####### slices of pizza. Every single pizza place should sell slices. That's right, every single one

 
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Pipes said:
Agreed back in the day Pizza Hut was the gold standard for chain pizza now it's arguably the worst of the bunch.  In my opinion it is.  
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Yeah, they used to do a good job. Pepsi bought Pizza Hut in the late 70s and it slowly went down hill. They used to make fresh dough several times a day. Now it's all pre packaged frozen shipped in to save on labor. I'm sure the rest of the ingredients are similar. Now it's no better than a cheap frozen pizza you get at the grocery store. No wonder a ton of them have closed and the remaining are empty and depressing. Used to be hopping when I was a kid. Jukebox blasting, packed crowds. Have to wait to get in. How to ruin a restaurant in 10 easy steps. 

 
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fruity pebbles said:
Yeah, they used to do a good job. Pepsi bought Pizza Hut in the late 70s and it slowly went down hill. They used to make fresh dough several times a day. Now it's all pre packaged frozen shipped in to save on labor. I'm sure the rest of the ingredients are similar. Now it's no better than a cheap frozen pizza you get at the grocery store. No wonder a ton of them have closed and the remaining are empty and depressing. Used to be hopping when I was a kid. Jukebox blasting, packed crowds. Have to wait to get in. How to ruin a restaurant in 10 easy steps. 
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GTFO with this. No way that happened

 
Agree with MOD or Grimaldi's for chains. They're decent. I also don't hate California Pizza Kitchen. Rosati's is good when drunk, too (they're deep dish is surprisingly okay and possibly the most filling pizza ever). 

Now, for the major chains, of which I'm now reacquainted with since I have kids...

Pizza Hut - a delicacy as a kid, but terrible as an adult (though my inner fat kid still enjoys the buffet from time to time). My kids don't even like it. 

Domino's - consistently bland but predictable. Good for kids' birthday parties because everyone seems to thinks it's okay. 

Little Caesars - I credit them for allowing me and a buddy to eat lunch for $2.50/piece during law school, but no self-respecting adult with a job should ever get it. Pure cardboard. 

Papa John's - agree with whomever above said it is designed for kids. I loved it as a kid. Had it over this past weekend and it's just too much salt and sugar. My kids love it, though. 

Honestly, there's now some decent enough frozen pizzas that can all beat the above mega-chains and, frankly, I couldn't imagine not going to or buying from a local joint if the decision is ever mine to make. Just so much better. 

 
the moops said:
Nobody had to wait to get into a Pizza Hut. I call :bs: on that. That place has always been terrible
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I remember as a kid having to wait. This was usually during the "Book It!" days where we'd get free small pan pizzas. Combine that with endless fountain soda in those classic red plastic cups and a few quarters for the pinball machine and juke box and we were ####### kings.

 
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Little Caesar's remains the best value in chain pizza

Costco pizza remains the best value in pizza period.  If you like it greasy and thicc like I do anyway 🤤

 
I don't think it's national, but Shakey's is another good regional chain that used to be more prevalent out here in SoCal.  I remember going to the one in my town for the buffet; you'd spend like $8 and could eat all the pizza, fried chicken and Mojo potatoes (look 'em up) that you could handle.  They had video games, TVs, etc.... and it was on the main drag coming away from the beach so we'd always round up some girls headed back home and would meet up there to flirt and stuff.  Good times.

The closest one to me is now a good 20 minutes away, but happened to be on my route to the CVS where I got my first two COVID shots, so I ran in there for a quick trip to the buffet on my way.  Pretty decent pizza and the Mojos are money.

 
nirad3 said:
I don't think it's national, but Shakey's is another good regional chain that used to be more prevalent out here in SoCal.  I remember going to the one in my town for the buffet; you'd spend like $8 and could eat all the pizza, fried chicken and Mojo potatoes (look 'em up) that you could handle.  They had video games, TVs, etc.... and it was on the main drag coming away from the beach so we'd always round up some girls headed back home and would meet up there to flirt and stuff.  Good times.

