Little Caesars Vs Domino's: Which Is Better?

Little Caesars and Domino's pizza are household names that we've all associated with really cheap pizza seemingly for ages. The two chains often spark memories of irresponsible college nights, days when we were simply too broke (or too lazy) to cook a proper meal, or even times when we were trying to feed dozens of hungry mouths on the cheap. Even so, things change as time goes by, and it is now up for debate as to which of these two cheaper pizza chain options truly offers customers the better pizza.

In this article, we'll break down the facts concerning various aspects of each pizza chain and how the two stack against each other in terms of cost, ingredients, convenience, and more. We will also decide which of the two we deem the best option given all the factors considered. We've consulted customer reviews, employee input, and even our own experiences with both Domino's and Little Caesars to get you the most honest assessment of each pizza chain. Hang on to your seat; we're ready to dish up the details concerning which pizza chain is better between Little Caesars and Domino's.

Read more: The Most Overrated Chain Restaurants In The US, According To The Mashed Staff

Domino's Has More Cheese Options

If you like to be choosy when it comes to cheese, Domino's is definitely the place to go. While Little Caesars has simplicity down pat, those of you who like to play around with different cheese flavor combinations will need to defer to Domino's to scratch that itch. Choose from options like feta, mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, asiago, and more with pizzas, like the Wisconsin 6 Cheese, featuring a blend of sundry cheeses already formulated to act as a powerhouse of flavor on your taste buds.

Don't really care about customizing your cheese much? In that case, there isn't a reason to dodge Little Caesars. According to the website, the pizza chain uses both mozzarella and muenster cheese to create its delicious taste. When customizing your pizza online, don't expect to have options outside of this for most pizza offerings, though you will get to control how much cheese goes on your pie. From what we can tell, you have the option of adding a little cheese, regular cheese, or extra cheese, but can't exactly adjust what kind of cheese it is. Though you'll have more options at Domino's, we don't particularly find that we prefer Domino's cheese over Little Caesars. It all depends on your taste buds and what cheese blends suit you best -- for us, either option tastes just fine.

Both Have Decent Sauce — But Neither Is Without Controversy

When it comes to the taste of the original Little Caesar's and Domino's sauce, both are decent. As usual, expect Domino's to have more of a selection, as the pizza chain allows you to customize your sauce according to your preference, while Little Caesars forces you to stick to one particular sauce base.

At Domino's, choose between the chain's robust tomato-inspired sauce, the hearty marina, BBQ, garlic parmesan, alfredo, and ranch sauces. As for Little Caesar's, the pizzeria doles out a sauce that we quite like, even if it isn't customizable. It isn't too sweet, has a nice savory spiciness to it, and pairs perfectly with cheesy bread. Oh, and in case you're wondering, insiders have confirmed that the "Crazy" Sauce used for dipping the Crazy Bread in is indeed the same sauce they put on the pizza. Yum!

Last but not least, both Little Caesars and Domino's have come under fire for their preparation practices when it comes to sauce. One Little Caesars employee went viral (and was later fired) for showing sauce made in a bucket on the floor. A similar video for Domino's on TikTok shows an employee adding water and using a power drill with an attachment on it to blend the sauce together. We'll let you make the call as to whether or not these videos are anything to be worried about, but taste-wise, we think the two tomato-based sauces are pretty darn decent.

Little Caesars Makes Its Dough In-House

There's a bit of discrepancy when it comes to how Domino's makes its pizza crust, although it's clear that the restaurant doesn't use frozen dough, nor does it make the dough in-store. Instead, the dough is delivered from off-site and is either mixed and proofed in-store or stored chilled until ready for use. As for Little Caesars, the restaurant has made it clear that its dough is prepared fresh in-house every day — in fact, this is one of the reasons we think Little Caesars pizza is so cheap.

As for the type of crusts offered at each chain, know that you've got options. As of the time of publication, Little Caesars offers stuffed Crazy Crust, thin crust, round crust, stuffed crust round, Detroit-style deep dish, and Stuffed Crust Deep!Deep! dish at participating locations. You can customize your toppings on each, and for the price point, you really can't go wrong, especially given the amount of crust options.

