Are any pizza chains any good anymore? I have fond memories of Pizza Hut (and Dominoes and Pizza Haven to a slightly lesser extent) but everything seems to taste like cardboard and be made to the lowest possible budget these days.
Pizza Parlours are great if you want to spend $20 but even then it's almost like an entirely different category of product. I want a 1990 Pizza Hut Pizza. Please.
I never thought they were that good.
Prices are expensive for what you get.
Give me a proper wood fired oven pizza for the same price.
OP did say "chains". I agree, I would rather go to woodfired places….
Pizza Religion in Melbourne is my new favourite go-to pizza. Unbelievable. I think they have 4 stores now. Don;t think they are woodfired tho.
I would say Crust is definitely a chain as they are franchise with over 150 stores in Australia.
Crust is better than Pizza Hut/Domino's as they have better ingredients but still way overpriced.
Pizza Religion is good too. I've been to DOC which I thought was great, even though it uses electric ovens. Both I think are much better than Crust.
Still, nothing beats a wood fired oven pizza.
@JB1: I thought Pizza Religion was wood fired.
However if you want a really good pizza buy a pizza stone and make it yourself. It isn't hard and it tastes good.
I can't remember Pizza Hut ever tasting good. If you want good pizza go to a proper place.
They were never that good… their attempt at the michelin start was laughable
Maybe the pizza hasn't actually gotten worse but instead our tastes have gotten better
Yeah, these 'bespoke' pizza places are usually reviewed as 'absolutely amazing' by the same people who review the new 'Ghostbusters' as 'absolutely amazing'.
It's new so they want to sound cool by telling people they've been there and that it's way better than it actually is.
lol yeah… 'amazing' the most overused work in the English language. It's up there with every person who loves to eat being labelled a 'foodie' and of course an instant internet expert. I ignore all reviews and judge it myself.
I normally sit until I get a freebie sampler so it makes it worth my money.
When they first arrived in Brisbane, I had a try and was deeply disappointed. I stick to actual italian pizza joints, and there's a bunch of them these days.
I remember when I was a kid they had those delicious mini pizzas for kids (Pizza Hut). They were so good. Now they taste….stale I suppose. Across the board, not just Pizza Hut. The last good takeaway pizza I had was eagle boys, a few years back, before they went out of business's or whatever it was that happened to them.
Was that the kids meal deal you're talking about?
Kids size Pizza or Pasta + Soft drink + dessert for $10 or under?
I dont remember anything besides the small pizza, so i dont know. Was too young to remember those details
I imagine it was there 9" deep pan pizza range (thin was also available). Take away and delivery stores sold them too but the 9" was far more popular in the restaurants
I remember them. There was a book program and if you read a book of a type on a certain time you get the voucher for the mini pizza.
That was my introduction to Pizza Hut when I was about 12. Good little hook that was for them.
What's even better is when they charge 12.95 for a pizza literally the size of ONE SLICE of a normal large pizza at Wet 'N' Wild or Dream/Movie World.
Pizza hut used to be amazing. Domino's was average from the beginning but had better coupons. But the local dominos (Bentleigh) has become really good once the store moved and they built a new one, just wish they would cook the pizza for couple more minutes
Yeah when ever I got pick up I ask if they can cook the pizza a bit longer, if they not busy they push it back in a bit
Expectations rise, don't they?
Actually, I reckon the bar has been well & truly lowered when it comes to pizza in Oz.
Naa, consumers and businesses are in an ever accelerating race to the bottom.
Consumers want the cheapest price.
Businesses want to win the customers and market.
Result: consumers get their wish at the cost of quality
Consumers need to stop withing just with their wallet.
I know, I know, totally not the ozbargain spirit!!
Not sure why people are whinging here, back in the days large supreme pizza cost around $15 in pizza hut and now around $8, cost of living of everything else goes up.
Its all about paying for what you get :)
I'd rather pay $15 and get something good, than waste $8 on tasteless slop…
Well if you into pizza with lots of ingredient, you can always try your local pizza shop but as a Oz Bargainer, I'm happy with my once in a while crappy pizza with less ingredients and apparently there are more of me since Dominoes making a good sales ;)
@boomramada: I'm sure I made a comment here to that effect earlier…dunno where it went? Just because something is superficially cheaper, doesn't make it a better deal…
As an OzB'er, a $13 large pizza from my local guy with generous, quality toppings feeds four of us with a couple of slices leftover…a decent $15 PH pizza from the 90's would have netted the same result.
