We all have those nights when cooking feels impossible and pizza delivery seems like the only answer. But with so many options, choosing where to order from can be harder than deciding what toppings to get! After trying nearly every major pizza chain in America (tough job, I know), I’ve ranked them from the most disappointing to the absolute best. Some results might surprise you – that place you’ve been loyal to for years? It might be time for a change. Ready for the honest truth about who makes the best and worst pizzas in the country?
Chuck E. Cheese falls flat in last place
You might wonder why anyone over the age of ten would order pizza from Chuck E. Cheese, but for science (and this ranking), I did just that. The pizza has a strange crust that’s not quite thick, not quite thin, and somehow manages to be both too doughy and too dry at the same time. The sauce lacks any real flavor – it’s not sweet, not savory, just vaguely tomato-adjacent. The cheese might be the worst part, with an odd stretchy quality that reminds you it’s probably not real mozzarella. Even kids, who typically aren’t picky about pizza, often leave the crust untouched.
What makes Chuck E. Cheese truly earn its bottom spot isn’t just the subpar pizza – it’s the fact that pizza is supposedly their main food offering, yet they seem to put minimal effort into making it good. While the arcade games and animatronic shows might distract children enough not to care about the quality of what they’re eating, adults will definitely notice. If you find yourself at a Chuck E. Cheese for a child’s birthday party, my advice is to eat beforehand or stick to the salad bar. The pizza simply isn’t worth the calories or the cost.
Little Caesars is cheap for a reason
When you’re really short on cash but still craving pizza, Little Caesars with its $5 Hot-N-Ready pizzas seems like a no-brainer. But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. The crust has all the flavor and texture of cardboard that’s been left out in the rain and then dried in the sun. The sauce is oddly sweet, almost like they’re trying to mask the lack of other flavors. The cheese is sparse and often unevenly distributed, leading to bites that are mostly bland crust and sauce. If you get toppings, don’t expect much – the pepperoni is thin and becomes a crispy wafer after baking.
That said, Little Caesars does deserve some credit for its convenience and price point. You can walk in, hand over five bucks, and walk out with a whole pizza in less than five minutes. Their Crazy Bread is also a guilty pleasure for many. But if you’re looking for quality, flavor, or anything resembling authentic pizza, you’ll need to look elsewhere. Little Caesars knows exactly what it is: the fast food of pizza chains. It fills your stomach without emptying your wallet, but it won’t satisfy your taste buds or make you excited about pizza.
Papa John’s fails to deliver on promises
Papa John’s has built its entire brand around having “better ingredients” and “better pizza,” but the reality falls severely short of the marketing. The crust has an odd sweetness to it that clashes with the toppings rather than complementing them. The sauce is actually decent – slightly sweet with hints of herbs – but it’s often applied too sparingly. The biggest disappointment is the cheese, which lacks that gooey, melty quality we all want in pizza cheese. Instead, it seems to congeal into a solid mass that separates from the crust when you take a bite, taking all your toppings with it.
The one redeeming quality of Papa John’s is their garlic dipping sauce, which many fans use to mask the mediocrity of the pizza itself. But a good pizza shouldn’t need a sauce to make it palatable. According to multiple state rankings, Papa John’s is considered the worst pizza chain in 20 states, including pizza-serious places like Illinois and New York. When people who really know pizza consistently rank you at the bottom, that says something significant. Papa John’s also tends to be pricier than chains of similar quality, making the value proposition even worse.
Pizza Hut lives on nostalgia more than quality
For many of us, Pizza Hut holds a special place in our hearts. Remember those Book It! programs where you’d get free personal pan pizzas for reading books? Or family nights in those distinctive red-roofed restaurants with the red plastic cups and arcade games? Unfortunately, nostalgia is keeping Pizza Hut afloat more than the actual pizza these days. The crust, once the company’s defining feature with its buttery, almost fried texture, has become inconsistent – sometimes too thick, sometimes too dry. The sauce is unremarkable, neither offensively bad nor particularly good.
Pizza Hut does still excel in one area: variety. From stuffed crust to pan pizza to thin and crispy, they offer more crust options than most chains. Their specialty pizzas like the Supreme and Meat Lover’s remain popular choices. But the overall quality has declined noticeably over the years, particularly as the chain has shifted focus from dine-in restaurants to delivery and carryout. Pizza Hut now ranks among the worst pizza chains in multiple states, particularly in the western US where it faces stiff competition from regional favorites. If you’re ordering Pizza Hut in 2025, you’re probably doing it out of habit rather than because it’s the best option.