With that said, Domino's also doesn't disappoint, given that the restaurant gives gluten-avoidant people a chance to sample pizza slices while also offering other non-traditional pizza crust types, including Brooklyn–style, thin crust, handmade pan, and traditional hand-tossed. Just know that not all crusts at Domino's are created equal; we, for one, love the handmade pan crust but abhor the thin and crispy crust sold here. Different strokes for different folks, but that's the beauty of being able to pick your own crust!

Domino's Has More Options For Toppings

If you're used to Little Caesars pizza with only cheese or pepperoni toppings, it may be that you're accustomed to grabbing the chain's Hot-N-Ready pizza but have never ordered a pizza that's fresh. If that's you, note that Little Caesars actually has plentiful options to choose from when it comes to toppings, though its ingredients list isn't quite as long as Domino's. Even so, expect to be able to top your fresh Little Caesars pizza with options like pineapple, onion, green pepper, black olives, banana peppers, and other veggies, along with a variety of meats.

When it comes to Domino's toppings, we think they are superior to Little Caesars since the chain features all the same toppings as its competitor and then some. Choose from meats not available at Little Caesars -- like chicken, salami, and steak -- to top your pizza, along with unique options like feta, spinach, green and black olives, jalape?os, and diced tomatoes.

Of course, when selecting the build-your-own pizza option at either chain, you'll want to get your pocketbook ready; depending on how many toppings you order, both restaurants are going to charge more for more goodies, so be prepared to pay up if you like your pizza loaded. Of course, both restaurants also dish up specialty pizzas that come with "the works," so be sure to select that variety at either chain before adding or deleting toppings to keep prices a bit lower.

Little Caesars Is Typically Much More Affordable

It's Little Caesars for the win on this one — this chain pizza restaurant is by far the most affordable when stacked against Domino's pricing. When comparing Little Caesars' large pepperoni pizza against Domino's, the price difference is huge -- a difference of about $7-8 at the locations near us. That's because a Little Caesars' large pepperoni pizza will run you around $6.79 at the time of publication, while a pepperoni pizza at Domino's will cost you about $14.48. That's a big difference!

There is, of course, a caveat to all this, and that's that you can use coupons at Domino's to get the pricing lower. For example, we are able to spot a coupon that knocks 50% off of regular-priced menu items, which would take the pricing of that original pepperoni pizza down to a little over $7 bucks if ordering online. We also saw a deal for any large 1-topping pizza for $11.99, though this hardly touches the everyday low cost of a $6 Little Caesars pizza.

All in all, you aren't likely to get pricing that's consistently low at Domino's the way you can at Little Caesars. We'd also like to mention that there isn't a specialty pizza at Little Caesars that goes much over $14 at the time of publication in our area, which isn't something we can say about Domino's. As such, Little Caesars is by far the most affordable pizza joint when comparing the two chains.

Little Caesars May Be More Convenient Than Domino's – Sometimes

Little Caesars has dished up its Hot-N-Ready pizza options for a while, which makes the store automatically more convenient than pizza shops like Domino's. In case you aren't familiar with the whole schtick, you basically can walk into any Little Caesars and, hopefully, score a piping hot pizza already made and ready to go. The catch? It usually only comes in cheese and pepperoni varieties. But for a quick meal on the go, it's totally worth it.

With that said, there are some conveniences that Domino's offers that can't be beaten in terms of convenience. Yes, both pizza chains have options for ordering online, and some Little Caesars restaurants feature drive-thrus, but at the Domino's in our area, there's even more offered. Choose to pick up any order from a Hotspot location or have the restaurant bring your order to your car for "Carside Delivery." Domino's is also more likely to deliver your pizza to your door, whereas some, though not all, Little Caesars locations require that you pick up your order in-store.

To be real, both Little Caesars and Domino's have their perks when it comes to convenience, and because of that, we won't defer to an overall winner on this one. Which will suit you better in terms of ease and simplicity will depend on your needs at the time –- pick whichever establishment has options that suit you best!

Domino's Has More Non-Pizza Options

Looking for options outside of the typical bread fare? If so, Domino's will be the best option over Little Caesars. As mentioned before, Domino's gives you access to salads, but there's more they offer than just these less-than-charming leaf bowls. The restaurant also gives customers the option of ordering a variety of wing types along with their choice of pasta and even loaded tater tots. You can also choose from a variety of sandwiches and dips while indulging your craving for sweets by sampling one of Domino's several dessert treats.

