r/AskBrits • u/Ordinary_Hedgehog_45 • 9h ago
Why is the quality/taste of Pizzas from local Takeaways and even Dominos declining despite the rise in price?
I remember a time not long ago when Pizzass ordered from takeaways or a Brand were cheesy/tasty and full of toppings that you mentioned. But now a days if you call a pizza place you are directed to the app and then even if you put it in notes to make the pizza well done it arrives undercooked. Also despite being disappointed once you try again the same result. Now it just feels like everyone wants to charge for sauces, condiments and toppings and even if you pay for the extras and wanting to feel like tipping and its just disappointment. Are we entering an era of trustless society?
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u/ComplexConclusion648 9h ago
The dough used to be made in the shop now its somewhere else with inferior ingredients
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u/Several_Break_7276 9h ago
I'm surrounded by pizza shops. They all sell the same disgusting slop, not sure when it went bad but they're all the same now.
One of them puts the pepperoni UNDER the cheese, so it's all soft and floppy when you chew it - disgusting.
And the cheese is pooled with grease and tastes not like cheese.
Like seriously just charge me an extra couple of quid and make something decent.
Edit :typos
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u/Chemical_Excuse 7h ago
Most takeaway places use vegan cheese on their pizzas as it has a more satisfying 'cheese pull'. As I flat out refuse to eat that garbage, I always ask for real cheese on mine. And I ask them to put the toppings on the top where they should be.
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u/Merlisch 8h ago
One if my local takeaways on e ran out if their usual "cheese" and had to use real cheese. I noticed because I'm lactose intolerant and, for the first time, got an upset stomach. They were totally confused when I came in and asked if they'd actually used real cheese.
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u/Apprehensive_Heat867 9h ago edited 7h ago
I miss uk high street pizza since I moved to Canada. Can't beat a hot spicy pizza from a local British takeaway. Pizzas in Canada are shit.
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u/Administrative_City2 9h ago
I was saying about this to my family a few months ago & I stopped ordering from them. Supermarket bought pizza with extra toppings & cheese added at home baked in the oven is a better in my opinion these days.
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u/aleopardstail 9h ago
thing is they are not hard to make and make vastly nicer, but even the supermarket ones can be a damned good base and way way less than even a cheap takeaway one
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u/Chemical_Excuse 7h ago
If you've never tried them, Crosta & Molica pizza are the nuts for frozen pizzas. They aren't cheap (although far cheaper than a takeaway pizza) but they're worth every penny. If you can find them for under a fiver, then I'd stock up.
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u/New_Line4049 9h ago
The cost to those pizza places has gone up. Theres no margin in it, so they have to cut costs while raising prices to make any money.
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u/Ordinary_Hedgehog_45 9h ago
The thing is I am willing to pay for my guilty pleasure.
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u/-myeyeshaveseenyou- 9h ago
A lot of people aren’t. I’m a chef and the price of ingredients currently due to the weather over summer in the Mediterranean and ongoing wars in various places has shot costs up.
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u/BeginningChest2989 9h ago
Yeah it’s a shame there’s no high quality deep pan Pizza Hut dominos style places
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u/aleopardstail 9h ago
Pizza Hut was ok, trouble was it was fast food at restaurant prices
and customer service that "your bank" would shy away from, last time I fancied one I was at the counter ten minutes before I came to my senses over the take away prices and left
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u/New_Line4049 9h ago
Thats great. Most are not, so if they put the prices up high enough for you to get what you want youll be the only one buying pizza and theyll go out of buisness
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u/Will_Thug 9h ago
I ain't being funny but it's 7.99 for a collection pizza, really isn't that bad lol. Youve got to be insane to think they're going out of business, just look at their stock price and financials.
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u/New_Line4049 9h ago
Yes. For the quality of pizza OP is complaining about. Itd be much more for the quality of pizza OP wants.
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u/Will_Thug 9h ago
If he wants that then he can make his own simple as 🤷🏻♂️. Dominos will never be some high end quality pizza, it's the most 6 or 7/10 pizza you'llhave, people will continue to buy it as they know what they're getting.
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u/Ordinary_Hedgehog_45 8h ago
My Brother in Christ our local Pizza shop used to be way more tastier than Dominos.
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u/zackjbryson 9h ago
I had a Dominoes the other day and it tasted like cardboard. My local independent one is so much better.
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u/downtoearth99112277 9h ago
Sorry to be a naysayer…Domino’s has always been bad. Papa John’s is marginally better. Pizza Express is a lot better. Your local independent Neapolitan pizza place is likely a thousand times better. Don’t buy from the huge chains who sell bad food. Buy from the little guy who makes real food.
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u/Existential-Egg-117 9h ago
I guess it's down to personal taste, but I've always enjoyed a dominos pizza. It's the one takeaway I've found to be consistently decent. Papa John's is wank. Pizza Express is good if you want to sit in a restaurant and have a pizza.
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u/ZombieJack 22m ago
It's always been trendy to hate on Dominoes. It's the biggest pizza chain. It's designed for mass appeal and nothing more. Sure there's plenty better, but I think calling it bad is just silly. It's good at being what it is. Reliable junk food pizza!
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u/whodoesyourtampons 7h ago
Air conditoning is always spot on at Pizza Express, well it is in the Woking branch anyways
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u/Not_A_Clue92 7h ago
I will die on the hill that Pizza Hut do the best pizza out of the big chains. Anything on their pan base is biblical. Never misses
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u/Techpriestt 9h ago
Some great neopolitana chains spreading now too. Rudys, pizza pilgrims. Genuinely elite pizzas made properly. And barely more than a dominos.
