The best major pizza chain?

I think there is still one in Sapulpa too. I am from Broken Arrow and I can remember as a kid my family would go to Ken's for the buffet every Wednesday night. It is definately my favorite pizza place of all time. The one by my house closed and I think a lot of others did too, it's a shame.

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Originally posted by Bushie

Since I was a little kid, I've always liked the "Mom & Pop" places. Various reasons and long stories...

However, I'm not totally "anti-chain". Good food is good food...

I've NEVER found a national pizza chain, though, that I could recommend. As a young man, I LOVED Ken's Pizza, a regional chain out of Oklahoma. As an old man, I still stop at the one in Eufaula sometimes, because I still like the flavor.

Somewhat the same thing happened at Mazzio's in OK, I can remember when they used to have the best crust and awesome pork sausage. I can also remember when they switched to a cheaper sausage. Mazzio's still has a growing following in OK, but why can't they just let good things stay

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Originally posted by Lucky Bishop

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Originally posted by Theedge

I actually really like Godfathers pizza.

About a quarter-century ago, Godfather's was IT as far as pizza goes. I have eaten pizza around the country, including most of the fabled joints, but I still say that as far as a proper deep-dish pizza goes, the old Godfather's combo was the ne plus ultra of the form.

Unfortunately, as ingredients became more expensive, Godfather's had to start cutting back both on quality and on amount: a large Godfather's combo as it was in 1980, when it probably cost about $13, would be pushing $40 today. (Frankly, I would still pay that for one, but that's just me.) As the ingredients worsened, the customers deserted the place, causing them to lower prices (and quality) even further. It became a death spiral.

When I left Albuquerque about three years ago, there was still a Godfather's there, on Montgomery. I would go in there once a year or so, hoping that things might have changed, but they never did.

We've had Cici's in OK for at least 10 or so years now

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Originally posted by TJ Jackson

CiCi's has also just opened in the Eastgate area of Cincinnati......

When it comes to "major" pizza chains I prefer Papa Johns but like most here I prefer the smaller places. Here in Jacksonville Fl, Al's is the number one place, the winner of the "Best Pizza" award many times, Al's started out in a small stripmall and now has 4 establishments spread out across the "Beach's" area. Multipul Italian dishes are available as well as a huge square "sicillian" pie but its the thin crust NY style pies that draw the largest crowds..

A really good question if you ask me. I can't say I enjoy any of the chains (Domino's, Papa John's, Little Caesar's), though I will have a piece or two if it is being served somewhere (example: at somebody else's house if I'm visiting).

Being in the Chicago area, I almost consider a place like Giordano's Pizza to be a chain (36 Chicagoland locations plus two Florida locations is a chain to me). It's still good pizza, but definitely a chain in my mind, even if it is "regional".

the big chains are terrible.
big new yorker from pizza hut is the only one that is good.
most of those joints get their sauce "powdered" then they add water to make sauce. also, all big chain sausage is nasty!

Let me also mention Mr. Gatti's Pizza, located mostly in the southern states. Point your browser to http://www.mrgattis.com/ for more info.

Like they sang when the opened The Brady Bunch, here's a story . I remember back in the mid-late 1980s there was a Mr. Gatti's Pizza restaurant where my folks would stop, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana, on the east side of town in a little strip mall at 1313 E. Darlington Avenue (IN 32) east of town, across from a Shell gas station. Inside was a projection TV. Alas, that pizzeria has disappeared since . Fortunately on trips to southern Kentucky I have been reunited with the brand, which really makes up for what Crawfordsville lost.

Last I saw the mall in the early 2000s the only place I saw was Subway and nothing else.

BUT

According to mrgattis.com Indiana has some Mr. Gatti's locations today--the closest to Crawfordsville is Martinsville southwest of Indianapolis.

I like pizza hut. I like their spaghetti there. They make a good pizza. I dont care too much for little ceasers. When I get a pizza I usually get it from Dolly's Pizza, a Detroit area pizza company.

Pizza from Dominos and Little Caesars was far better back in the 1980's. Today, I have noticed a remarkable amount of cost cutting measures that make their respective pizzas just horrible. Not enough sauce, not real cheese and skimpy on the pepperoni, mushrooms etc. They are overpriced on what you get for your money and there are frozen pizzas far superior that you can buy in the super market!

The mom & pop type pizzerias are far superior as they utilize real cheese and quality ingredients.

McFan,
There's a Mr.Gatti's on Clarksville Blvd, Just off I-65 at exit 4 (Indiana- Just North of Louisville) Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by anselmo1

Pizza from Dominos and Little Caesars was far better back in the 1980's. Today, I have noticed a remarkable amount of cost cutting measures that make their respective pizzas just horrible.