As for Little Caesars, well, expect to find a nice selection of pizza and bread options with very few options for anything outside of this. There are at least a couple of desserts and one selection of wings offered by the popular pizza eatery, but when it comes to the sandwiches, dips, and pasta choices Domino's offers, there simply is no comparison. Needless to say, though we love what Little Caesars presents customers with when it comes to pizza, we can't say they do well in the vein of non-pizza options. But hey, they are a pizza establishment, right? Thus, we can't honestly hold it against them that they aren't offering customers much else.

Both Offer A Few Desserts

Sugar-holics rejoice — both Little Caesars and Domino's offer decadent treats to satisfy your sweet tooth. Still, we're willing to admit that neither has an ample amount of choices when it comes to these sugary delights, so if you're craving something outside of pizza, there'll be slim pickings at either restaurant as far as dessert is concerned.

Take Little Caesars, for example. This popular pizza chain is offering two dessert options at the moment: The cookie dough brownie with M&M minis and the cookie dough brownie made with Twix cookie bar pieces. If you decide to go with either of these, you may be surprised at what you're handed, especially if you consider the picture of the desserts featured on the menu. Rather than getting thick, rich, delicious, and fresh-looking brownies, you'll instead be met with a pre-packaged brownie that tastes more like cake topped with a sickeningly sweet frosting and candy, according to customer insight.

As for Domino's, the pizza chain has a bit more variety, offering fans marbled cookies, cinnamon bread twists, and chocolate lava crunch cakes. Almost every dessert here has gotten the thumbs up from customers, making it a worthy option for when you're craving something sweet to pair with your savory pizza. Either way, both Little Caesars and Domino's only have a few dessert options to enjoy, but in general, it looks like Domino's might be the best pick if you're looking to truly enjoy your next sugary treat.

Salads Can Only Be Found At Domino's

While it's true that most people don't go to a pizza shop for salad, it is often nice to have a leafy green side dish alongside your pizza to break up the heaviness of the pie. And though Domino's offers salads for customers to enjoy, Little Caesars does not — at least not at the time during which this post was written.

Now, if you love sampling a salad alongside pizza and wish to get one at Domino's, we suggest you prepare yourself, as everything isn't always what it seems. We took a chance and sampled one of the salads at Domino's and were thoroughly disappointed –- especially considering its price point. At almost $9 per salad, we expected more than the plastic-wrapped, far-from-fresh item we received. What we hoped would be light and tasty alongside our pizza turned out to be something that should cost $3-4 from Walmart — and that's being generous.

In case you do decide to sample Domino's $9 salad, know that there are currently two options available: the Classic Garden and the Chicken Caesar. The store we visited accidentally gave us the Chicken Caesar and before politely handing it back, we couldn't help but notice the sad and attractive smattering of chicken that it came with. Upon receiving and eating the Classic Garden salad, we realized there's no denying it — these are some of the worst salads we've tasted.

Verdict: Which Is Better?

After doing the research, examining menus, considering our own experiences, and reading customer reviews, we've come to realize that which is truly best between Domino's and Little Caesars strongly depends on your expectations. Both pizza chains give customers a unique experience, and both have major pros and cons.

If we had to choose one, dare we say it, we'd actually pick Little Caesars over Domino's. The reasoning behind this is that, although Domino's technically has the better selection in many categories, we think Little Caesars does simplicity well, and what they lack in variety, they make up for in affordable flavor. Moreover, we love the fact that we can pop in unannounced to a Little Caesars pizza shop and potentially have a cheesy, delicious pizza already waiting for us; it's unheard of at practically any other pizza establishment.

Again, we technically think which is best between the two is a truce with Little Caesars running slightly ahead of Domino's due to overall taste, consistency, affordability, and convenience. Still, Domino's delivers in terms of giving customers free rein on pizza customizations, and with that, we can't argue!

Methodology

This comparison between Little Caesars and Domino's was carefully considered through thorough research, personal taste testing, and consultation of the website, menu, and overall ordering options. We also gleaned the opinions of people who frequent the two pizza chains for even more insight into how each performs.

Read the original article on Mashed.