Domino's

If you've read our blog posts about pizza, you've probably noticed that we compare all good pizza to 2Amys and all bad pizza to Domino's. I haven't been shy about expressing my dislike for Domino's and its flavorless, cornmeal-dusted pizza (read here and here). Well, someone in Domino's PR group noticed that we weren't fans, and asked us to try their new pizza. He gave us a coupon for a free pizza and claimed that they had totally revamped their pizza recipe. The coupon arrived in our inbox on a cold, snowy night and we decided it was perfect for ordering pizza. Even though I was hesitant to try Domino's again, it's hard to turn down a free pizza.

B went on their website and was pretty impressed with the online ordering system. He placed the order and about 25 minutes later, the delivery guy called to let us know he was downstairs. On the pizza box was an explanation of Domino's recipe change. To celebrate 50 years in the pizza business, Domino's decided to listen to its critics and completely change their recipe.

According to Domino's, the changes include:

• Crust: A garlic seasoned crust with parsley baked to a golden brown
• Sauce: Sweeter, bolder tomato sauce with a medley of herbs and a redpepper kick
• Cheese: Shredded cheese made with 100% real mozzarella and flavored with just a hint of provolone

We ordered a half mushroom and half pepperoni pizza on the hand-tossed crust.

The first thing that we noticed was that the crust was fluffier-looking and it didn't have the yellow cornmeal stuff dusted on the bottom. Things were looking up in Domino's pizza land. I ate the first slice really slowly to see if I could taste the promised differences. The crust was a complete turnaround: it was garlicky and soft, almost like a garlic breadstick. I didn't notice a whole lot of difference in the cheese, but the sauce was tangy and had a bit of a kick. My only complaint is that the new crust is a little on the buttery side, which makes the whole piece feel a bit greasy.

Overall, I really enjoyed this pizza. Before, I thought Domino's pizza tasted like cardboard and was completely "not worth the calories." I don't take back anything I said about Domino's in the past, but I do give them a lot of credit for realizing their pizza wasn't awesome and starting over. You might think I'm only saying this because they gave us a free pizza, but I don't feel any obligation to like their free pizza. I told B that I'd write a post about the pizza whether I liked it or not. It just so happens that despite my best efforts not to like it, I actually did. So, while I don't think you need to race to your computer and order a pizza immediately, I do think you might want to reconsider Domino's if you're like me and had put it on your pizza blacklist.

Second Thoughts From B

As we enter a new year, it seems appropriate that we give Domino's a second chance. While I've never been a huge Domino's fan, I also never had an aversion to it. In some ways, its familiar (if not delicious) flavors are associated with happy childhood memories of late night sleepovers and birthday parties.

Unless you are among the group of people who believe that Domino's pizza cannot be improved on, this recipe change should be seen as good news. You know the garlic breadsticks at Domino's? If so, you know what this new generation of pizza is like because the crust tastes just like the breadsticks. For this lover of garlic, that's an improvement.

Is the improvement so dramatic that it warrents a new "favorite pizza" in your life? Probably not, but it does deserve a chance to win you over. So log on to their extremely user-friendly website and see what has happened...