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Two days after Christmas Domino’s officially began selling pizzas made with their newly revamped recipe.  The marketing campaign boasts a better sauce, cheese and crust.  Although you might be interested in how it stacks up against the old recipe, you probably haven’t jumped at the opportunity.  Luckily for you, I have a taste for bad food, a lightning fast metabolism, and I’m a workout warrior who can burn anything off.  I put down two of these large pies so you wouldn’t have to and I’m ready to share my findings.

The Recipe

The box explains the new recipe.

The new pizza box itself gives you an idea of what’s in store for you.  If you believe what you read you will be treated to:

• 100% mozzarella with a hint of provolone
• A new sauce with spicy red pepper
• A garlic-seasoned buttery crust
  Well all of that sounds delicious, they have me on board.  Let’s open the box up and get a look at this thing.

Oh Snap, Guess What I Saw?!

Shorty is not a ten.

Luckily when it comes to food, first impressions mean nothing, it all comes down to the taste test.  Visually I was absolutely disappointed.  I suggest you head over to the Domino’s website and compare the image on the front page to what you see here.  After days of having the website image in my head, I felt bamboozled when I saw this unappetizing piece of crap in front of me.  It even appeared to be smaller than I hoped it would be.  But let’s give it a taste.

The Crust

Crust seasoning you can see.

I had a feeling that the crust would be a homerun because the breadbowls from their Pasta Breadbowls are delicious.  Same thing with this new pizza crust.  Think of a seasoned breadstick used as a pizza crust.  You can clearly see the garlic/parm seasoning in the picture and you’ll also be pleased to know that it’s hit with butter.  I thought I was imaging this at first but each slice honestly gets better as you work your way towards the crust.

‘Got Any Cheeeeeese?’

Close-up look at the pie.

Before trying out the new recipe I talked to some people on what they thought about the old recipe.  Pretty much everyone, myself included, agreed that the cheese was never an issue with old Domino’s pizza.  It wasn’t spectacular but they had more to worry about than just the cheese.
Not much has changed with the new recipe.  I expected a more pronounced flavor from the provolone blend but it really doesn’t stand out.

The Sauce

A single slice.

Can food be described as gimmicky?  Because that’s the first word that came to mind when I got a lick of the new sauce.  As promised, they have spiced the sauce up a bit.  But the result is something that tastes exactly like a sauce you’d get in a package of frozen mozzarella sticks, or sauce you would receive with an order of breadsticks to dip in.  It’s tasty, but I just don’t know if a pizza is the right venue for it.  Save it for the breadsticks.

Blindsided By The Bottom

Don't look down!

I expected to only have three focuses: the outer crust, the cheese and the sauce.  But while eating the pizza I was completely blindsided by the bottom of the pizza.  Look at the picture I took.  At the very least you expect to see cornmeal on the bottom.  This pizza has nothing covering the bottom at all.  I’m not using hyperbole when I say that it feels like cardboard when your tongue touches the bottom of a slice.  The underside of this pizza was an unexpected bumout.

A Surprise

Buttery goodness is visible.

Domino’s played up the garlic-butter crust, and I’m already fond of their Pasta Breadbowls which are drenched in butter.  So I should have been prepared for what I was going to see, but I was still surprised when I saw the butter sauce soaked into the crust with my eyes.  You know it’s seriously buttery when you can see the butter on a cross-section of the pizza.  This was an unexpected treat which helps let me look past the cardboard base this pie is built on.

Final Review

• If you’re having Domino’s, the crust is worth the price of admission.
• The new cheese and sauce are closer to lateral moves, not upgrades.
• Overall better than the OG recipe.
• Although better, still not as good as your favorite hometown pizza shop.