Just tried Domino's Pizza - Oh, dear God. (Minneapolis: 2013, shops)

[srsmn]

Originally Posted by Bulldogdad

How bout it?

My wife and I are coming back in a few months and didn't get to experience any a few weeks ago.

I figure that close to Wis. and Chicago you have got to have some that arn't New York style or Wolf Gang Puck inspired.

Yes I can do Yelp but you people in the Twin Cities don't seem to be as avid about using it as out here based on the number of reviews I saw for things I did lookup in August.

It's actually not much of a Chicago-style town, if you can believe it.

There are a few institutional places. Dulano's was mentioned. Also, Fat Lorenzos, and Jakeenos.

There are a few quick, easy local chains that are cheap and good for what you pay, like Carbone's and Davannis.

There are a few of the "Wolfgang Puck" types, if I understand your meaning. Those would be Pizza Lola, Black Sheep, Punch, and Pizza Nea. I would advise against writing any of those off carte blanche-- they're all pretty good, fresh ingredients...Punch has a tomato farm, I believe, in Italy.

Pizza Luce is good, as is Chanticlear (sp?). There are some good by-the-slice places like Slice of New York and Mesa. A cafeteria-style Italian place on W. 7th in St. Paul called Cosetta's....that's sort of an instution. So anyway, yeah....there are options besides Dominos...

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by plain and simple

I find it very hard to believe that you've never complained about poor quality food that you had to spend your money on.

It's freakin' Domino's! You should know better!! I'll complain about a place where the quality degrades from it's normal standards or fine dining that isn't fine, but complaining about Fast Food is like complaining about rush hour traffic....What do you expect?!?! ANd what get's me is hyperbole; if you had left out the Dear God statement and had something about, saw their commercials about the improved quality but it's not improved; OK. BUt your "dear God" statement sounds like they fed you rancid dog food; so my comment about hunger was to add some reality and levity. When one moans about Domino's so much, it strikes me as someone who is too picky about their food and/or has never truly known hunger (thankfully)

[Cleverfield]

Domino's may not exactly be "rancid dog food" but it's certainly below the standards one might expect from a national pizza chain. Even with all the other cheap pizza places out there, Domino's is by far the worst in terms of ingredients and taste. Every one of their pizzas is like eating a flavorless hunk of bread with a little texture from the canned or frozen toppings, fake cheese that will probably give you cancer, and a few "spices" added on the top just so you know you're not just eating factory made frozen pizza dough that's been heated in an oven.

[plain and simple]

Originally Posted by Min-Chi-Cbus

You called nine pizza shops just to try derail my comment? I hope not! What did Pizza Hut say when you asked?

Lou Malnati's in Chicago (one of my all-time favorites) uses canned tomatoes, okay? That solves that mystery, so hopefully you can put down the phone now.

No harm meant on my side, but couldn't help but poke a little fun at this reaction. I should have stated who I had in mind when I said "best pizza that uses canned tomatoes".

I didn't take any offense, no worries. Everyone has their own opinion and tastes and if you like canned, diced tomatoes on your pizza, that's no better or worse than my opinion of hating them. Taste is subjective. (That's why I think food and movie critics are absurd and have the easiest jobs in the world.)

And, I didn't say there weren't pizza places that used canned, diced tomatoes. Just that, basically, it's not a normal practice... and it never should be. I'm sure there are many pizza places that are struggling or just plain don't care about their food and are more interested in keeping costs down. And I'm sure there are many pizza eaters who can't be bothered to care about it.

I didn't call around to "derail" your comment. If that were the case, I would have directly told you directly, "Hey, I called around. No one uses canned, diced tomatoes. Making up facts doesn't help your credibility and is a weak attempt to argue a fact that you don't like."

I called around because, 1) I like dealing with facts and I enjoy research. And, 2) A huge argument tactic online, when someone comes across a fact they don't like, is to make up their own facts and present them as truth. It's an online plague. Unlike most people, I'll actually do the research and check out the advice and facts that others present in a debate. That's what I did. In this case, I called every pizza shop that delivers in my area. It included every major chain, including Pizza Hut, and mom-n-pops. Without fail, they all said they use fresh tomatoes. Five of them even laughed and added a comment similar to, "Of course we don't. Who does that?"

For the record (and it took all of 45 seconds), I called Lou Malnati's in Chicago. They said they don't offer diced tomatoes on their pizza. They're sliced. They said their pizza sauce starts out as canned tomato sauce, but they've never used canned, diced tomatoes on their pizza. I asked if that's a company-wide policy or if each restaurant is individually owned and operated. I was told, "it's definitely a company-wide policy at all 39 locations."

[Radical_Car]

If you're ever in St Cloud try Dimaggios. Medium 1 topping is $5.99, was $4.99 at one point.
I see on their site it changed to Monday-Thursday deal only. But it's so good. Love their marinated red hot chicken topping!

