It is a sad day in the pizza industry today, as we lost one of the innovators in the pizza delivery business. Born in 1981 (when it was introduced to me), Dominos died a slow death when chains such as Little Caesar's, Mr. Pizza Man, Papa John's and Round Table started to offer less expensive, and in some cases, healthier options (Round Table Pizza and it's salad bar option). Some people, unfortunately, are happy, as in their minds, Dominos was also the innovator in inventing the cardboard like pizza crust. They are glad to see it go. Some people's opinions are hard to change. There also wasn't enough advertising by Domino's. Every week in the mail, millions of people may receive Round Table, Papa John's Little Caesar's, and even local independent chain coupons to use. I never see any Domino's coupons. They only offer them taped to their delivery boxes. It was not enough, in the end, to keep people coming back for more.
As it looks now, Papa Johns Pizza will be able to step in and at least try to fill the void left by our friend, Domino. They are also innovative in that they have an iPhone app to make on the go ordering even easier. Domino was lacking in that aspect, although in my mind, they had to be at least thinking about offering an app before he passed away. The non pizza places will try to grab some of the customer's of Dominos. Fresh Choice and Sweet Tomatoes for their cheap and healthy option. Subway with their cheap $5 footlongs and other healthy choices.
Domino's had a very special place in people's hearts across America. He was always there when you needed a quick pizza picker upper. He was there for the college student with their loans facing them. He was there for the little kids with the $5 allowances. They all knew that Domino was there for them and they will miss Domino dearly. The unique, greasy box. The delivery cars with the distinctive Domino logo propped on top of the car. The benches/chairs in the store. the distinctive logo. All gone! Oh where is the liquidation sale for these fixtures? A quick, convenient and cheap meal.Gone.
RIP Domino. It was great knowing you.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Dominos online
I went on-line from my laptop to place my order tonight for a deep dish pepperoni mushroom pizza. I did not know Dominos offered this option. I've always called in my order to have my pizza delivered and after my experience tonight, I would have to say it is easier to pick up my phone and call in my order or go to the store directly, but online ordering does have its positives.
The on-line system had many nice features. I especially liked how I could customize the pizza, with your choice of light, normal, or extra ingredients. This is where it is most time consuming for me. I had to sit and think about my choices. I was never offered all these choices when I order through the phone. I basically just order my pizza and I'm done. With online ordering, I found myself tweaking my order. It took me 20 minutes before I finally placed my order. Choices! Too many choices! And I ended up with just a pepperoni mushroom.
I liked how the ingredients were shown each time I added an ingredient. With that said, I couldn't help but think of bugs crawling on the pizza. That's just how it looked like to me. Creepy illustrations but effective.
I looked at the various screens and a couple really stood out. The screen that provided meal selections based on the number of people you are feeding is a handy tool. Our family always seems to struggle with this when we throw parties and we always feel like we don't know how much food to order to satisfy other's appetites. This screen will help us immensely. The allergy info and lighter choice menus is nice information to have, just in case we have people over who may be allergic to certain foods or for people trying to live a healthier lifestyle (like our family).
The best feature on the site, in my opinion, is the Tracker. I love being able to track just where my pizza is and who is responsible for delivering it to me. This makes me feel like I am at the store waiting, without being at the store. My kids all of a sudden get hungry when I tell them pizza is being delivered. But when they ask me where it is, I have nothing to say other than it's being cooked and is on it's way. With the Tracker, I can pretty much show them step by step where their pizza is.
The checkout was pretty simple. Everything was easy to understand. The price was easy to find. It is good to see the price before I checkout, so I can make changes then and there if necessary. I liked the option of clearing my pizza order if necessary. I also like how it saves my pizza order so that I can order the same item, if I desire, the next time around. Kind of like one click ordering.
