Sometimes, there’s nothing better than day old cold pizza, and as I sit here, eating a day old slice of cold heaven, I can’t help but smile and rejoice in these little pleasures.
So, about two weeks ago, I was contacted by a member of Domino’s Pizza’s public relations team, and was asked if I’d like to sample their first new menu item since Handmade Pan Pizza in September 2012, their new Specialty Chicken. Well, DUH. Obviously I’d like to sample these new boneless chicken bites covered with delicious toppings and then baked to gooey and golden brown perfection.
But how? As you may know, I live in a small town between San Marcos (the fastest growing city in the great USA for the second year in a row) and the capitol city of Austin, TX. My tiny town is known for a lot of things, like the beautiful convergence of Cypress Creek and the Blanco River, incredible shopping, stunning views, fun swimming holes, and the state’s oldest, and 2nd largest monthly outdoor market. What our little historic and touristy town isn’t known for is having Domino’s. No way. So once again, how would we get Domino’s all the way out here?
The PR lady came back saying not to worry, she’d figure it out, and would get with me in a few days. And get with me in a few days she did. I have to say, I was actually blown away that the folks at Domino’s wanted to send my family and me their new products, and went out of their way to make it happen.
We confirmed that I’d have a delivery of Domino’s new Premium Chicken on Friday night, and I couldn’t even wait. And then on Thursday when the General Manager from the San Marcos Domino’s called to confirm that he’d be making the personal delivery out to Wimberley himself, I got even more excited. The anticipation was killing me. It had been SO LONG since I’d been afforded the chance to indulge in the fast-food pizza that I used to LOVE as a kid, I could almost taste it.
So while I waited with baited breath for that seemingly endless day and a half from Thursday morning to Friday evening, I decided to do some reading up on both Domino’s, and their new chicken products.
Domino’s began with super humble roots back in 1960, when brothers Tom and James Monaghan, purchase “DomiNick’s,” a pizza store in Ypsilanti, Mich. Monaghan borrowed $900 to buy the store. Since then, Domino’s has certainly had its ups and most recently, publicly and notoriously, it’s downs. In 2009, it released that bizarre yet incredibly effective ad/PR campaign, Pizza Turnaround, where they talked about how terrible their food was, including how their pizza sauce tasted like ketchup.
Now, as I mentioned before, I loved Domino’s as a kid, and I hadn’t had Domino’s as an adult, so I couldn’t attest to the validity of cardboard-esque pizza crust claims.
Most recently, as I mentioned earlier, Domino’s has released their first brand new product since their Handmade Pan Pizza in September 2012: Specialty Chicken.
I went back to the Internet, clicked out of the Domino’s history stuff, and went to the Domino’s present stuff, and decided read a few reviews of the new chicken product from The Washingtonian, Huffington Post, and Junk Food Guy, and learned that some people were super confused and thought this new chicken was actually a pizza with a fried chicken crust. Silly people…
“Our new Specialty Chicken is one of the most creative, innovative menu items we have ever had,” Russell Weiner, chief marketing officer for Domino’s, said in a press release. “Our pizza chefs have taken chicken to a whole new level, using our unique ingredients to create these four bold flavors. There’s nothing quite like Domino’s Specialty Chicken on the market today.”
We shall see about that…
It seemed like the moment that I picked the kiddo up from school on Friday I was an antsy mess. I just couldn’t wait at all for Domino’s Pizza to be delivered at our home. I kept getting up, looking out the windows, hearing phantom car doors shut. Then finally, a few minutes after 6 p.m., a white car came creeping up the drive. Hooray! Domino’s was HERE!
The general manager of the San Marcos Domino’s Pizza presented us with our delicious chickeny goodness, box after box.
But there was another box! A surprise from the PR woman! A GORGEOUS veggie pan pizza was among our delivery, and our house filled with a delicious smell. A heavenly smell. A smell that didn’t smell like ketchup or cardboard. At all.
After opening up the chickens and the pizza, we were ready to chow down.
First up, we started with the Domino’s Jalapeno-Pineapple Chicken. We decided to go at these chickens with our fingers, leaving the forks behind. Yee-haw.
Dominos Spicy Jalapeno Pineapple Specialty Chicken was covered with a sweet mango-habanero sauce, then veiled in nondecrepit white and yellow cheeses as well as chunks of sweet pineapple and sliced pickled jalapenos. The pineapples were obviously canned, and you know what? That’s OK.
This chicken was actually pretty delicious, and fun to eat. The sweet and spicy together were a perfect match, and the cheese added a nice creamy layer. The chicken was super hot, but not super crispy, which kind of stunk, but the flavors were sensational together. Starting off strong, chicken. Starting off strong.
Next: Domino’s Classic Hot Buffalo.
The buffalo chicken was smothered in buffalo sauce, doused with ranch dressing, and then covered in melted feta, cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. I am a HUGE fan of buffalo everything, and was sort of let down a teeny tiny bit with this variation.
The buffalo taste wasn’t as strong as I’d have wished it to be, and there was just a LOT of cheese. A lot. And ranch. But I have to say, it was delicious cheese. I enjoyed the three varieties together, and they melted very nicely together.
Once again, I wish the chicken were a bit crispier, but I was impressed that it was still nice and hot, even though our delivery was so far out of zone.
Our third tasting was the Domino’s Crispy Bacon & Tomato.
This variety involved chicken covered in garlic white sauce, then covered in cheddar and mozzarella cheese, and sprinkled with bacon and canned tomato. This chicken was not my favorite at all. I mean, there was nothing actually WRONG with it. It was executed pretty well, and I guess it was… good… I just didn’t like it. The kiddo loved this one, and ended up eating most of it. The garlic white sauce was a nice counterpart to the sweet tomatoes, and the cheeses were a nice backdrop to the crispy bacon. I can’t put my finger on why it didn’t really ring my bell, but I can’t figure it out.
Lastly, we made our way to the Domino’s Sweet BBQ Bacon.
This was pretty dang good. I loved the sweet and smoky BBQ sauce, the cheeses and the bacon, and together, they sang sweet, sweet songs. It was as straightforward as chicken covered in toppings can get, and I appreciated it. I also appreciated that there wasn’t any creamy sauce on this one. But once more, the chicken could have been crispier. That would have been sensational.
Across the board, Domino’s Premium Chicken was more than surprising in its awesomeness. The three of us agreed that the Jalapeno-Pineapple premium chicken was the best of the bunch, but the kiddo felt that the Crispy Bacon and Tomato was a close second. I went with the BBQ as number two, while my husband said that the Buffalo was his second pick.
And all of us agreed that the pan pizza was scrumptious. The crust was quite wonderful, and the toppings were plentiful and fresh. My word.
At the end of the day, I have to say a giant humongous enormously monstrous thank you to the folks at Domino’s, both on the corporate side and the franchisees in San Marcos, for providing my family and me with this amazing and shockingly delicious dinner.
Have any of you guys tasted the new Domino’s Premium Chicken? What’d you think?
