- I visited Domino's and Little Caesars in Toronto to see which chain had the tastier meal.
- I thought the cheesy bread from both chains seemed a little bland and the pizzas were just OK.
- I didn't fall in love with either chain but I slightly preferred the food from Little Caesars.
The last time I'd eaten at either Domino's or Little Caesars was about 15 years ago.
Little Caesars was my go-to spot as a middle schooler and my friends and I would regularly go for its cheap deals on slices after school. It's the third-largest pizza chain in the world and has over 4,100 locations in the US.
During my sophomore year of college, I worked at Domino's to pay off some of my student debt. I have fond memories of slinging dough and working alongside the friendly staff there. Domino's is the largest pizza chain in the world and has over 6,700 locations in the US.
In an effort to find which pizza chain has the tastier meal available today, I ordered the same menu items from both. Here's how they stacked up.
First, I ordered my meal at Domino's.
I visited one of the Domino's in downtown Toronto, an easy 10-minute walk from my house. When I went in, I noticed the interior was small but clean with an open-concept kitchen so customers could see their food being made.
There was also counter seating overlooking Queen Street West and some standard table seating.
Next, I got my meal from Little Caesars.
Little Caesars are few and far between in my part of Toronto so I drove 30 minutes each way to visit my closest location. Throughout my drive, I thought to myself, "This meal better be worth the headache and traffic of this long trip."
When I arrived, I noticed the pizza place was situated in a strip mall with only a grab-and-go option so there was no available seating. It was quite a small space and the kitchen was tucked in the back.
My Domino's order looked pretty appetizing.
For my order, I got a large thin-crust half-pepperoni, half-cheese pizza, stuffed cheesy bread, and marbled cookie brownies. The whole meal cost $28 CAD, or about $21 USD.
I ordered a similar meal at Little Caesars.
I ordered a thin-crust cheese pizza with half pepperoni, Italian cheese bread, and a cookie-dough brownie with M&M's.
Unfortunately, the staff said that a large size was not available for thin-crust pizza so I sized down to a medium pie. The meal cost CA$24.50.
Since the location wasn't busy, I took a few on-site photos while the food was hot and asked if I could have a few bites while there. The staff said it was no problem.
I was impressed with Domino's cheesy-bread pull.
I dove into the stuffed cheesy bread first because it looked the most appealing out of the meal from Domino's, especially with its browned edges and glistening top.
I noticed the aromas of cheese, garlic, and oregano emanating from the box. The dish was still piping hot when I dug in so I got a tall cheese pull, which had me salivating even more.
Aside from the cheese pull, Domino's cheesy bread was underwhelming to me.
Taste-wise, the bread itself didn't have much flavor but its fluffy texture acted as a vessel for the toppings and fillings. There was a blend of stringy mozzarella and cheddar cheese inside and on top of the bread.
My first bite was enjoyable but after that, the entire dish seemed one-note. I'm a huge fan of cheese but this was slightly overkill for me. I also noticed that the pieces I didn't eat right away became stiff and harder to chew as they sat at room temperature.
I think Little Caesars' Italian cheese bread could've been better.
The Italian cheese bread from Little Caesars looked appetizing with its glossy, golden-brown finish. Though the first bite was satisfactory, the subsequent ones were a letdown for me.
I felt like there was too much bread and not enough cheese topping. The distribution of the topping throughout the appetizer also seemed unequal, as the ends of the bread were dry whereas the middle slices were almost gummy because the bread was weighed down by cheese.
Next, I dug into Domino's pizza.
Appearance-wise, Domino's pizza didn't look very appetizing to me because the cheese and sauce seemed to have hardened. The edges also seemed a little blackened and overcooked. The cheese wasn't quite as melty as I'd have hoped.
In my opinion, Domino's pizza was kind of bland.
The pizza had a thin cracker crust but it seemed a bit one-dimensional. It wasn't particularly satisfying and I wasn't a huge fan of the texture.
The cheese on the pizza also seemed kind of sparse so it felt like I was eating mostly plain crust more than anything else.
Little Caesars' pizza had a generous amount of toppings.
Upon first glance, the pizza from Little Caesars looked slightly more promising than Domino's because there appeared to be more cheese. The thicker layer of cheese gave Little Caesars' pie more volume and a delicious, gooey melted appearance.
The golden-brown cracker crust seemed crispy enough but I found it still wasn't super flavorful. It reminded me a bit of Melba toast, little crisps usually served on salads and soups.
The tangy tomato sauce was the most dominant force on the pizza and unfortunately overpowered the cheese and pepperoni. There were visible specks of dried herbs on top but I couldn't detect the flavor of them on my palate.
Domino's marbled brownie was very sweet.
Lastly, I tried Domino's cookie-brownie hybrid, which was baked to order and still gooey-warm when I tried it. Unfortunately, I think it looked better than it tasted.
The flavor reminded me of a boxed brownie mix but not in a nostalgic and kitschy way. I didn't find any depth of flavor to this hyper-sweet creation so it was hard to distinguish between the brownie and cookie parts.
Since it tasted so sweet to me, I needed to eat the dessert with a tall glass of water.
Little Caesars' cookie-brownie looked good but didn't pack a punch.
Little Caesars' dessert looked cute with mini M&M's perched atop the cookie portion of the sweet. Unlike Domino's baked-to-order brownie, this one was prepackaged and served at room temperature.
Though the dessert looked promising, I wasn't impressed. The topping resembled raw cookie dough (which many of us secretly love to eat) but I thought it had a slightly artificial taste and grainy finish that coated my mouth.
The top of the dessert was so sweet to me that I couldn't really taste the brownie below.
Good pizza in Toronto can be expensive but if you're looking for something budget-friendly from a well-known chain, I'd recommend going with Little Caesars.
Overall, I probably wouldn't order the majority of these menu items again. Still, if I had to pick between the budget-friendly food from Domino's and Little Caesars, I'd go with the latter.
The day after my taste test, I revived the Little Caesars' pizza in my air fryer and had it with a fried egg and Sriracha for breakfast — with a little something added, the slices were delicious.
I'd also totally give Domino's stuffed cheesy bread another chance, especially since I believe it'd be amazing if I was high or needed a hangover cure.
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