Asklemmy

Getting pizza from a chain seems to me to be the complete antithesis to what pizza is supposed to be. Unfortunately in Germany it has been my experience that you can either have a good pizza restaurant or a pizza restaurant that delivers. When I asked my favourite place why they don't offer delivery he answered that he doesn't have the necessary space and staff to support that. They would get overwhelmed with orders.

Luckily even bad pizza is kinda good.

Hot take: home made cast iron pan pizza. It's the easiest type of pizza to make from scratch.

Here are some common pizza issues that are easy to troubleshoot:

If you are bad at making the dough right the pan supports it.

Bad at cooking it? The pan helps to cook it evenly.

Want my flavor? You can add seasonings to the pan before putting in dough.

Want to mix it up? Chicago style.

Local neighbors smell the pizza and break into your house? Cast iron pan to the noodle.

Too much dough? Two pizzas.

Not enough dough for two pizzas? Deep dish.

Need the dough to rise? Oil the pan preheat the oven for 2 minutes so it's watm. Turn it off, sit the whole thing in there.

Vampires? Add more garlic.

Not the right sauce? Loose works fine since you can make a bowl out of the dough in a cast iron.

I hope this helps! Saves on a lot of dishes since you only need the pan and maybe a mixing bowl.

Local takeaway. And I'm picky about which ones. More expensive but enjoyable.

I don't bother paying the cheap chain stores, but if it's free (ie. at an event or gathering) I'll eat it. Still not my first choice though

Last time I got Papa Johns, a literal child delivered my order alone while her DoorDashing mom watched from her car. I didn't order through DoorDash. I left feedback informing them that I would not be buying pizza from somewhere that makes me question whether I'm contributing to breaking child labor laws.

I would order local takeout if it were cheaper and wasn't consistently soggy.

Domino's is the most consistently "worth the money" pizza near me, with Little Caesars coming in a distant second.

Local whenever possible. I’d rather heat up a frozen pizza than order from a chain.

Local is always best but they're not open at 3am. So Domino's

Local takeaway 100% of the time. You don't get chain pizza, your employer does it for you.

you forgot little caesars, which is the only corporate place in town that makes their own dough in-store.

Firm supporter of local stores and businesses. It also does help that I have a few good places in walking distance and a healthy city centre. So if I want and weather permitting I can sit on their patio and wave to acquaintances.

Support your local economy and buy local takeaway. When you spend money at a local shop, that money stays local instead of being sent off to some other region where an executive or investor lives. This keeps your local economy healthy by recirculating money within your area. It might cost a bit more, but if it helps your neighbor pay their mortgage or car payment or school tuition, it's worth it.

Also, talk to your local business owners. They're your neighbors, and having them is better than a faceless corporation.

Local always

I live in the chicago area so local all the way. I usually have a pizza in the freezer if I want something chain quality.

I used to actually love Domino's but then the pizza got a little worse, then a little smaller, then smaller again, then more expensive, then quite a lot more expensive, then the voucher system that was keeping prices under control was trashed and then the pizzas got way smaller again.

This was a blessing in disguise though really. I tended not to explore the local options before this because they were only occasionally good in one's area if you were lucky and always much pricier. Since Domino's pricing stopped being cheap it made it worth searching for cheesier pastures and there's a local joint near me that does NY style and it's really good. That was really just luck though, honestly there's a lot of really crappy neighbourhood pizza joints that people assume will be better because they're not a chain when they're really no better I'm glad I seemed to have landed next to the cream of the crop.

I bounce back and forth between 2 local places. With a simple food like pizza, the little differences in the ingredients and how they're prepared come through moreso than in a complicated dish.

The one place has a chewier crust, the other has a breadier crust. One has a sweeter sauce. The place I originally went to when I came here made a more well done crust that I didn't like, but it's one of the more popular places in town, so some people definitely prefer it. With local places you're not stuck with a single flavor or style and you can get what you're in the mood for that day.

With that said, sometimes Domino's or Pizza Hut takes me back to childhood memories, which helps out the flavor there. I never had Pappa John's as a kid, so I didn't like it much as an adult, but the other 2 remind me of being a kid. They're probably not arbitrarily better than Pappa John's, but they get the nostalgia bonus.

I prefer a real Brooklyn slice but it can't be had where I live. IMO Donatos is a fair substitute. They're in like 30 states.

The big national chains are garbage.

Well certainly not Papa John's because their pizza is awful.