The checkout time said 32-42 minutes. The pizza came in 45 minutes, by a friendly delivery driver who didn't want his picture taken for this study. The whole process took about an hour and 5 minutes. A bit long in my mind, since the store is a short distance from our house. And we haven't started eating yet. The pizza, with its oil saturating the box, wasn't as hot as picking it up from directly ordering in store. I think the next time, I'll choose the pickup option when ordering online. Who knows how many houses a delivery guy goes to before he gets to my house? I'll have more control of getting my pizza when I expect it and not have it taken for a joyride before it arrives to us. Also, it seems like the pizza gets to us faster when I call for delivery. Not sure why that is.
(pizza taken out of the freezer)
Unless Dominos starts offering wheat crust pizza, I don't think of them as somewhere to go if you're watching your waistline. I think they are trying by offering you the opportunity to go light on toppings and in some ways, offering chicken and pasta on the menu.
The on-line system had many nice features. I especially liked how I could customize the pizza, with your choice of light, normal, or extra ingredients. This is where it is most time consuming for me. I had to sit and think about my choices. I was never offered all these choices when I order through the phone. I basically just order my pizza and I'm done. With online ordering, I found myself tweaking my order. It took me 20 minutes before I finally placed my order. Choices! Too many choices! And I ended up with just a pepperoni mushroom.
I liked how the ingredients were shown each time I added an ingredient. With that said, I couldn't help but think of bugs crawling on the pizza. That's just how it looked like to me. Creepy illustrations but effective.
I looked at the various screens and a couple really stood out. The screen that provided meal selections based on the number of people you are feeding is a handy tool. Our family always seems to struggle with this when we throw parties and we always feel like we don't know how much food to order to satisfy other's appetites. This screen will help us immensely. The allergy info and lighter choice menus is nice information to have, just in case we have people over who may be allergic to certain foods or for people trying to live a healthier lifestyle (like our family).
The best feature on the site, in my opinion, is the Tracker. I love being able to track just where my pizza is and who is responsible for delivering it to me. This makes me feel like I am at the store waiting, without being at the store. My kids all of a sudden get hungry when I tell them pizza is being delivered. But when they ask me where it is, I have nothing to say other than it's being cooked and is on it's way. With the Tracker, I can pretty much show them step by step where their pizza is.
The checkout was pretty simple. Everything was easy to understand. The price was easy to find. It is good to see the price before I checkout, so I can make changes then and there if necessary. I liked the option of clearing my pizza order if necessary. I also like how it saves my pizza order so that I can order the same item, if I desire, the next time around. Kind of like one click ordering.
The checkout time said 32-42 minutes. The pizza came in 45 minutes, by a friendly delivery driver who didn't want his picture taken for this study. The whole process took about an hour and 5 minutes. A bit long in my mind, since the store is a short distance from our house. And we haven't started eating yet. The pizza, with its oil saturating the box, wasn't as hot as picking it up from directly ordering in store. I think the next time, I'll choose the pickup option when ordering online. Who knows how many houses a delivery guy goes to before he gets to my house? I'll have more control of getting my pizza when I expect it and not have it taken for a joyride before it arrives to us. Also, it seems like the pizza gets to us faster when I call for delivery. Not sure why that is.
Unless Dominos starts offering wheat crust pizza, I don't think of them as somewhere to go if you're watching your waistline. I think they are trying by offering you the opportunity to go light on toppings and in some ways, offering chicken and pasta on the menu.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Health and Wellness
With two active kids, my wife and I find it hard to go to the gym these days. We just bought the Nintendo Wii Fit and Wii Fit plus. We don't have enough room in our house to set up a gym. This has been a savior for us, exercise wise. We've been using this five days a week. It gives a pretty good sweat and burns a decent amount of calories.
We have limited out intake of sugar. Where the water is now in our fridge, this used to be filled with soda. I used to drink a six pack a day of regular soda. Those days are long gone. Both my wife and I may have one soda a month now. We also limit the amount of juices, ice cream and candies for our kids no matter how much they beg. We want to teach them good habits early in life.
We are also buying more "light" and fat free food options. It tastes just as good as full flavor foods. We couldn't even tell the difference between these types of food. If it's better for the waist line, then why not try it?
