Review - Domino's Pizza Still Sucks - Just a Little Less

Does anyone actually order Domino's Pizza on purpose? Is it anyone's first choice for pizza or, more likely, is it the fact that they're the closest/cheapest/will take a coupon/will deliver or any combination of the above?

If you've watched any television at all over the past few weeks, you couldn't have missed Domino's "We Know We Sucked, but Now We're Better" advertising campaign. Interesting tactic. So on a cold, rainy winter's night, I took the bait. Why? Because they're the closest/cheapest/and would deliver. Two mediums with two toppings for $5.99 each. I ordered one with pepperoni and extra cheese and one with mushrooms and extra cheese. The verdict? - Blah. Some improvement, but not much. They talk about improvements in the crust, the sauce, and the cheese. So let's take 'em one at a time, from the bottom up:

1. Crust - An actual improvement, but not on the whole crust. They talk about their new "garlic infused crust," but you only notice the flavor on the ends of the crust, the part not covered with their sauce and cheese. What does that say when the best (and I use that term loosely) part of the pizza is in essence a bread stick?

2. Sauce - Bland, bland, bland. If it has a "dose of red pepper," it escaped my palate. While it doesn't taste like ketchup anymore, that's because ketchup has flavor.

3. Cheese - A pox on any pizzeria that puts anything but mozzarella cheese on their pie. (You hear me, Round Table?) Domino's now claims they use only "100% mozzarella flavored with just a hint of provolone. NEWS FLASH - THAT AIN'T 100% MOZZARELLA! Provolone belongs on a meatball sandwich and not much anyplace else.

4. Toppings - Pepperoni was still razor thin, but mushrooms weren't. You could actually taste the mushrooms, and they were actually good.

So there you have it. While they have made a slight improvement, Domino's pizza still sucks - just a little less.

H