Conversely, we need at least 2-3 $8 Dominos extra-bland specials to fill us with empty carbs & negligible taste…now, you might think that's a deal, but I call it false economy!
… Sloppy Pizza?
Nope. Except all you could eat Pizza Hit restaurants.
used to love their deep fried garlic bread
So many fond memories… Especially that one time I found a roach leg in my pasta.
Yum. Extra protein!
Remember waiting for a pick up order at lunchtime and seeing a mouse run into the kitchen. Saw the one guy on shift grab a broom and start having a few goes at getting it. Turned to my mate and said 'that's some extra meat for you pizza'
Pizza capers is a good. However, they only have a few locations and can be expensive without Ozbargain deals.
These were our go-to guys as well but they've closed all stores nearby. Expensive, but the family meal deals made it more reasonable.
Even with Pizza Capers there was a difference in quality and taste from store to store, so we went out of our way to go to the good store, rather than just the closest one.
I've been reading people hating on dominos/pizza hut forever now. Same complaints all the time. Only good memories they have is when they were a kid or they first tried it. There's some feeling of nostalgia eating it when they were younger, and now that they're older they cant relive that moment so they assume it's because it's gotten worse. Expectations increase from eating proper $20-30 pizzas and now think dominos is garbage and so much worse than it was before — IMO it's still the same as it was when you tried it a few years ago. New trend to hate fast food. There's probably stricter food quality standards currently than what it was back in the day.
Stricter food quality standards/hygiene = it's lost those "extra" flavours
(keeping the delusion alive)
hahah I do miss the odd sprinkle of crack in my dominos from the old days, really elevated the experience compared to now
Didn't realize crack cocaine ever took off in Australia.. thought the biggest problem drug these days was speed & ice.
Now that's what I call a Pizza Mogul! Godfather!
Clearly all the "downvoters" must be crack users and I struck a nerve
Truth is crack usage is up more than it ever was and anyone who lives near a "crack house" has experienced no end of issues
myself included
Really? Are you sure it's crack and not ice/meth? I'm not downvoting you btw.. i'm actually curious. Last I heard freebase cocaine was quite rare in Australia (given the difficulty of importation) while crystal meth can be easily manufactured by bikie gangs locally.
Eh? How has it not gotten worse from 1990?
Anyone who ate junk food in this era would not dispute the OP. Why do you think burger places are popping up again? This is what Macca's etc was like back in the day. Admittingly it was less healthier (lots of animal fats consumed) then but it tasted awesome.
McDonalds very VERY rarely change any of their existing burger recipes. The Big Mac is the same as it was when you were a kid, you just have better options now.
They did switch a lot of stuff from lard to veggie oil, I know around 2005 they tired to be healthier
I honestly cannot tell the difference between old dominos and new dominos. Maybe just tastes a little bit oilier from previous pizzas but not that much. I don't eat at dominos to be healthy either if I am trying to be healthy i might reduce salt oil and butter in my ingredients or have more vegetables and salads but as long as you are not eating pure lard or oil you should be ok. Everyone is different so i will just keep still and quiet for now.
I know that they made the pizzas smaller. I remember when I was in uni the Dominos box would fit snugly into my microwave so that I could just close the door - with the box touching all three internal sides. Years later I tried it and the box had a large space to the edge of the (same) microwave.
I suspect this is true. I suspect Dominos/Pizza Hut were always greasy and a bit feral, but I loved that when I was younger and can't stomach it now.
In the same vein, I remember loving the taste of Fanta when I was a kid, and couldn't drink more than a mouthful of it now as it's so sweet. I don't think Fanta has changed, I think it's my tastebuds. (The first time I tried Schweppes Agrum it reminded me of what Fanta tasted like to me when I was a kid, so that's probably a measure of the recalibration of my tastebuds.)
I think it's the same with things like theme parks. Go back now and they are never as good as you remember them.