Finally, with San Francisco law on restaurants posting nutritional values of food options in plain view, it's hard to turn away from reading the fat content of food as well as sodium intake and the such. We balance that by buying more healthful foods, as mentioned above, with less sugar and "lighter" foods. Fast food is and will be a part of our lives and we are not going to change that.
We have limited out intake of sugar. Where the water is now in our fridge, this used to be filled with soda. I used to drink a six pack a day of regular soda. Those days are long gone. Both my wife and I may have one soda a month now. We also limit the amount of juices, ice cream and candies for our kids no matter how much they beg. We want to teach them good habits early in life.
We are also buying more "light" and fat free food options. It tastes just as good as full flavor foods. We couldn't even tell the difference between these types of food. If it's better for the waist line, then why not try it?
Finally, with San Francisco law on restaurants posting nutritional values of food options in plain view, it's hard to turn away from reading the fat content of food as well as sodium intake and the such. We balance that by buying more healthful foods, as mentioned above, with less sugar and "lighter" foods. Fast food is and will be a part of our lives and we are not going to change that.
Dominos Experience
I went to Dominos on a Sunday afternoon at 4:30pm, right after my daughter's ballet class and my son's gymnastic class. The first thing my daughter noticed was why we didn't have the pizza delivered, which is what we normally do with Dominos. The first thing I noticed with this and all other Dominos is the delivery car with the Dominos sign on top of the car. They seem to always find parking in front of the store, no matter if it's in a strip mall or if it's a stand-alone store on a busy street. They must have some kind of positive parking karma. If only I should be so lucky.
The store was small and no frills. It was kept very clean. There were two chairs for waiting customers.
I can see it getting pretty crowded during the prime lunch or dinner hour. There was one other customer in the store, but he left and I had the opportunity to take this exciting picture of two empty chairs.
This is the second most convenient Domino's location to my house. It is five minutes away by car. I've ordered from this Dominos before. The one I normally go to is closed for 3 weeks for remodeling. This Dominos is not out of the way as it is located in the same strip mall as the Safeway grocery store I go to every week, so I did some shopping as well before I ordered my pizza. I do not know any of the workers there as I always order for delivery when ordering with Dominos. There were four workers there at the time and they all said hi to me. The guy who took my order said my pizza would be ready in ten minutes. It came out eight minutes later in a piping hot box. I almost dropped it!! The box is never that hot when ordering for delivery. I'll remember that next time I order in store.
All the employees were having a conversation about the NCAA basketball finals tomorrow night and how busy they would get before the game starts at 6:00 PDT. They all waved at me as well when I joined on the conversation. However, they did not want their pictures to be taken for my research.
As for the store,I liked the layout. The pizza menu was right in front of me at eye level and easy to read. I didn't have to squint at a menu board that is far away from me. My kids enjoyed that aspect too. They thought it was a touch screen menu and that if you press the kind of pizza you want, the order would go through to the employees making the pizza. I told them Dominos wasn't that high tech.
I also liked how they separated the pizza menu from their chicken offerings. It makes for a less cluttered menu and I didn't get confused and stand there looking lost (which has happened with other fast food chains I've been in.) I also thought the dipping sauces (the color coded sticker located to the right of the menu) was a nice touch. Again, it makes for a clearer, easy to order from menu.
The only thing missing on the main menu was the chocolate lava cake. I found that interesting. They had it on an in store poster and the employee I asked said they do offer it. I wondered why it wasn't to be found anywhere on the pricing menu.
I also saw neatly lined maps in the back of the store and a very clean working area for pizza making. Small, Medium and Large boxes were neatly lined up. I wanted to go in and take some pictures, but store policy prohibits customers from going past a certain part of the store. What this tells me is the store takes cleanliness and emphasis on detail very seriously. It makes for a pleasant looking store, one that you would definitely go back to.
I also like the tidbits on the side of the box. One of my first questions when I first ordered Dominos was why the box is oddly shaped. It is pretty well explained here.
And there was also this info on the other side of the box:
I like reading this kind of random info.
This particular order of a medium cheese pizza was piping hot and delicious. It was for my daughter, son and myself. Yummy! It's not what I would normally order for myself, but it is my kids favorite type of pizza. I got outnumbered this time. We took it home and we finished it off in ten minutes.
