Getting pizza from a chain seems to me to be the complete antithesis to what pizza is supposed to be. Unfortunately in Germany it has been my experience that you can either have a good pizza restaurant or a pizza restaurant that delivers. When I asked my favourite place why they don’t offer delivery he answered that he doesn’t have the necessary space and staff to support that. They would get overwhelmed with orders.

Luckily even bad pizza is kinda good.

Hot take: home made cast iron pan pizza. It’s the easiest type of pizza to make from scratch.

Here are some common pizza issues that are easy to troubleshoot:

If you are bad at making the dough right the pan supports it.

Bad at cooking it? The pan helps to cook it evenly.

Want my flavor? You can add seasonings to the pan before putting in dough.

Want to mix it up? Chicago style.

Local neighbors smell the pizza and break into your house? Cast iron pan to the noodle.

Too much dough? Two pizzas.

Not enough dough for two pizzas? Deep dish.

Need the dough to rise? Oil the pan preheat the oven for 2 minutes so it’s watm. Turn it off, sit the whole thing in there.

Vampires? Add more garlic.

Not the right sauce? Loose works fine since you can make a bowl out of the dough in a cast iron.

I hope this helps! Saves on a lot of dishes since you only need the pan and maybe a mixing bowl.

Local takeaway. And I’m picky about which ones. More expensive but enjoyable.

I don’t bother paying the cheap chain stores, but if it’s free (ie. at an event or gathering) I’ll eat it. Still not my first choice though

Last time I got Papa Johns, a literal child delivered my order alone while her DoorDashing mom watched from her car. I didn’t order through DoorDash. I left feedback informing them that I would not be buying pizza from somewhere that makes me question whether I’m contributing to breaking child labor laws.

I would order local takeout if it were cheaper and wasn’t consistently soggy.

Domino’s is the most consistently “worth the money” pizza near me, with Little Caesars coming in a distant second.

Local whenever possible. I’d rather heat up a frozen pizza than order from a chain.

Local is always best but they’re not open at 3am. So Domino’s

Local takeaway 100% of the time. You don’t get chain pizza, your employer does it for you.

you forgot little caesars, which is the only corporate place in town that makes their own dough in-store.

Firm supporter of local stores and businesses. It also does help that I have a few good places in walking distance and a healthy city centre. So if I want and weather permitting I can sit on their patio and wave to acquaintances.

Support your local economy and buy local takeaway. When you spend money at a local shop, that money stays local instead of being sent off to some other region where an executive or investor lives. This keeps your local economy healthy by recirculating money within your area. It might cost a bit more, but if it helps your neighbor pay their mortgage or car payment or school tuition, it’s worth it.

Also, talk to your local business owners. They’re your neighbors, and having them is better than a faceless corporation.

Local always

I live in the chicago area so local all the way. I usually have a pizza in the freezer if I want something chain quality.

I used to actually love Domino’s but then the pizza got a little worse, then a little smaller, then smaller again, then more expensive, then quite a lot more expensive, then the voucher system that was keeping prices under control was trashed and then the pizzas got way smaller again.

This was a blessing in disguise though really. I tended not to explore the local options before this because they were only occasionally good in one’s area if you were lucky and always much pricier. Since Domino’s pricing stopped being cheap it made it worth searching for cheesier pastures and there’s a local joint near me that does NY style and it’s really good. That was really just luck though, honestly there’s a lot of really crappy neighbourhood pizza joints that people assume will be better because they’re not a chain when they’re really no better I’m glad I seemed to have landed next to the cream of the crop.

I prefer a real Brooklyn slice but it can’t be had where I live. IMO Donatos is a fair substitute. They’re in like 30 states.

The big national chains are garbage.

I bounce back and forth between 2 local places. With a simple food like pizza, the little differences in the ingredients and how they’re prepared come through moreso than in a complicated dish.

The one place has a chewier crust, the other has a breadier crust. One has a sweeter sauce. The place I originally went to when I came here made a more well done crust that I didn’t like, but it’s one of the more popular places in town, so some people definitely prefer it. With local places you’re not stuck with a single flavor or style and you can get what you’re in the mood for that day.

With that said, sometimes Domino’s or Pizza Hut takes me back to childhood memories, which helps out the flavor there. I never had Pappa John’s as a kid, so I didn’t like it much as an adult, but the other 2 remind me of being a kid. They’re probably not arbitrarily better than Pappa John’s, but they get the nostalgia bonus.