Delivery Pizza

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JustJoel

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This is a food question, but not really about cooking, so I posted it here. Hope I’m not off-base.

Do you order from one of the big three nat’l pizza chains (Domino’s, Pizza Hut, Papa John’s) when you want some pizza, and don’t have two hours to make pizza dough and sauce?

If you do, is it because there’s no local pizzeria that delivers, because you like the convenience, or you just like their pizza?

Personally, I don’t like frozen pizza, like Di Giorno; the crust always cooks before the center. And taste aside, I don’t like the way the chains treat their employees, and I don’t like their CEOs’ politics (can politics make a pizza taste bad?). I’m blessed to live in Las Vegas; you can’t throw a dead cat without hitting a mom-and-pop pizza place that delivers. Plus there are the delivery companies, Eat24 (Yelp), and UberEATS, that contract with local places that don’t have their own delivery service.

Yes, i have ordered from all of these companies. Judging on taste alone, no politics, I prefer Domino’s. Pizza Hut used to have a decent product (and actual restaurants you could go to, if you were dining out), but now it tastes like frozen supermarket pizza.

I hear good things about Papa Murphy’s, the “take and bake” chain, but isn’t the point of takeout pizza the fact that it’s already cooked? Not always hot, but cooked! Hmmmm, now that I think of it, it probably takes as long to properly reheat delivery pizza that’s gone cold (especially if you add on the delivery time) as it does to bake a pre-made pizza!

So, what say you, my culinary mentors? :chef:
 
Every once in a great while, I do order a pizza to be delivered. It's kind of like my occasional craving for a McDonald's breakfast or a Whataburger for lunch. It doesn't happen very often.

None of the pizza chains that I know of pay their employees all that well -- rich guys selling junk food rarely pay the hired help enough to actually live on. That said, I buy from Papa John's, because I like their pizza, the two times a year, on average, when I order a pizza. They also have a well structured web site, so I can order online easily. I am amazed at some of the competing sites that get it all wrong, from a user's point of view.

As far as social matters, we live in the WalMart USA. General Motors used to be the biggest employer in the country, and now it is WalMart. So, whether you order a pizza, or go to Applebee's for dinner, you are making a few people rich, and a lot of people are working two jobs and collecting food stamps.

The best thing you can do is seek out mom and pop places that make really good food, and treat their employees like family -- in a good way.

The other thing to look for is turnover. If I go to a business of any kind, I like to see the same people time after time, for years.

CD
 
Delivery isn't an option for us, since we are 20 miles from the closest town with a pizzeria. We do get Papa Murphy's Take and Bake about once a month or so.
 
Not big on local pizza shops for pizza, but we do get calzones from a family place the next town over. Pick it up ourselves, though.

Instead of getting a pre-made pizza, I keep a few ingredients on hand all of the time. Stonefire Naan bread in the freezer, mozz in 1/2 pound chunks in the freezer (or I cheat and pick up shredded if it's on a really good sale - say, 3/$5 on 1/2 pound bags), fresh-pack pepperoni in the pantry. Always have mushrooms, black olives, fresh tomatoes on hand. In under half an hour I can assemble, bake, and start to eat home-make pizza using those Naan bread flats.
 
We have two pizza places close by - Domino's, which I grew up with in Michigan and a local place where the owner has a New York accent and a pizza oven also from New York. I like both, although I really like Domino's, because I like the sauce better, and I like a saucy pizza. The local place costs about twice as much as Domino's, so we usually alternate. My husband is too frugal to pay a delivery fee, so he picks them up. Also, Domino's has an app with a tracker ("Robert has started making your pizza," etc.) for ordering with that's easy to use and works great.

When we get pizza, it's because I'm too tired to make it. Or anything else.
 
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I have never ordered delivery from a major pizza chain in my life. I've eaten in a Pizza Hut once, but that was on a road trip and it was the only place open late.

There's just too many good mom and pop pizza joints in NY and NJ for better pizza to pass up. Although, I rarely order delivery. It takes too long.

I live 4 miles in one direction to a good place (well, any place), and 10 miles the other direction to the center of my town. Nothing but forest in between.

The last time I ordered delivery was for the tree guys on the last day of the job I hired them for. They did a great job taking down about 35 huge trees in my backyard (just so I could have a backyard, not a forest), plus they dug out and removed dozens of boulders that were too big to be done without large machines. So I thanked the guys with pizza. Then we all got rides up in their 100 ft bucket truck. :)
 
Not big on local pizza shops for pizza, but we do get calzones from a family place the next town over. Pick it up ourselves, though.

Instead of getting a pre-made pizza, I keep a few ingredients on hand all of the time. Stonefire Naan bread in the freezer, mozz in 1/2 pound chunks in the freezer (or I cheat and pick up shredded if it's on a really good sale - say, 3/$5 on 1/2 pound bags), fresh-pack pepperoni in the pantry. Always have mushrooms, black olives, fresh tomatoes on hand. In under half an hour I can assemble, bake, and start to eat home-make pizza using those Naan bread flats.
That Stonefire Naan is such a great product! I love making pizza on them! They sell minis now, too, so I can make individual pizzas. My husband and I have very different preferences when it comes to toppings, so two little pizzas are perfect for us.
 