Little Skeezer's was always horrible. The only chain worse than LC
is Hungry Howies. I haven't had Domino's in over a year, but their
Philly Cheesesteak pizza wasn't too shabby. Or maybe I was really hungry at the time.

Has anyone had Godfather's Pizza lately? The closest one to me is
about an hour drive, but I remember them being pretty good, with
no skimping on toppings. But that was over twenty years ago, before they started showing up in convenience stores.

Here in Versailles, KY, we have Papa John's, Pizza Hut, and Little Caesars. Of the three I still say Papa John's but have taken instead to usually getting a Boboli crust from Kroger's and some fresh veggies from their salad bar and baking it up at home. We usually baste the crust with herbed olive oil, sprinkle it with grated parmesean or mozzarella, and top it with herbed tomato sauce, fresh pressed garlic, fresh veggies (luv sliced red onion on the pizza), and what ever meat and cheese sounds good that day. Boboli is great for homemade pizza!

Andrea

Pizza hut is hot and cold. I have found that if you ask them to cook it time and a half, the crust is much better and more crisper. Their toppings are consistent. If you do not ask them to cook it time and a half, the crust tends to be slightly undercooked. Not good.

The name of this thread is the best major pizza chain ,not the best pizza. In my personal opinion, they are the best under the category.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

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Originally posted by The Scarlet Pumpernickel

quote:

Originally posted by anselmo1

Pizza from Dominos and Little Caesars was far better back in the 1980's. Today, I have noticed a remarkable amount of cost cutting measures that make their respective pizzas just horrible.

Little Skeezer's was always horrible. The only chain worse than LC
is Hungry Howies. I haven't had Domino's in over a year, but their
Philly Cheesesteak pizza wasn't too shabby. Or maybe I was really hungry at the time.

Has anyone had Godfather's Pizza lately? The closest one to me is
about an hour drive, but I remember them being pretty good, with
no skimping on toppings. But that was over twenty years ago, before they started showing up in convenience stores.

Amen, Hungry Howies is the worst pizza Ive ate.

The best of the national chains (and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned) is Sbarro. It beats Pizza Hut, Domino's and Papa John's. Plus I think they're the only national pizza chains headquartered in the NY Tristate area (on Melville, LI).

I secretly adore Pizza Hut when I'm suffering grease withdrawl. Little Ceasar's and Domino's aren't bad, either. I was not impressed with Papa John's pizza when I had it in Florida. But my favourite pizza chain would have to be Pizza Pizza up here in Ontario. Pizza Pizza is actually killing Pizza Hut up here. It isn't soaked in grease or drenched in cheese, and I love all of the fancy varieties they have, now.

I agree with other posts - Hungry Howies is the worst! I tried them for the first time when they opened in our area back in the fall. The way they flooded the area with advertising, I thought I was in for something special. My son told me not to buy it ever again and I strongly agreed. It was the most bland pizza I have ever had - yes, even with the "flavored" crust. I just don't get it. If I want flavored pizza bones, I will dip them in something ...but that's not why I buy pizza. I don't give them a year here.

As for pizza chains that I do like.

It's been a long time since I've had Donato's but I remember that being some of the best pizza I have ever had. I now live in PA and we don't have any here.

If I don't have a lot of cash on me, the $5 Pepperoni take out at Little Caesars is satisfactory.

There are just too many local places here that serve far better pizza than the chains.

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As a young man, I LOVED Ken's Pizza, a regional chain out of Oklahoma. As an old man, I still stop at the one in Eufaula sometimes, because I still like the flavor.

All this talk about Ken's has made me nostalgic. I lived in Jenks until I was about 12. Sunday night at Ken's was a ritual for my family. I had no idea that they were still in business. Ken, of course, went on to start Mazzio's and Zio's. Nothing was ever as good though, as those cracker-thin pepperoni pies at Ken's.

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Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

OK. Here's the deal. The chains are bad. But! I can take an apizza from a Dominos or a Papa John's and I can actually make the product pretty good.

I add dried oreganeo, dried basil, garlic granules (not garlic powder), and olive oil, then I put the pie into a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes and, what do you know, a good tomato pie.

Honest!

This is good advice and I do something similar.

