Domino’s Pizza has launched a line of Oven Baked Sandwiches, in what the company is calling a “historic” expansion of it’s menu, becoming the first major quick-serve restaurant chain in America to deliver such items. The new sandwiches are baked in real ovens (not ‘toasted’), priced at $4.99 each, and come in four varieties.

Philly Cheese Steak - Steak, American and provolone cheeses, with fresh onions, green peppers and mushrooms.

Chicken Bacon Ranch - Seasoned all-white meat chicken breast, bacon, creamy ranch dressing and provolone cheese.

Chicken Parmesan - Seasoned all-white meat chicken breast, tomato basil marinara, parmesan-asiago and provolone cheeses.

Italian - Slices of pepperoni, Genoa salami, ham, provolone cheese, banana peppers, fresh green peppers and onions.

“As of today, we are the largest sandwich delivery company in the nation,” said Patrick Doyle, president of Domino’s USA. “This launch springboards Domino’s into the lunch business by providing a product that is high quality, priced right and aimed at convenience-minded people without a lot of time. Of course, sandwiches are also available any time our stores are open.

“Some of our sandwich competitors use units that look like microwaves or toaster ovens to try and warm a few of their subs. We have high-end ovens in our stores that cost $30,000 and bake our sandwiches at 450 degrees. It gives us a huge quality advantage they can’t match,” Doyle added. “People fed up with brown-bagging or driving to pick up something cold, can save some time and gas by ordering a hot Domino’s sandwich for delivery to their home or office.”

The new sandwiches debut this week at approximately 4,000 select locations, with all Domino’s stores expected to offer them beginning on September 22. The company plans to begin marketing over the next couple weeks, via television and web.

Does a pizza priced cheap as dirt — taste like dirt? Today I discovered the answer.

I’m talking about Domino’s highly publicized 444 promotion. That’s 3 pizzas for $4 each, a total of $12. The pizzas are 10-inch one-topping pies. I ordered a variety, one with Pepperoni, one with Grilled Chicken and one Beef. Nothing else added, no extras. Just the basic advertised deal of $12. I used Domino’s website and ordered online.

My order arrived at my doorstep 24 minutes after being placed at their website. That’s impressive for my part of town. The entire online component of their service is solid and well developed. The pizzas arrived hot, fresh, and on-time. I invited a friend over to eat dinner, and share in the bounty of cheap food that Domino’s had prepared.

Opening the boxes, I was greeted by three small but attractive pizzas. I expected stripped-down naked looking pies, but they had some decent sized meat toppings. They looked to have a fair amount of cheese, but there was more crust than anything.

First I tried a slice of the Pepperoni. It seemed to have the most toppings of all. Whether that’s by design, or just the luck of the draw today, I don’t know. The meat was flavorful with a fair amount of pepperoni punch, and some were cooked so the edges were slightly crisp. The cheese was OK, but it didn’t have much flavor. I also realized there was less than I first thought. It was thicker towards the center of the pie, but much thinner towards the outer portions. The same can be said for the sauce, which is reduced dramatically as you move out from the middle. And since these are small pies, you get small slices — 2 or 3 good bites, and you’re left with the outer crust.

I can see where a few corners have been cut to make this deal so affordable, but it hasn’t diminished my overall satisfaction with the frugal purchase. The sacrifices are only with the size of the pie itself, and amount of toppings, not the quality.

The Beef and Chicken pies were pretty good, but had less flavor. That’s probably because the pepperoni has more flavor to begin with, and also out-numbered the other two toppings. There were some nice little chunks of the grilled chicken, and I was pleased to find they had the taste and texture of real diced meat from solid pieces, instead of mashed up parts. The quality of the toppings appears to be the same as their regular pizzas — you just get less of them. That makes sense.

The crust was tasty and remained chewy and soft, even on the very edges where it got slightly burnt. It was a solid foundation, especially considering the price. The tomato sauce was the weakest part of the experience for me. It was thin and it didn’t have much kick or flavor. It wasn’t bad sauce, it was just bland.

The $4 Pizza and Domino’s 444 Deal is a good overall value. The pies are small, and the toppings are light, but there’s still plenty of pizza eating enjoyment to be found. Instead of trying to compare these to a more expensive full-size pie, just think of them as large fancy bread-sticks with pizza toppings. It’s a lot of food, and not a lot of money. Hot, freshly baked, decent tasting little pizzas delivered to your front door for $4 each. Looking at the grand scheme of things, that’s got to be considered a winner.

Price: $12 for 3 Pizzas ($4 each) / Website: Dominos.com

Fast Food Critic Score: B

Click here for rating system details.

This product is new, Domino’s has not published nutrition information yet, but I contacted them and got facts for the 10-inch $4 Pepperoni. Thanks Stacey!

Nutrition Facts - Domino’s 10″ Pepperoni, Per-Serving (Slice)

Calories - 210
Calories from Fat - 80
Total Fat - 8 grams
Carbs - 25 grams
Saturated Fat - 3.5 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 15 milligrams
Sodium - 480 milligrams

Recently Pizza Hut compared it’s $5 Pizza Mia deal to Domino’s $4 deal, and declared it’s offering to be bigger and better than it’s rival. Domino’s wasted no time in responding to Pizza Hut’s claim.

“We’re surprised and delighted that our esteemed competitor has chosen
to devote a press release to us. But we must ask - given that a corporation
like Pizza Hut spent an entire press release dedicated to talking about
size, it makes us wonder: do they have pizza - or pepperoni - envy?”

“They seemed to spend a lot of time doing mathematical equations to try
to convince customers that they’ve got the better deal with their
‘engineered’ product,” said Tim McIntyre, Domino’s vice president of
communications. “Ultimately, we believe it’s about the power of the
pepperoni. Our 10-inch pizza has 25 percent more pepperoni than their Pizza
Mia.* And, ours is still a dollar cheaper.”

For the record, Pizza Hut offers their 1-topping Pizza Mia pies for $5 each, when you buy 3. Dominos’s offers a 1-topping pie for $4 each, when you buy 3. Pizza Hut is correct about having the bigger pie, but Domino’s makes a good point about their (smaller) 10-inch pizzas having 25 pepperoni each, while the (larger) Pizza Mia pies have only 20. So Domino’s pizza may indeed be smaller, but it’s loaded with more toppings, and it costs $1 less. Will Pizza Hut increase it’s toppings, in an effort to defeat the competition once and for all? Stay tuned, this should be fun to watch. In the meantime, let’s eat. Cheap pies for everyone!