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u/baldeagle1991 6h ago
Tbh that's comparing American style vs Italian style pizza.
The first tends to be more greasy, but I fricking hate the crusty and half burnt crusts that seem popular on the Italian types.
A lot of the Neopolitan chains are just part of the current fashion when it comes to pizza.
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u/N64Andysaurus92 9h ago
I've never cared for takeout pizza. I make my own, tastes much nicer, costs a fraction and it's fun.
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u/Not_A_Clue92 7h ago
*TAKEAWAY
STOP NORMALISING AMERICANISMS FFS
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u/Ordinary_Hedgehog_45 9h ago
The thing is I can cook my own pizza if I am in the mood, but sometimes I just want to indulge in ordering one and pamper myself but that experience of ordering a takeout is disappointing nowadays.
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u/nunsreversereverse 9h ago
Same but takeaway pizza. It's shite. Unless drunk anyway, like doner kebabs.
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u/FirstAd226 7h ago
Honestly don't think Domino's has changed in twenty years. Tasted like shit back then, and still does. I will say that there are huge differences depending upon branch though. Some burn the cheese so bad the pizza is inedible, while others seem to have some quality control.
Best dominoes pizza by a mile is the cheese and tomato with double cheese, almost replicates some of that decent American types you get. I don't understand why, but anytime a topping goes on it goes to complete shit.
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u/baldeagle1991 6h ago
If it burns it means they haven't put enough cheese on. They use conveyor ovens on set temperature, so not really much to go wrong there.
Cheese is thr most expensive topping, so it's the first thing franchises cut back on of they want to be cheap.
The reason double cheese often is a bit better is because they actually put at least the correct amount of cheese you should get for a normal margherita pizza.
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u/Chemical_Excuse 7h ago
It's probably the grease that does that. Pepperoni has an enormous amount of grease that comes off during cooking and soaks into the pizza. Same with the ham and beef I'd imagine.
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u/SpiritedGuest6281 9h ago
I remember when I was a teenager one of the pubs near me used to have a Pizza and a pint deal. The pizza place was opposite the pub and you bought the deal in either establishment and were given a coupon to hand into the other. I think it was £5 for something like a pint of carling and a small 6-inch pizza but it was a really bloody good pizza. Proper stone baked Italian style pizzas. Dough made fresh everyday. Unfortunately they kept failing their food safety checks so were eventually shut down and the replacement didn't have the deal and just made the same naff pizzas as every other pizza place.
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u/Pristine-Bar2786 9h ago
I think they all buy their cheese from the same supplier. To me they all taste the same regardless of toppings.
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u/thatguysaidearlier 9h ago
Most of the 'new' cost is the building and utilities for the oven/fridges/freezers. The ingredients are also dearer but they're not the bulk of the markup. Cheese has possibly gone up the most out of all the ingredients which has a big impact on oil/taste
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u/purpleplums901 9h ago
Do you have any proper Italian places near you? Because they do not skimp on quality. It’s just not something they can bring themselves to do. It was already a lot better than anywhere else. Now I’m finding it isn’t even any more expensive
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u/Ordinary_Hedgehog_45 9h ago
The pizza from my ex local Asian Pizza place used to be proper indulgence and just £8 for their largest pizza which was 14 inch. They closed after covid. The "stone baked" pizza from current "Italian" place feels meh and their smallest pizza is £10.
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u/International-Ad4555 8h ago
It’s kinda funny because we’re on Reddit, which skewers more to middle class people for the most part, you’re gonna say you miss the cheap Asian place bossman pizzas and they tell you to make your own or find a swanky Italian place haha
They don’t know the degenerate joy of a 1.30am 14inch pizza with reformed halal turkey pepperoni, cheese adjacent substances, and a grease soaked thickass base 😂
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u/whitefire9999 9h ago
Domino’s… yeah that’s not a good benchmark, they are disgusting greasy slops, you know they failed in Italy as the Italian’s refused to eat them, said they were not pizzas
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u/Inevitable-Regret411 9h ago
Higher cost of living means less people are ordering takeaway food because it's more expensive, so takeaway places are forced to react according by saving money wherever possible.
For what it's worth, I've seen plenty of takeaway places that still manage to produce good value for money.
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u/Triordie 9h ago
Crosta and mollica plain. Add your cheese and toppings. Really good quality. Works out at at bout £5
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u/neilm1000 Brit 🇬🇧 9h ago
Loads of the dough has flours other than wheat flour in it. It has always been the case but it is now much more marked.
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u/most_crispy_owl 6h ago
This causes me to stop ordering. A 15inch is like 22 delivered, but they've reduced the toppings so much now and often fuck up my stuffed crust.
I got a pepperoni recently and it had as few as 2 pieces per slice. Bullshit.
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u/Opposite_Captain_506 1h ago
I used to get a papa johns or domino or pizza hut once every couple of months until early last year. The taste of all had gone, just bland and prices went up too much. I imagine worse or cheaper ingedients are used now. Lost my custom -but probab,y better for my wallet and waist.
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u/Will_Thug 9h ago
I swear this sub is the same every week. "Why has McDonald's gone to shit, why has Cadburys gone to shit, why has dominos gone to shit'. Like if it's that bad then just make your own food, it's really that's simple. Also people complaining about the prices as if they're not £7.99 for a collection pizza.
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u/Logical-Macaron6607 9h ago
If you’re ordering from an app you do know that they’re not from the actual premises? They could have been subcontracted so to speak
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u/CaptainDarlingSW4 9h ago
Enshitification,