We get local coal fired when feeling spendy, Pizza Hut is best value per calorie (so calorie dense) and reheats the best for sure, so much grease it crisps right up in a hot oven, love that. Whole Foods pizza is legit too, often we get that if shopping at suppertime.

There is also Little Caesars by us, that is cheap and not too bad .

I sometimes make pizza too, sourdough crust, yum, but oven only goes to 550f (288C) so not as good at cooking them.

We have only a couple choices we're we live. We have nothing local. We order Dominos because they have a coupon that can feed the family for like 20 bucks. Plus get 10 points every time I order and after 60 I get a free pizza. So every now and then I cash them in and get myself a free pizza which funny enough also gives points

Little Caesars.

Domino's

Make it at home.

In order of the amount of time I have. Obviously I prefer making my own from scratch.

All the big corporate pizza places have barely passable pizza. I get that they are cheap and everywhere, but why masturbate if your local joint fucks and fucks back?

Local joint(one location) 98% of the time. I have seriously considered working nights there until I can steal their recipe and can make their pizza at home once I move too far away to order there.

If I get the rare craving for ultra-thin crispy crust, Rosati's or Beggar's. There is another local(one location) place that does a double dough 18" by the slice for $5 that I grab if I am in that area and want all the carbs.

Round Table if I am near one and want to freebase some nostalgia. Giordano's or maybe Lou Malnati's if I want deep dish.

It really depends on what I'm in the mood for. I can appreciate both high quality gourmet pizza and Little Caesar's Hot N Ready garbage. When you want one of those in particular, the other just doesn't hit the spot. Usually I default to the local place nearby for the more general pizza cravings.

Over time I found local delivery restaurants. I rarely ever order food from any of the common franchises around here. The local stores are just so much better!

SALAD BAR?!

If you've got an ALDIs nearby, they've got a $5 cheese take n bake. Pro move is to get one of those and then cut your own toppings, bake, it'll be better than any chain.

I'm sure there's other good take n bakes, but $5 for a quality one is probably hard to match

Local place is the best here. I'm not sure why a chain would try in NJ with our amazing totally better than NYC pizza.

Sometimes I get coupons for domino's so I'll get them, but honestly the local place is the best. The very best local place closed during covid, so the other local place is one now (there are three other local places for pizza, but they pretty blah). I miss your, pizza place that was probably a front, you had the best Greek pizza ever.

There is no good local takeaway in my current area. I briefly lived in an area that had a decent place (not even great, just a notch above the chains) and it ruined crappy pizzas for me enough to take up pizza making. I mean don't get me wrong I'll still do little Caesars from time to time if I need cheap calories, but if I want real pizza I'll make it myself.

Little caesers

There was a fantastic local place where I used to live in Imperial Beach, but sadly I don't live there anymore so I can't get it unless it's the very rare occasion that I'm back in the area.

Otherwise I'll go with Domino's, their 2 for $6.99 isn't too bad to beat, and they usually stick to what I ask for.

Here’s a Hot Take: Order from the place that hits your sweet spot between quality and price!

Chain stores are usually franchised so a lot of the money is still local.

Also branch out! I’ve discovered that a local Bar & Grill a few blocks away makes a freaking amazing pizza for about half the price of everyone else on town. It’s INSANE how good and cheap this pizza is!

A Papa Johns just opened up across the street from me. I've never personally been to one. Are they any good?

If there isn't a good local joint, I like Marco’s. They tend to be a lot better at cooking and topping. When they’re on their game, their pizzas taste like 80’s pizza commercials looked and it’s amazing.

Where I live, we have a chain called Cottage Inn, that started on city over. They're my choice pretty much every time. They're open late for delivery, and make better pizza than the big chains 100% of the time, plus, since the mega-corps have increased their prices so much over the last couple years, Cottage Inn is basically the same price as well

Local takeout ftw. I haven't eaten at a pizza chain in years and don't miss it at all!

Now the real question in New England is Italian-style vs Greek-style pizza

Pizza Hut - Domino's - local takeaway - Papa John's

The Pizza Hut does fantastic pizza, but doesn't deliver, and is too far away to get takeaway from.

Domino's is ok. They do decent pizza, but have been getting more and more stingy with the cheese, and are hideously expensive.

The local takeaways all use the same supplier, and the pizzas are average. They can be amazing from time to time, but that's the exception.

Papa John's opened here a few years ago, so we tried it. The pizza was so bad that none of us finished it