We lived in OK for a while and we enjoyed Hideaway, too. Never made ot to Ken's though, and the cracker crust sounds good! But what do I know--I'm from St. Louis and LOVE St. Louis style pizza with the cracker crust and provel cheese. We have alll the big chains here in TX, most are just so-so, but convenient for delivery on some nights. CiCi's is a bargain, especially if you get it while hot. We have a newer place called Double Dave's that is pretty good and has a buffet, which is good for me because I can get some specialty and veggie kinds (weird kinds says my son) by the slice while the rest of the clas gets pepperoni

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Originally posted by DerangedMetsFan

The best of the national chains (and I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned) is Sbarro. It beats Pizza Hut, Domino's and Papa John's. Plus I think they're the only national pizza chains headquartered in the NY Tristate area (on Melville, LI).

I have to agree 100% on this. Sbarro.
I can't believe it wasn't mentioned either. Good call.
All those other places are just awful.

I'm not a big fan of the Pizza chains, but after trying one at a relatives, we've recently gotten several from Papa Murphy's. I especially like their Delite pizzas which have very thin crusts. The delites are less calories, but you don't notice it at all. Papa Murphy's is a little different in that you order, they make it up fresh in front of you, then you take it home and bake it in your own oven. It comes on a disposable pan that gets the crust brown and very crispy, it's always hot when you eat it.

http://www.papamurphys.com/

gotta go with what im eating right now..pizza hut...but theres a local place called chanello's here at my university and theyre pretty good...not the best but when youre a starved college student...

As an ex-New York City guy, living in Dallas, I am happy to report good pizza is alive and well in Dallas, Texas. Apart from my personal "chain" favorite, Domino's, I know, I know! But their thin crust with pepperoni is pretty tasty.
Ok, that said, let's get to the "local" joints. We have a group called "Brothers Pizza" (small local chain) here in Dallas run by some Albanian guys who really make good pizza. We have a place called, "Sal's" also great pizza. He's from NYC.
But! Recently, a terrific place opened up (thankfully near me) called "Campania". The chef is from Naples Italy! The pizza is fantastic. All fresh ingredients including FRESH CHOPPED GARLIC! Not the crap out of a jar stinking of citric acid (a preservative). They even use fresh Buffalo mozzarella! Really good thin chewy crust all made from scratch. I was in Naples, Italy last November and I can tell you, this pizza is just as good. And, best off all, they deliver.

Hello All,
Locally, in Harrisonburg, Va., we've had or have...
Mr. Gatti-quality was okay, buffet was a great price, and they started out being family-theme, with a game room for kids. Later,
the college kids took over and it developed a rep for beer and pizza. Then it disappeared.
Little Caesar's-quality of pizza was cardboard, but price was great. Just when they were improving the quality of their pizzas and my family started ordering regularly, they disappeared.
Dominos- loved them in the nineties, but now the dough is like baked on bottom and gets gooey toward the top, the hamburger toppings are just balls of something I can't eat, and the sauce non-descript. A waste of stomach space.
Chanello's- like dominos pizza, but good wings.
Papa John's-same as Chanello's.
So, my favorite is Pizza Hut, but only when I eat in-I like the atmosphere. I love the thin-crust pizza. The toppings, especially the sauce, merge so well with Pepsi with my taste-buds. They have an excellent salad and pasta bar. I really like taking my daughter to a pizza place that has a restaurant atmosphere, and at least locally, has a smoking section for me.
Take Care,
Fieldthistle

The old Shakeys chain, hands down.

quote:

Originally posted by stevencarry

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

OK. Here's the deal. The chains are bad. But! I can take an apizza from a Dominos or a Papa John's and I can actually make the product pretty good.

I add dried oreganeo, dried basil, garlic granules (not garlic powder), and olive oil, then I put the pie into a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 20 minutes and, what do you know, a good tomato pie.

Honest!

This is good advice and I do something similar.

yeah, but then, why not just make a pizza from scratch if you're going to use that much energy to dress a pig?

I'm not shocked so many people like Dominos, Papa John's CiCi's Mr.Gatti's, Pizza Hut, Sir Pizza, etc etc. I'm just surprised so many people from THIS site like any of these places. Is pizza that bad around the coutry?

I found a pretty darn good pizza in Greensboro, NC - if I can find it there, I'd think you could find it anywhere.

i didnt know there was a good pizza chain

I am sure this is going to create some comments....but, like the other posters have mentioned...Pizza Hut is hot and cold...I have had some great Stuff Crusted Pizzas there and some really horrible personal pan pizzas.

Personally, I prefer Pizza Inn and Pasquales over any of the others. I have never had a problem with either one of them. And, I don't mind spending $25.00 for a pizza from Pizza Inn....to feed 4 people and still have a few pieces left. Gotta love the large 'King' toppings pizza.

I agree with Scorereader, if you check here leechef posted a great simple recipie for a pizza crust. I use it as my standard and am very happy with it. Chow Jim