Pizza Chains
Pizza is one the most powerful comfort foods there is. Whether you are studying, looking for a fairly cheap dinner, or eating it after a night out with friends, pizza is the most sought after food there is. And why not? It is delicious and pretty affordable in college. There are multiple pizza chains all over the country ranging from takeout to take and bake. This guide is the ultimate guide for those who not only crave pizza, but also are looking to try new pizza chains.
Papa John’s
“Better ingredients. Better Pizza. Papa John’s.” While this is the slogan for Papa John’s, it does not represent the pizza at all. I wished the pizza had better ingredients in order to make it a better pizza. I will say this, the pizza looks good on top, but it does not taste that good. The sauce is way too sweet. I literally do not taste anything, but sugar. I think that is what the garlic butter sauce is for in order to balance out that sweet taste. It works to say the least, but if they did not have the garlic sauce, it would suck. The dough felt dry and very chewy. The cheese was really smooth and it did not have that strong cheesy taste you would expect. If you feel the bottom of the crust, it feels very floury. Another thing was the bottom looked hideous. There were black spots, white flour spots, just spots in general. I used to like it very much in middle school, but it just tastes disappointing now. I do not know why people like Papa John’s pizza. It is terrible and they need to change everything about their pizza as soon as possible. Although, keep the garlic butter sauce and the pepperoncini peppers, those two are the only things I would keep.
Pizza Hut
If I could describe Pizza Hut, it would be a box of grease. Pizza Hut is probably one of the most greasiest pizza’s I have ever had in my entire life. I think it is because they use a lot of oil on their dough so that it becomes crispy. Not only that, but I think the cheese has something to do with it. After eating a few slices, I felt very bloated and gross. Now, I only liked one thing about the dough, it was fluffy. I have no idea if it was just my pizza, but it felt like it was slightly under-cooked, and very doughy. The sauce was really sour, indicating the sauce has gone bad. Maybe that is how they wanted it to taste, but it is unappetizing. And finally with the cheese, it felt heavy. Taste wise, it was extremely salty and that is about it. It is a basic pizza and nothing special about it.
Little Caesars
For cheap pizza, Little Caesars is actually not bad. The pizza is very cheesy, a little greasy, and surprisingly not squishy. I was not too mad about the crust. The crust had a nice golden brown color which is something that I was fond with. The sauce had a sharp rich acidic taste in which I was not too mad about either. There was some sugar in it, but it did not overpower the pizza. Since it was sweet, the cheese was nicely salted which makes it balance out. Additionally, the cheese was nice and gooey which makes it really special for how cheap it was. For a cheap pizza, who knew it would be gooey? Overall, I would not underestimate Little Caesars. It is a quick bite to eat and for the price it is pretty good.
Domino’s Pizza
I have had nothing, but bad experiences when it comes to Domino’s Pizza. Despite of that, I had to put my personal experiences aside and focus on the pizza itself. Around 2009, Domino’s Pizza decided to change their recipe and integrated a brand new formula for their pizza. I do enjoy their pizza and remembering how it tasted years ago, they changed their recipe for the better. When you pick it up, you can feel some of the flour on the bottom of the pizza. It reminded me of Papa John’s dough, except it actually looked not burnt. The pizza itself looks nice. The crust has this wonderful caramel brown color which makes it really appealing for me. In terms of the taste of the pizza itself, the sauce tastes sweet. Not as sweet Papa John’s, but it is still a lot. Maybe because the tomatoes they use do not have much acidity or they might just pour a lot of sugar in their sauce? I may never know, but it tastes sweet. Texture wise, it feels dry and there was no fluff into it. I tasted a lot oil, probably some sort of garlic infused oil? Overall, if I did not get food poisoning every time I had Domino’s Pizza, it would be a very solid pizza.
Hungry Howie’s
If I was hungry for pizza, I am sorry, I would not go to Hungry Howie’s. The cooking technique is pretty bad. I understand you put it in an oven and it cooks, but goodness gracious it was overcooked. The dough was dry, there is this burnt rim on the back of the crust somehow, it did not look pretty. However, I liked the herbs that they used for the crust. Going back to how the pizza was, it was basically a box of grease. It was really oily probably from the cheese. With the cheese, however, it had a surprisingly good amount of flavor. Did not taste artificial or anything, I was pretty happy with it. Aside from that, the sauce tasted wrong. For some odd reason, it tasted bitter and harsh. I have never had bitter pizza before so that was new. Do not be deceived on that smiley face logo, the actual face you will make is the face of disappointment.