The only question I've always had about Dominos is the was they cut their pizza. They cut it in squares instead of triangles. I always find myself finishing a small Dominos pizza by myself. I never finish a small pizza that is cut normally in triangular shapes. Is it perception? I don't know.
Also, this location did not have any napkins, cheese, peppers and utensils for you to take. You have to ask for it. I left the store and had to go back in to get these items. I felt there was plenty of room on the counter to put that stuff on for customers to take.
Overall, I had a very pleasant experience ordering from this Dominos and would go back for more.
As I've mentioned before, the pizza was very hot. It was blistering through the box. The first thing I noticed (with both the delivery and carry out option) is the coupon on top of the box. I love that incentive. I'm always looking for ways to save money and the Domino's coupons are one of the better ones. It will definately keep me coming back for more.
The store was small and no frills. It was kept very clean. There were two chairs for waiting customers.
I can see it getting pretty crowded during the prime lunch or dinner hour. There was one other customer in the store, but he left and I had the opportunity to take this exciting picture of two empty chairs.
This is the second most convenient Domino's location to my house. It is five minutes away by car. I've ordered from this Dominos before. The one I normally go to is closed for 3 weeks for remodeling. This Dominos is not out of the way as it is located in the same strip mall as the Safeway grocery store I go to every week, so I did some shopping as well before I ordered my pizza. I do not know any of the workers there as I always order for delivery when ordering with Dominos. There were four workers there at the time and they all said hi to me. The guy who took my order said my pizza would be ready in ten minutes. It came out eight minutes later in a piping hot box. I almost dropped it!! The box is never that hot when ordering for delivery. I'll remember that next time I order in store.
All the employees were having a conversation about the NCAA basketball finals tomorrow night and how busy they would get before the game starts at 6:00 PDT. They all waved at me as well when I joined on the conversation. However, they did not want their pictures to be taken for my research.
As for the store,I liked the layout. The pizza menu was right in front of me at eye level and easy to read. I didn't have to squint at a menu board that is far away from me. My kids enjoyed that aspect too. They thought it was a touch screen menu and that if you press the kind of pizza you want, the order would go through to the employees making the pizza. I told them Dominos wasn't that high tech.
I also liked how they separated the pizza menu from their chicken offerings. It makes for a less cluttered menu and I didn't get confused and stand there looking lost (which has happened with other fast food chains I've been in.) I also thought the dipping sauces (the color coded sticker located to the right of the menu) was a nice touch. Again, it makes for a clearer, easy to order from menu.
The only thing missing on the main menu was the chocolate lava cake. I found that interesting. They had it on an in store poster and the employee I asked said they do offer it. I wondered why it wasn't to be found anywhere on the pricing menu.
I also saw neatly lined maps in the back of the store and a very clean working area for pizza making. Small, Medium and Large boxes were neatly lined up. I wanted to go in and take some pictures, but store policy prohibits customers from going past a certain part of the store. What this tells me is the store takes cleanliness and emphasis on detail very seriously. It makes for a pleasant looking store, one that you would definitely go back to.
I also like the tidbits on the side of the box. One of my first questions when I first ordered Dominos was why the box is oddly shaped. It is pretty well explained here.
This particular order of a medium cheese pizza was piping hot and delicious. It was for my daughter, son and myself. Yummy! It's not what I would normally order for myself, but it is my kids favorite type of pizza. I got outnumbered this time. We took it home and we finished it off in ten minutes.
Also, this location did not have any napkins, cheese, peppers and utensils for you to take. You have to ask for it. I left the store and had to go back in to get these items. I felt there was plenty of room on the counter to put that stuff on for customers to take.
Overall, I had a very pleasant experience ordering from this Dominos and would go back for more.
As I've mentioned before, the pizza was very hot. It was blistering through the box. The first thing I noticed (with both the delivery and carry out option) is the coupon on top of the box. I love that incentive. I'm always looking for ways to save money and the Domino's coupons are one of the better ones. It will definately keep me coming back for more.
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