No one out pizzas the hut. Pizza, pizza. That was pretty good, I liked that one. You like it? Pizza, pizza. Josh, I think Meggie, like, cut the cameras. I don’t think you need to keep. Peep… Pizza. Pizza, pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza, pizza. This is A Hot Dog is a Sandwich. Pizza, pizza. Ketchup is a smoothie. Yeah, I put ice in my cereal, so what? That makes no sense. A hot dog is a sandwich. A hot dog is a sandwich. What? Welcome to our podcast, A Hot Dog is a Sandwich, the show where we break down the world’s biggest food debates. I’m your host, Nicole Enayati. Pizza, pizza. Pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza pizza! No, you can stop now. That was pretty good though. I kind of like the idea of Little Caesar’s Caesarian mascot here, only speaking like, a Pokemon. Like I think they should work him into the Pokemon video games. Was Caesar little? Uh, average height back then was a lot lower just due to general like nutrition and evolution. Littler than Napoleon, you would say? You know Caesar what I find interesting, bear with me. We’ll talk about Little Caesar’s We haven’t seen each other in like 45 minutes, so we just need to debrief real quick. Give it a second. So Caesar salad, right? Love it. You know, it’s, uh, named after Caesar Cardini. You know, the term Caesar in Latin, it translates the same to, let’s say, the Russian czar. Czar. Oh, really? Okay. You’ll see it spelled C Z A R sometimes. Okay. Okay. Because it’s in Cyrillic alphabet, but excuse me, czar. Um, also Kaiser in German. Comes from czar. It’s the same word as Caesar and czar. So Caesar salad and Kaiser roll. You could create the ultimate sort of, uh, empirical sandwich if you wanted to. This is why I struggle to connect with other people sometimes, because to me, that was maybe the most interesting thing in the world. That was the most profound thing you’ve said in like, all day. Caesar salad and Kaiser roll? Yeah, I think that’s, um. Profound, profound. You are very, very intelligent. I am. But we’re gonna debate which one’s better, Little Caesars or Pizza Hut. So save your intelligence for later. Okay, so, so, so, we have done Pizza Hut versus Domino’s. Which was great. In the past. And when we do things like this, we try and have two contemporaries together. We think it’s fair. We would think of Domino’s and Pizza Hut, to me, as the top two contemporaries in pizza. Mm hmm. That’s not true anymore. I guess not, huh? We now have what is called a monopolar power distribution. So, okay. Let me break this down for you. So we used to have in the world a multipolar power distribution in, say, uh, World War II. Some people argue that’s one of the causes of World War II. There were too many, um, large empires that had too much power. They sort of had to struggle it out against each other. And that’s obviously a gross oversimplification, um, but multipolar power distribution. After World War II, you ended up with a bipolar power distribution between the Soviet Union and the United States. After the fall of the Soviet Union, people argued, uh, that we were in a monopolar power distribution of the United States, being the world’s power. And a lot of people thought that if mutually assured destruction kept the world safe ish in a bipolar power distribution, they called it the Pax Americana or the American Peace. Of course, we were launching proxy wars all over the world in a monopolar power distribution. I think now we’re seeing that monopolar power distribution dissipate. Really interesting to see where the world goes from there. What does this have to do with pizza? Domino’s now sells something like nine. They’ve done nine billion dollars. Domino’s is the American empire. This is like America in like. 2004, right? So Domino’s now sells so much more pizza than Pizza Hut. They, I think, took over in like 2015 was the first year they outsold Pizza Hut. But basically now Little Caesars and Pizza Hut are so much closer to each other than Pizza Hut is to Domino’s. I have the actual stats here. Domino’s, Domino’s did 9 billion in sales. This is 2023 numbers. Pizza Hut, 5. 6 billion, Little Caesars, 4. 5 billion, and then you have the little, like, Austria hungry, Austria hungry Papa John’s. Roundtable. No, but literally, there’s only four, like, Papa John’s, Little Caesars, and Pizza Hut are somewhat close to each other now. Domino’s is super far away, and then at 5th in America? Do you know what, guess what the 5th highest selling pizza is? Okay, did you already say Papa John’s? Yeah. Hmm, oh my gosh. Cause then you get into like regional chains, and I don’t think I’ve had like any of them. I don’t know, tell me, tell me. Uh, Marco’s. Never heard of it. And then Papa Murphy’s is 6th. Never heard of it. There’s, there’s so many out there, Mellow Mushroom, there’s Jets, but there’s all these ones fighting for like, just under a billion dollars in sales, which is still so much pizza, there’s so much money. Um, but yeah, there’s really like 4 major powers, and Domino’s the main one, and now Little Caesars and Pizza Hut. Little Caesars also gaining ground on Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut, they invested so much money in trying to have sit down restaurants. You know, I never went to one. I’ve never been to a sit down Pizza Hut, and I regret it with every fiber of my being. Pizza Hut salad bar, come back to me. Pizza Hut Salad Bar, you were my childhood. Are you crooning? It inspires me to croon. Are you crooning? How good the Pizza Hut Salad Bar, that, that was my childhood though. I wish. It was like, you go under a red hut. I wish. A red roof, which they hired like a well known architect. The Pizza Hut did have, was a hut with a red roof. Yes. Uh, Domino’s, on the other hand, was always started to just be a delivery restaurant, effectively. Um, and then Little Caesars started around the same time as Pizza Hut did. Little Caesars is from Detroit. Um, the Illich family started Awesome guy, right? Awesome guy! Paid Rosa Parks rent for her entire