Domino's is a lot better than it used to be… that's one good thing. Local private shops are ok but some are very expensive for what you get. Pizza Hut should give up the game.. they were good back in the 70's.
I think it varies by store as well but I can't complain about our local Dominos - relatively cheap and consistent quality.
If you want out of this world pizza you have to go to woodfire pizza restaurants, but that's a whole different ball game.
Agreed.
It gets hated on alot because hating on chains is something people do, but I often use them because the quality of pizzas, desserts, chicken extras etc. are good and value for money is exceptional (provided you use coupons) compared to any other pizza place.
I remember when Pizza Hut had that distinct shaped roof.
And it sort of meant something special going there.
…then again I was like 5, so I'm probably cherry picking memories.
… and tablecloths, colour-in placemats and best of all gingerbread men!
My old local at port Macquarie got turned into a liquor land. They did the roof a brighter red and put the liquor land sign on the small roof section. Always struck me as weird when seeing it changed.
…and all you can eat.
Used to love their Bourke St (Melb) joint..
I remember eating at the Pennant Hills Pizza Hut buffet when I was 6, I got quite sick after eating a bit of everything. Pizza from those big chains is in the same league as maccas, all crap.
Yep, the last time I ate Pizza Hut I was throwing up for three days. Never again.
Wyong Plaza had the best pizzas for years, huge pizzas, a fluffy deep pan base that puffed up and hugged your ingredients tto it. Lashings of topping - and good ones, huge king prawns, rasher bacon, whole anchovies. I don't know where they went, but I miss them! If any of the old owners are reading - please open a store in Sydney and tell me its name!
Rose coloured glasses.
1990's Pizza Hut was trash as well, you're just not old enough to actually remember. They used that "rehydrated dry dog food" looking "meat" back then too.
Yup always sucked but was a once in a while treat of junk food.
Now that i can afford far better food, there's no point going back.
Go way back
Dial-A-Dinos
Was that the one with the red handset on the car roof?
Correct, and WOW were they expensive!
But it was Pizza :)
Can't honestly remember anything much besides Pizza Hut and Dominos, Crust and all that to me was meh (only good the first week for novelty sake then bleugh but it could just be my local).
Nothing beats a good kebab pizza imho for me or a good authentic woodfired italian pizza place.
Crazy toppings crazy size nice smoky slightly burnt taste.
On a side note if anybody finds a place that does a good chicago style deep dish pizza let me know.
The newish Little Caesars place looks promising if they can beat Domino's prices.
I've looked for deep dish pizza in Aus ever since I went to Chicago but I don't think anyone does it
Yeah i am starting to give up.. The closest to the cheesey goodness i have found is in lebanese styled cheese meat folds you can get at lebanese bakeries but its not the same.
Also poutine.. I think some places in the cbd or inner west does it but i have given uo
Single handedly looking for Chicago style pizza in Sydney for 6 years - still no luck :(.
Lived in Illinois for a year - and the pizza was mindblowing - even small independents were amazing and good value for money.
Am surprised no one has jumped on this - while difficult to stomach in the Aussie summer - it'd be a huge hit in the winters though.
I've seen Pie Tin at Newtown sell Chicago style deep dish.
Not sure if it's their regular offering though.
Didn't try so I couldn't compare it to Lou Malnati's.
Aw man mentioning that name brings back memories…
On topic: all you can eat Pizza Hut buffet at Warriewood FTW.
Deep Dish - I'm sure they taste great but there's no way on earth I would consume that much fat in one sitting. No wonder obesity is rife in the US. Then again Aus isn't that far behind.
As a college student in the US - I remember when I put on so much weight. 20 kg within a year. Dorm food and cheap food options outside meant you'd eat yourself into obesity. Combined with Chicago weather - winters were just an excuse to huddle inside and eat.
Good times, good times.
Dominoes USA > Dominoes AUS
And then some….
I specifically went to Lou Malnati's (Chicago) to sample "the best" deep dish pizza and was severely disappointed to find that it was pretty much a pizza-soup tart… NY style pizza FTW!