Domino’s comeback story shows mixed results
Domino’s deserves credit for one of the most honest marketing campaigns ever when they admitted their pizza wasn’t good and promised to do better. And they did improve – the crust now has garlic butter flavor, the sauce has more herbs, and they use better cheese. Their ordering system is also impressively easy, with a pizza tracker that tells you exactly when your food will arrive. For many families with kids, Domino’s hits the sweet spot of affordability, convenience, and being just good enough that everyone will eat it without complaints.
However, Domino’s still falls into the middle of the pack when it comes to actual taste. The improved pizza is certainly better than their old recipe, but that’s not saying much. The crust still has an artificial quality to it, and the sauce can sometimes taste like it came from a can rather than fresh tomatoes. According to recent rankings, Domino’s gets surprisingly high marks from some food critics who praise its consistency and value. But in 13 states, it’s still considered the worst pizza chain. Domino’s is like that friend who used to be terrible but has gotten better – you appreciate the effort, but you don’t forget the past.
MOD Pizza brings customization to new heights
Walking into a MOD Pizza feels more like visiting a trendy fast-casual restaurant than a traditional pizza joint. The entire concept is built around personalization – you move along a counter selecting exactly what you want on your individual-sized pizza, and the price stays the same no matter how many toppings you pile on. This is huge for topping lovers who are tired of paying $2 extra for each additional item at other chains. The crust is thin but sturdy enough to hold whatever combination of ingredients you choose. It comes out of their super-hot ovens with nice charred spots and a good chew.
Where MOD really shines is in the freshness of their ingredients. The vegetables actually taste like vegetables rather than sad, dehydrated versions of themselves. They offer interesting options like roasted garlic, spicy chicken, and gorgonzola cheese that you won’t find at most pizza chains. MOD has been consistently ranked in the top five pizza chains by multiple sources, particularly for those who value choice and fresh ingredients over traditional pizza styles. The only downside is that with so many options, it’s easy to create combinations that don’t work well together – but that’s on you, not MOD!
Blaze Pizza turns fast casual into fast favorite
Often compared to MOD, Blaze Pizza operates on a similar build-your-own model but with a few key differences that push it slightly higher in the rankings. The first thing you’ll notice is the dough – it’s made from scratch daily and fermented for 24 hours, giving it a more complex flavor than many chain pizzas. When it cooks in their 900-degree ovens (hence the name Blaze), it develops a perfect contrast between the crispy exterior and chewy interior. The sauce options go beyond standard tomato to include white cream sauce, spicy red sauce, and even a garlic pesto that pairs amazingly with their chicken toppings.
Blaze has also committed to cleaner ingredients than many chains – no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives in their food. This commitment to quality puts them near the top of multiple ranking lists. One comparison found Blaze to be the #1 pizza chain overall, balancing quality, affordability, and speed. While some pizza purists might argue that the fast-casual model can’t produce “real” pizza, Blaze proves them wrong with pies that taste fresh and high-quality despite being ready in just about 3 minutes. For many busy families and workers looking for a quick lunch, Blaze represents the perfect modern pizza experience.
California Pizza Kitchen earns top spot for flavor innovation
California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) takes the crown as the best pizza chain for several compelling reasons. First, there’s the crust – cooked in a wood-fired oven that gives it an authentic smokiness and perfect texture with both crispness and chew. While other chains have improved their basic pizza components over the years, none have achieved the balance of CPK’s crust, sauce, and cheese working in perfect harmony. The standard cheese pizza here would already rank high, but where CPK truly excels is in its creative combinations that somehow always work, never feeling gimmicky or thrown together just for shock value.
Take their signature BBQ Chicken Pizza – what could have been a weird novelty has become an iconic dish that many have tried to copy. The Original Thai Chicken Pizza with peanut sauce sounds strange on paper but delivers complex flavors that make sense together. Even their vegetable-forward options like the Mushroom Pepperoni Sausage and California Veggie pizzas satisfy in ways that vegetable pizzas at other chains simply don’t. Multiple taste tests place CPK at or near the top of national chains. Yes, it’s pricier than most competitors, but the quality of ingredients and thoughtfulness of combinations justify the cost. In a world of mediocre chain pizzas, CPK stands apart as genuinely good food that happens to be pizza.
Next time you’re facing the eternal question of where to order pizza from, remember this ranking. Pizza chains vary wildly in quality, and while personal taste matters, some objectively make better pies than others. Whether you prioritize value, convenience, or taste, knowing where each chain stands can help you make better choices. And if you’ve been stuck in a pizza rut ordering from the same place for years, maybe it’s time to try something new – you might discover your new favorite pizza was just a phone call away all along.