Jet’s Pizza
Jet’s Pizza is unlike any other pizza in terms of its shape, a squared pizza. The squared, or rectangular, styled pizza is referred to as “Detroit-style Pizza.” I love the way the pizza presents itself. You have this nice beautiful brown crust as well as a good foundation of cheese. On the bottom of the crust, it did not look burnt, but I noticed that there were these circular marks on the pizza. Not too sure what it is, maybe making it cook evenly? The pizza was cooked nicely if that were the case. Crispy on the bottom, soft and hot on top, and decent cheese. It was really chewy in terms of the cheese texture. Somewhat strong flavor for the cheese as well. The sauce is flavorful. It has an even blend of spice and somewhat sweet. I got hints of oregano, paprika, garlic, and black pepper. My only thing with Jet’s Pizza is how oily it is. I get it is used to make the crust extremely crispy, but it is just too much. Other than that, a pretty solid pizza.
Cottage Inn
Cottage Inn overall is really good. But you do not want me to be simple now do you? Let us get right back to being descriptive. I remembered there was this guy who reviewed Cottage Inn through Barstool and he said, “It’s not great.” However, it was cafeteria pizza so that could alter the taste. Here is my interpretation of what Cottage Inn is. Although the pizza is a little greasy, the flavors of both the cheese and sauce you cannot go wrong. Plus, the presentation of the pizza is appealing. The cheese is gooey, the sauce has a strong sharp sweet taste, and a soft fluffy crust. In terms of its sweetness, it does not overpower the entire pizza by any means. It is a good sweet with the right amount of acidity. Even more so, the pizza is perfectly cooked. Not burnt with a little whitish brownish crust. It is almost the perfect pizza, but I wished the crust looked prettier and had more flavor. Other than that, again, a really good pizza.
Papa Murphy’s
If you want to eat something that takes effort, Papa Murphy’s is the go to pizza because it requires you to bake the pizza yourself. The great thing about Papa Murphy’s is that you do not have to worry about the temperature because it is coming straight out of the oven and you can eat it piping hot. However, why go through all the trouble just to cook it for yourself when you can go to a pizza place that can make it for you? I do not think it is worth the price for what you are eating though. I will say this though, it does taste better than frozen pizza that you can get from the store. The cheese is very gooey and it stretches, but there was more cheese than sauce. I do not like that because it becomes quite dry, plus I did not really get an idea of what the sauce tasted like because it was very little. The crust is very soft, and not enough crisp for my liking. It is a not too bad of a pizza.
Blaze Pizza
The way to describe Blaze Pizza is it is the Subway of pizza. You get to choose your toppings and dough right in front of you. You can also choose the types of spices you like. For me, I chose oregano because I think it works extremely well on pizza. However, that was not enough to save the pizza. Although, it is the type of pizza where it is quick and easy to get. I was not a fan of how it looked. The bottom of the crust looked messy. It was either burnt or in a decent quality. In perspective with the taste, it is neutral. Maybe it was because I chose the classic red sauce, but there was no uniqueness of flavor with it. It was tangy, but it was like a neutral tangy. I will say this though, the crust was by all means clean and crispy. It was not greasy or oily, it was straight up clean which I was fond about it. However, it is not enough to save the pizza. Every time I think of Blaze Pizza, I literally go, “Eh.”
Marco’s Pizza
When you watch TV shows or movies that have pizza, this is the type of pizza that is similar to them, presentation wise. There were certain parts where it looked overcooked and undercooked, I wished the cooking technique was better. The best thing about this pizza was it was not heavily greasy. What I liked most about their pizza was it was both fluffy and crispy. Not to mention it had a small bit of butter to give the crust flavor and color. The cheese was gooey and it did not taste heavy. Sauce wise, I tasted a lot more herbs than I did with sweetness or acidity, which in my opinion is pretty good. It reminds me of the McCormick Italian seasoning which I really like. Their sauce is easily one of the top on the list in terms of flavor. I wished Marco’s Pizza was more well known cause they do seem very underrated.