$5.99 is a huge deal for a mom and pop place. I remember one time they had a special larges were $7. And on March 14 3/14 they had "happy pi day" mediums (I think it was cheese only) were $3.14. Add $1 for a topping I think IIRC.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by plain and simple

I was never a fan of Domino's with their cheap ingredients, chemical cheese that just dissolves into puddles and bland flavor, no matter what toppings you put on it. I haven't had Dominos in y e a r s.

But, I received a nice coupon in the mail and thought I'd give them a try because of earlier advertising about how they've undergone a huge transformation and listened to their customers.

I ordered online: A Large with mushroom, ham, bacon, green olives, roasted red peppers, diced tomatoes and shredded parmesan-asiago cheese (along with their regular cheese).

$2.50 delivery fee? What's that for? It would be more honest to just raise the prices.

The pizza arrived in a timely manner and the delivery guy was really nice. Always a plus.

The pizza, however, was horrible. Nothing has changed! All of those toppings and all I tasted was crust. If there was sauce on the pizza, I sure couldn't tell by sight or taste. Puddles of fake cheese dotted this atrocity.

But, worst of all, absolutely unforgivable and inexcusable, was the use of CANNED TOMATOES. They weren't fresh diced tomatoes, they were CANNED! The online ordering system only called them "Diced Tomatoes." Never, in a million years would I have thought anybody would be so ridiculous as to use CANNED tomatoes on a pizza!

Never, ever, ever again. They could give me free food for life and I wouldn't touch it. And to think, I could have been enjoying Dulano's with all that great, (real) cheesy goodness!

If anyone is interested in Domino's, for whatever reason, use the code L9999 for a Large, Any Topping Pizza for $9.99. You can put as many toppings as you want on it and order as many pizzas as you want for that price with this code. Double toppings are extra. Expires on 9/30/14.

I'd also like to report that I had a very low quality cheeseburger at White Castle & that the coffee at Super America is crap.

[queenswake]

My comment about this being an odd post is sure ringing true. Although now I need the add "hilarious" as an additional qualifier. The OP is something else. And this still belongs more on a a general food forum rather than a city-specific forum as "canned tomatoes" and "delivery fees" are tragedies at Domino's across the country and not just in Minneapolis-St Paul.

No offense OP, but I am beginning to think that you are not the ripest tomato on the vine. Something is not quite right. But you are entertaining nonetheless.

By the way. I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE Kohls and will never shop there again. I would not wish shopping there on my worst enemy. I hope not a single person ever shops there again. But here is a free shipping code if you'd like to use it: MMMM555. Enjoy!

[Radical_Car]

Originally Posted by queenswake

My comment about this being an odd post is sure ringing true. Although now I need the add "hilarious" as an additional qualifier. The OP is something else. And this still belongs more on a a general food forum rather than a city-specific forum as "canned tomatoes" and "delivery fees" are tragedies at Domino's across the country and not just in Minneapolis-St Paul.

No offense OP, but I am beginning to think that you are not the ripest tomato on the vine. Something is not quite right. But you are entertaining nonetheless.

I agree with everything you said. Now I'm just waiting for him to start a thread where hes shocked that a burger from Burger King or McDonalds isn't as good as some hole in the wall burger joint that cost 6 times as much and how he is going to be "shocked" that McDonalds uses frozen beef patties and doesn't hand form them with fresh meat after you order.

Originally Posted by queenswake

No offense OP, but I am beginning to think that you are not the ripest tomato on the vine. Something is not quite right. But you are entertaining nonetheless.

Yeah, not trying to be rude or anything, but he was surprised Dulano's had a website. It's 2014, everything and anything has a website and facebook page.

Originally Posted by plain and simple

Actually, I just ordered a pizza from Dulano's. I had no idea they have finally have a website! New menu items, too. I love taco pizza so that's what I ordered. Can't wait till it gets here! I'm dreaming about all that chewy, stringy cheese!

[plain and simple]

Originally Posted by Radical_Car

I agree with everything you said. Now I'm just waiting for him to start a thread where hes shocked that a burger from Burger King or McDonalds isn't as good as some hole in the wall burger joint that cost 6 times as much and how he is going to be "shocked" that McDonalds uses frozen beef patties and doesn't hand form them with fresh meat after you order.

Whatever

Yeah, not trying to be rude or anything, but he was surprised Dulano's had a website. It's 2014, everything and anything has a website and facebook page.

Dulano's never had a website until two months ago. There you go.

[plain and simple]

Originally Posted by queenswake

My comment about this being an odd post is sure ringing true. Although now I need the add "hilarious" as an additional qualifier. The OP is something else. And this still belongs more on a a general food forum rather than a city-specific forum as "canned tomatoes" and "delivery fees" are tragedies at Domino's across the country and not just in Minneapolis-St Paul.

No offense OP, but I am beginning to think that you are not the ripest tomato on the vine. Something is not quite right. But you are entertaining nonetheless.

By the way. I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE Kohls and will never shop there again. I would not wish shopping there on my worst enemy. I hope not a single person ever shops there again. But here is a free shipping code if you'd like to use it: MMMM555. Enjoy!

To each their own. Good luck.