If they still made them, I would order a Pizza Hut priazzo Portofino. We don't order delivery from the big three. We have pretty much stopped ordering any take out/delivery pizza from anywhere. None of the local places make decent pizza. I finally noticed a place on my way home one afternoon called The Sicilian Oven. They have wood fired ovens and the pizza is awesome. We ate there last night.
 
It's the crack of dawn and there is no cold pizza for breakfast. :(

I live about a block from a Domino's. Hardly ever go there and it would be too embarrassing to ask them to drive around the block for delivery.

I usually order from a local pizzeria and ask for their already thin crust to be baked extra crispy. I like to pretend the middle tastes like the edge pieces.
 
This is I prefer Domino’s.
So, what say you, my culinary mentors? :chef:

Digiornos TV ads now actually dares to say that their frozen pizza is better than pizza restaurants like Papa Johns and Dominos. Not merely as good...but better. Hehehe.

I've not bought a frozen factory made pizza in 7 years, don't plan to for the next 7 years. Maybe they'll get there.
 
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Similar to buckytom, we are surrounded by local pizza joints. We have a local "chain" in Papa Gino that makes a decent pizza but when I want take-out pizza I use one of the locals even though I have to drive there and back.
 
12 miles to Pizza Hut, they don't deliver to our town. Same for Dominos. The Mom and Pop shop went out of business.
 
12 miles to Pizza Hut, they don't deliver to our town. Same for Dominos. The Mom and Pop shop went out of business.
So you’ve pretty much got no choice but to make your own. Or you couldopen up your own! Where do live that has no pizzeria?
 
Similar to buckytom, we are surrounded by local pizza joints. We have a local "chain" in Papa Gino that makes a decent pizza but when I want take-out pizza I use one of the locals even though I have to drive there and back.
We’ve got UberEATS and EAT24 (Yelp’s delivery service) here in Vegas, both companies are contracted with several local, excellent pizzerias. So I don’t even have to get out of my jammies when I want a mushroom and anchovy pie!
 
Like RPCookin, I am out in the middle of farming country in a town with less than 500 people. We've thought about a pizza place, but I am getting older and I love my current job as an RN. I just drive to town for pizza.
 
We have two pizza places close by - Domino's, which I grew up with in Michigan and a local place where the owner has a New York accent and a pizza oven also from New York. I like both, although I really like Domino's, because I like the sauce better, and I like a saucy pizza. The local place costs about twice as much as Domino's, so we usually alternate. My husband is too frugal to pay a delivery fee, so he picks them up. Also, Domino's has an app with a tracker ("Robert has started making your pizza," etc.) for ordering with that's easy to use and works great.

When we get pizza, it's because I'm too tired to make it. Or anything else.

When we lived in the south Denver area, we did Domino's most of the time when we had delivery. Like GG, I like mine saucy - Domino's thin crust was our pizza of choice.

Now when we do Papa Murphy's, I usually get the pan pizza (Papa's Favorite toppings). I like the chewy crust with just enough crunch for textural contrast.
 
Sad as it is, if I want chain pizza, I prefer Little Caesar's.

We do frozen more often than we should.

Safeway signature pizzas are pretty good. I like the thin crust Supremes. Also, some off brands at the grocery outlet can be excellent.
 
OK IMHO, most chain pizza sucks. Too much salt, sauce is too sweet, and bad cheese.

I generally make my own pizza, as many here do. I have a fairly streamlined process, as pizza is a common 'don't feel like cooking something complicated but hungry' recipe for us. If the sourdough starter is awake, not sleepy, I can have a dough in an hour, and then 15 minutes to cook the pie. I do have to make an knead a dough, which for some is a dealbreaker. I'm pretty used to it, and I find it gets the stress out of my shoulders. It does have to rise for an hour, so delivery is quicker.

That being said, we have a good Local pizza place that I love. Here is the deal, they have a pizza oven. I have an apartment oven. Even with a stone and preheating, I can't get my crust as crisp, so I don't try. My pizza is sourdough, which I love, but has a more breadlike vibe, it isn't that thin flaky NY style pizza crust. Sometimes that later is what I am in the mood for. In the Philly area we are lucky to have some third generation small Ittalian pizzarias. They are also where I go to when I want a cheesesteak, becuase though I have the skills and can get the ingrediants, it isn't worth it to keep the steak and rolls on hand for when I want it, and I think they do it better anyway on a big grill. Pizza on the other hand is some sauce, good cheese, and the normal breadmaking supplies I always have.

Now we were out in Oklahoma for a number of years, where we had less options. I haven't used Dominos recently, heard they tried hard to up their quality. Last time I tried them they were one of the few times I've thrown out food. Papa John's and Pizza hut aren't much better. Pizza hut also has a thicker crust, more like my bready crust. The one time we ordered from there in Oklahoma, because we didn't want to wait for a dough to rise out, my Beloved Wife turned to me and said, this is like your pizza but crappier. I agreed.

I don't mean to be a pizza snob, though. One thing a pizza place has that I don't is a very hot oven. I can do a bunch of stuff in my home oven to simulate a pizza oven, but it isn't a pizza oven. That is why I go for a more sourdough, breadlike crust for my home pizzas. And if I want a crispy thin crust, I go to someone who knows what they are doing AND has the right oven for the job.

TBS (E-F)
 
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