Why We Always Avoid Buying Pizza From This Popular Chain

Listen, we are well aware that your go-to pizza delivery chain for late-night cravings, large parties, or last-minute dinner disasters has little to do with exceptional quality and a lot to do with nostalgia (and ravenous hunger). This pizza is probably not the best pie your town has to offer and it's certainly not up to par with the restaurant-style pizza you can make at home when you have the time and inclination. The standards for take-out pizza are just different. That's why our ranking of the best fast-food pizza had very specific parameters. While you might have a penchant for Round Table pizza or prefer Costco pizza hot to go, our ranking focused on the four major American pizza chains: Domino's, Little Caesars, Papa Johns, and Pizza Hut. While Papa Johns came out on top, of the four, it turns out Pizza Hut is the popular chain to avoid.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, pizza crust became the key differentiator. While some chains (Domino's) have more topping options, most shops have fairly similar fare when it comes to mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce, and classic add-ons. With crust quality as the basis for comparison, Papa Johns won hearts and minds with its garlic epic stuffed crust. Pizza Hut's crust, on the other hand, lacked flavor and flare.

Even though Pizza Hut landed in last place, there's still a lot to love about the take-out pizza shop. One Pizza Hut perk is how many crust options they have compared to their competitors. Our taste-tester tried six different Pizza Hut crust styles and really liked two of them: the pan crust (a Pizza Hut signature) and the hand-tossed crust. The pan crust has a crispy, airy edge with a chewy, buttery center. While the crust isn't so thick that there's a lot left after you've finished off all the toppings, tomato sauce, and cheese, there's a little bit left that's just perfect for dipping. The hand-tossed crust, which is a more traditional crust style, is also light and crispy, and there's a lot more of it to go around (you may decide for yourself if that's a good thing or bad thing). Both crusts have pretty good, if not exceptional, flavor and texture.

Still, if you're trying to consume pretty good pizza as quickly as possible, we'd recommend picking up a frozen pizza from the store. It's cheaper for fairly comparable quality and you'll have a lot more control over the temperature.