When you pay $4.49 for a pizza, you don’t expect much. That being said, you can still find a bargain on a decent tasting pie, like the $4 pizza from Domino’s. With semi-low expectations, I decided to try Subway’s Pizza. Yep that’s right, the sandwich house that Jared built is serving a mini-pizza at some locations. To call this pie small would be an understatement. Subway calls this a ‘personal’ pizza. Measuring in at only 8 inches in diameter, and having only 4 tiny slices, I would say that description fits perfectly.

First, just a quick note about the preparation. The base of the pizzas (crust, sauce and cheese) are prepared off-site, with the crusts being lightly baked. They get frozen, wrapped in plastic and shipped to the individual store locations. When you order, you will see a Subway employee grab one of these pre-made cores from a compartment next to the sandwich fixings, then add the meat or veggie toppings you desire. It gets toasted in their “speed oven” for approximately 90 seconds, sliced and served.

The crust is thick, almost like a deep-dish. It’s not bad tasting, but it’s too chewy. I’m not sure if this is the result of being cooked, frozen, thawed and then re-toasted, or if that’s the way it was intended. And while it was golden brown on the top, the bottom of the crust appeared barely cooked at all. It reminded me of the strange and uneven results I often get when making frozen pizzas in the microwave at home.

Like the $4 Domino’s pizzas, I found the sauce to be bland and in limited quantity, making parts of the pizza too dry. I’ve heard the price of tomatoes has gone up again recently, but really — we need more sauce! The amount of cheese is one department where the Subway pie beats the cheap offering from Domino’s, at least per square inch. It was fairly thick and evenly distributed, reaching the far outer edges of the crust. The taste was decent, with a blend of Mozzarella, Parmesan and Romano. It was rather weak though, and almost seemed like I was eating low-fat cheese.

The pepperoni was OK, but clearly not as flavorful as Domino’s, and much smaller in number. In fact, I counted only 10 of the semi-spicy meat circles on my pie. Granted, there’s not a lot of room to work with, but it still seemed ‘lite’ on the meat topping. There is a healthy sprinkle of Italian spices (garlic, oregano, basil) on top, and they do help the overall flavor, but they are not enough to save this pizza from Blandville.

The plain cheese pizza will cost you $3.99, with a meat topping adding .50 cents extra. Veggies are free. Prices may vary depending on location. The Subway pizza is 2 inches smaller than Domino’s cheap pie, and my pepperoni version had barely half the meat. Not to mention, the pizza from Domino’s tastes better. In a head to head comparison, the Subway product is no match. In fairness to price, you have to order 3 pies for $12 total from Domino’s, while you can purchase Subway’s individually.

The Pizza from Subway was disappointing. It’s not a very good pizza, and it’s not a very good value. It will satisfy your craving if there’s not a real pizza place around, but in a world where Dominos’s, Pizza Hut and others offer bigger-better pies for the same price, it’s just not good enough. For that matter, I’d rather purchase a frozen DiGiorno at the supermarket and cook it at home. Subway should stick to sandwiches.

Price: $4.49 / Website: Subway.com

Fast Food Critic Score: D

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Nutrition Facts - Subway, Personal Pizza, with Pepperoni.

Calories - 790
Calories from Fat - 290
Total Fat - 32 grams
Carbs - 96 grams
Saturated Fat - 13 grams
Trans Fat - 0 grams
Cholesterol - 60 milligrams
Sodium - 1350 milligrams