I sometimes wonder if the food was better 15 years ago or if my standards have risen now that I am an adult and know what good fresh food tastes like.
maybe it the onslaught of cooking shows. That have somehow forced feed us standards to criticize food to the point where if it's not made for royalty it doesn't belong on the table.
man i miss godfathers pizza (from the 90's),
The funny thing is no matter what they cook on those shows nothing beats good old cafeteria bistro food.. Penrith Panthers used to have the best bistro food in sydney i remember back when their old arcade was still around not the new kaos or whatever it is now
Urrgghh, bloody cooking shows. Glorifying small serving sizes and price gouging where all they do is add one minor twist ingredient (oh wait, I mean "fusion" :P) to a cheap classic, call it a tapas then charge literally 10x the price. Even the rise of burger restaurants again is a bit of this - that $15 burger better be damn good, and even these days people are saying not to expect much /end rant.
On the topic itself I'd say it's 50/50 in change and nostalgia. I used to be really fond of Maccss … as a kid. I still go occasionally but with inflation and bit more common sense it doesn't seem as good anymore.
do you remember when maccas had fried chicken? that was awesome!
McWings :)
Damn now i feel like some chicken.
I remember when they'd do those deals where you'd order a set amount (two pizzas + extras, I think) and they'd include a PC game. Those were the days..
Damn that was a long time ago
That's how I got a legit copy of The Sims 2.
My understanding that the current state of the pizza chains is a result of the discount battles the big guys had for years. I read an article where it explained that the continual discounting led us to never expect to pay more than $5.95 for a pizza, while all costs have risen over the years. This has resulted in the chains cutting costs wherever possible to keep their businesses alive.
If you look at dominos, they keep focusing on including more and more "non pizza" items where they can get away with charging more.
I cook pizzas at home these days, you can do it quite cheaply and can use whatever toppings, cheeses, sauces, etc that you want.
Exactly this, the people that are delusional are the ones that think Pizza Hut hasn't changed and that we are all just hating one them. What a joke. I clearly remember the pizza when I was a kid, used to cost a good 20 bucks for a family sized pizza eat in St Pizza Hut, in a restaurant with table service not a hole in the wall for deliveries, where the place wasn't run by students exclusively.
The reason I know I remember it so clearly, was because about 2 years ago I went to 99 on York (a club, the type with pokies) in Sydney. At the time their pizzas were recommended, and after ordering I smelt this smell I hadn't experienced since my childhood, even though I was ordering pizza it took me a while to place that it smelled just like Pizza Hut used to. When the pizza came it didn't disappoint, was just like the old days, same deep pan dish, the taste brought the memories flooding back. Unfortunately I checked their menus and no more pizza there
Yep, fond memories of the all you can eat buffet at Pizza Hut. I'm sure the memories are skewed positively as I was young and they were all kids birthdays.
Who remembers the Land Before Time puppets!? I still see them on tow bar ball thingys occasionally!
I dream about those old time buffets.. So good yet so bad.
i didn't even realise the one on george st had closed down till this discussion (looks like it was 2 years ago) but that isn't surprising as everything on george st has closed down thanks to the tram bullshite
I heard the buffets might be making a come back. I recently learned that there are still all you can eat diners around the country.
Poor Petrie.
My biggest missed memories are from the old chilis and taco bell. You can get some decent mexican and other american recipes now but back then that was really all you got.
Chilis is hands down my favourite American restaurant chain. Last time I went two nights in a row. It amazes me they stuffed it up in Australia (if it was anything like the US chain).
Never tried the US chain only overseas in asia chain. Was still the same maybe more a little more savourier or tangier with added flavours from the area i was visiting but not much else if. Loved their simple nachos and gorilla cheese sandwhiches and fajitas.. I make my own now at home sometimes but its not the same.
I like the full on steak dinners and the potato skins with monterey jack, bacon and chilli. A heart attack in every bite.
@BartholemewH: oh man the steak.. Thank god we still have some good steak diners around.. Nothing like mash and gravy with some side potatoes to go with it.. Starch overkill goodness
If you're out west in Sydney, hit up Sofra's Pizza in Granville! Best $3 slices of pizza I've had when fresh. Super generous with toppings.
I remember when Crust arrived a few years ago and was so epic. Now it's just cheap plastic shit like the rest. Cost cuts like everyone else.