Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Review: Domino's Brooklyn Style Pizza

While the purpose of the Pizza Quixote blog is finding destination pizza - pie that is worth the trip - we can't ignore the popularity of the huge chain pizza makers. Previously, we ate and reviewed Pizza Hut and Papa John's. I haven't had Domino's pizza in more than a decade, so it's past time to give it a fresh evaluation.
Brooklyn style. Click any image for full size resolution.

We chose a delivery deal of two "large" one-topping pizzas, with a 2-liter Coke, for $20.99. A Domino's "large" is a smallish 14" pie. Domino's offers five crust styles: Hand Tossed, Handmade Pan, Crunchy Thin Crust, Brooklyn Style, and Gluten Free. This review covers the Brooklyn Style.

I've had some wonderful pizza in Brooklyn. Classic old-school thin rigid pie at Totonno's, cutting edge Neapolitans at Roberta's and Forcella, tomato pie Sicilian squares at L&B Spumoni Gardens, grandma pie at Lenny's, and world-class squares and rounds at DiFara.  Which one of those is "Brooklyn style?" Hard to pinpoint a definitive answer. I think the Brooklyn moniker is a marketing tag for Domino's, nothing more.

On this pizza, it meant a soft, medium-thick, floppy crust with lots of grease but without a lot of flavor. The crust was almost as good as a DiGiorno frozen pie, with the look, taste, and texture of supermarket Italian bread. In that, it had a bit in common with the fat floppy slices sold at Costco. Inoffensive, better than the white-bread Domino's pizzas I recall from decades ago, but remarkably unremarkable.

Things got better on top of this ho-hum crust. The conventional mozzarella blend cheese was plentiful - creamy and salty - a fine role player. On the first few bites, the sauce had surprising character, tangy and vibrant. However, the more I ate, the more I detected over-herbage and a metallic aftertaste. The pepperoni was sliced thinly, but applied generously across the entire surface, and it lent the right amount of salty/savory cured meat flavor and orange grease.
Underside of the grease-soaked crust

Overall, this pie was tasty and a lot better than the Domino's of old. Still, by modern standards, this was a subpar pie. Papa John's and Pizza Hut pies are better. These Big Three chains, however, have caught up to the typical mom and pop pizza, because mom and pop are using inferior mass-sourced ingredients to compete with the big chains on price (details HERE).

The crust earns a 3, the cheese gets a 5, the sauce is a 5, and the pepperoni a 6.  Overall, because the crust is always the key, the Domino's Brooklyn style pizza earns a 4.  Better than no pizza, but really no reason to eat this stuff.



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8 comments:

  1. I actually like the handmade pan crust from there I think it is just a guilty pleasure of mine. Do you have any plans to try pizzeria Beddia in philly? It looks amazing but Im wondering if it is worth the wait/hastle

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  2. Hi Kyle, Beddia has been on my list for a while. I should have gone before, because now the waits are insane. But I will figure out a way to get there....

    Thanks!

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  3. I've never had "Brooklyn style" crust. Had no idea what I was in for but I was game. Wow was I in for a surprise! The crust was perfect not to thick nor thin with this amazing balance of garlic buttery goodness on the crust. Heaven? A bit.. it's my birthday and sadly I have no friends so ... I order another. This time it's this blah thin card board crust, semi cold pizza.. figures. The driver gave me a complimentary sprite as if he knew I would need it later... I did call Domino's and asked about the "crust". I was told I must have been given the wrong kind of pizza last time.. Happy Birthday to me.. :p

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    1. Where are you from....the Arctic Circle ?You never head of "Brooklyn Pizza ?"Come on....the best pizza in the world !New Yorker's love their pizza and prefer New York Neapolitan (round) and Sicilian (square) pizza to the original pizzas in Italy...it's a Brooklyn thing !

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    2. i’m from atl and i’ve never heard of a “brooklyn” style pizza, had no idea what that meant on domino’s app. i know ny is obsessed w pizza bc new yorkers never shut the fuck up about anything ny related but i couldn’t tell you what a brooklyn pizza is

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    3. Why don't you give it a try and you will see why N.Y won't shut the f..k up about the Brooklyn Pizza. It tastes good, very good.

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  4. It's surely not real "Brooklyn" style round Neapolitan pizza-pies you would find all over New York and Brooklyn.That being said, it's not bad and is an inexpensive lunch or dinner on the go !If you come across Domino's...it's a fast ,convenient lunch that's not great,just o-k.Not horrible,it's certainly alright and much better than the original mushy Domino's from the 1970's...that was horrible and definitely not for New Yorkers !

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  5. That doesn't look anything like a Domino's Brooklyn. Their Brooklyn is a medium stretched out pretty thin and has half the calories. The crust stays a little crispy from cornmeal. That pizza looks like a greasy hand tossed.

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