The closest one to me is now a good 20 minutes away, but happened to be on my route to the CVS where I got my first two COVID shots, so I ran in there for a quick trip to the buffet on my way.  Pretty decent pizza and the Mojos are money.
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There's still a Shakey's here in the Seattle area

Haven't been to one since the '70s

Id the younger loved it 

 
fruity pebbles said:
Yeah, they used to do a good job. Pepsi bought Pizza Hut in the late 70s and it slowly went down hill. They used to make fresh dough several times a day. Now it's all pre packaged frozen shipped in to save on labor. I'm sure the rest of the ingredients are similar. Now it's no better than a cheap frozen pizza you get at the grocery store. No wonder a ton of them have closed and the remaining are empty and depressing. Used to be hopping when I was a kid. Jukebox blasting, packed crowds. Have to wait to get in. How to ruin a restaurant in 10 easy steps. 
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I remember their pizza being pretty good growing up.  Think it was all about serving fresh pizza in an actual pan.  Now it's barely edible.   

 
Pipes said:
We we didn't do all our fine dinning at Pizza Hut.  For special occasions we went to Ponderosa for steak.  That was some good eating lol.
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:lmao:  I grew up the same way. 

A super fancy dinner out was Olive Garden or Outback. 

 
Zow said:
:lmao:  I grew up the same way. 

A super fancy dinner out was Olive Garden or Outback. 
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 I'm a bit older than you.  Olive Garden and Outback wasn't around when i was a kid it was Ponderosa for steak, Chi Chi's for "Mexican" food and my personal favorite Old Country Buffet.  Once in a while when the Grandparents were with we'd hit some small town WI supper club for fish.  Thinking back on that the Supper Clubs/dive bars were the best meals.

 
Pipes said:
 I'm a bit older than you.  Olive Garden and Outback wasn't around when i was a kid it was Ponderosa for steak, Chi Chi's for "Mexican" food and my personal favorite Old Country Buffet.  Once in a while when the Grandparents were with we'd hit some small town WI supper club for fish.  Thinking back on that the Supper Clubs/dive bars were the best meals.
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Wow, I also remember Chi Chi's now. Definitely needs quotations around "mexican" when describing Chi Chi's.

You may be older but sounds like we had nearly identical childhood culinary experiences. 

 
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nirad3 said:
I don't think it's national, but Shakey's is another good regional chain that used to be more prevalent out here in SoCal.  I remember going to the one in my town for the buffet; you'd spend like $8 and could eat all the pizza, fried chicken and Mojo potatoes (look 'em up) that you could handle.  They had video games, TVs, etc.... and it was on the main drag coming away from the beach so we'd always round up some girls headed back home and would meet up there to flirt and stuff.  Good times.

The closest one to me is now a good 20 minutes away, but happened to be on my route to the CVS where I got my first two COVID shots, so I ran in there for a quick trip to the buffet on my way.  Pretty decent pizza and the Mojos are money.
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and the pizza was actually really good (at least that's the way I remember it as a kid many, many years ago).  In fact I had Shakeys probably 10 ish years ago and I still thought it was good.  

 
nirad3 said:
I don't think it's national, but Shakey's is another good regional chain that used to be more prevalent out here in SoCal.  I remember going to the one in my town for the buffet; you'd spend like $8 and could eat all the pizza, fried chicken and Mojo potatoes (look 'em up) that you could handle.  They had video games, TVs, etc.... and it was on the main drag coming away from the beach so we'd always round up some girls headed back home and would meet up there to flirt and stuff.  Good times.

The closest one to me is now a good 20 minutes away, but happened to be on my route to the CVS where I got my first two COVID shots, so I ran in there for a quick trip to the buffet on my way.  Pretty decent pizza and the Mojos are money.
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It used to be national but has really downsized their locations.  Miss the buffet and mojos.

 
Capella said:
This thread reminds me of the amazing local pizza place we had here right across the street from me. A year ago the guy retired after 30 years, they bulldozed the building and put in a GD gas station. Nearest local place just isn’t as good and they won’t deliver. Sucks. 
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Living in New Haven CT for a brief moment

Two slices of Sicilian pizza for $4 and a can soda hard to beat 

 
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Convenience is a huge factor for me these days with service being below par practically everywhere.  I just get takeout at Pizza hut carryout quite a bit because its the closest. 

 
Little Ceasars hot and ready skimps on everything for for 5 bucks what do you expect?

My daughters friend worked at the Little Ceasars by our home, when I went in there she would make me a pie that was loaded up and then cooked a little well done.  It tasted very good. But she does not work there anymore so I never go there.

Jets pizza is decent, as is Cottage Inn.    Every time I had Pizza Hut I was up all night drinking water..has to be loaded up with sodium.

 
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