life. We love Little Caesars. But, yeah, now these are the two contemporaries and I don’t think I’ve bought a pizza that wasn’t a hot and ready from Little Caesars in the last decade. The first and only time I had a hot and ready pizza was when I was dating this guy at community college, and I went to his house, and then we saw a scary movie, and then we went and got a Little Caesars hot and ready after the movie. And that’s the only experience I had with Little Caesars until I started working here. God, I remember the best hot and ready pizza I ever had. It was like freshman year of college. Of course, we’re all dead broke living on student loans. Right. We like, took a day trip from Santa Barbara down to L. A. Just driving around, not eating anything, messing around at the beach. And we found the Little Caesars glowing like an oasis in the middle of the desert. We just ate it on the roof of my 95 Ford Taurus. So good, huh? Six people crammed in there. You know, paid ten total dollars for two large pizzas. Right. That’s really beautiful. Yeah, yeah. So I have a lot of nostalgia for Little Caesars. Pizza, on the other hand, if I’m ordering, if I’m ordering full price pizza that is not hot and ready, I’m generally going Domino’s if I’m getting it from a chain. Same, same. We are Domino’s family. But that said, we have a lot of different Little Caesars. We do! Nicole, tell em about it. So, um, we tried to order side by side contemporaries for each pizza. So we have the first pizza we’re going to try is a thin crust cheese pizza a la a birthday party. That was the vibe. I was thinking of a children’s birthday party where they get thin crust and Are you okay? Are you preparing yourself for all the sodium you’re about to eat? There was caffeine in that cup and I need it for the rest of the day. Oh great, okay. So I’m gonna go ahead and reveal the Pizza Hut, the thin crust. Oh, we already have a major difference. Major difference. The Pizza Hut pizza, the thin crust, is currently sliced like little pizza slices. This is matzo! It’s very, very matzo. I do like this though, but I was always raised to have it cut like the Little Caesars one in the little squares. I think does Domino’s still cut their? Because I associate thin crust with cutting to squares and this looks like a Chicago Tavern style pizza, right? It really does. This is actually, to me, Little Caesars is much more of a proper thin crust pizza in my book. What I imagine thin crust pizza to be. I’m not talking Neapolitan, I’m not talking New York, whatever. But like, this tavern style where there’s no crust, right? Yeah, it’s to the edge. It’s to the edge. How do you, have you enjoyed this Pizza Hut one? Cause I’m not really loving it. I’m not digging it. I want it in a little square. Could I have requested it in a little square? Yeah, but I thought it would automatically come like that. We take it how they give it to us. I will say The Pizza Hut, this is very obviously like cut from a machine because you can see the seam right there. Mm hmm. But what’s fascinating about this to me, when you take a yeasted dough and you thin it out so much you bake it, it creates two layers in Sardinia. They call this pane lento or pane carrazao. They used to give it to shepherds. They eat it with their pecorino cheese. So this is like kind of a cool little crust back there, but. Very unique. I’ve never, I’ve never had this kind of sensation with a pizza before. Yeah, that’s Pane Carazzo. Shout out to all my Jordanian listeners. All of them, all three of them. Pretty unsuccessful as a pizza. I think the Pizza Hut cheese. There’s like a unique smell to Pizza Hut cheese. I think it’s low, what is it, loy, low moisture skim milk mozzarella. Yeah, but it’s like, you know, it’s the terroir of the factory that they’re getting it made from. You know what I mean? It’s that The terroir of the factory! Every factory. It’s like the, the light that’s filtering in, in Wichita, Kansas, uh, which I think is where their pizza is originally from. I’m not loving it at all. Well good, that’s McDonald’s phrase. No, this is something that I would — Is it almost undercooked and overcooked at the same time? I agree with that entirely. That’s the vibe I’m getting from the Pizza Hut thin crust cheese pizza. There’s a certain amount of spite in that thin crust, right? It’s like, we don’t want you to order a thin crust. We’re Pizza Hut, we invented the pan pizza. Right? It’s like they don’t want you to order that. They don’t. So they’re gonna trick you into giving you a bad pizza. So, I think, you know what? I think you’re telling the truth right now. Can you hand me a piece in the middle please? I want a middle piece. You want a, oh my god, you eat a filet? Yeah, always. Oh, well not if you, you put all your hand, you put, you put, you put, you put 45 percent of your hands on my pizza. Yeah, you can actually see the marks on my hands with the grease. So, this, I will say the top looks overcooked. Overcooked? I think this top looks perfect. But I like it like that. There’s a slight leopard spotting on the top. The Pizza Hut pizza was very, very blonde. Um, this little Caesar’s pizza, especially for a thin crust, you get some nice leopard spotting on that cheese. Right. And I don’t know, I’m not looking for like, beautiful, lightly melted mozzarella di bufala on my fast food pizza, right? Me either. No, no, no. I want salty caramelized cheese on there. Mhm. This folds a lot better too, I don’t love. The fold on the, on the Pizza Hut? To me, a thin crust pizza, with all due respect to St. Louis, we don’t need to go there. Um, I did have St. Louis style pizza when I was in St. Louis for the tour. Did anybody spit on you? No, I did have some weird experiences in St. Louis. I feel like a lot of people have weird experiences in St. Louis. Like the weirdest experiences. Is that Missouri? I ended up in like an illegal hookah bar where I paid for everything in cash app. I don’t know, man. Is St. Louis in Missouri? Yes. Okay, cool. Yes, it is. Big mafia influence in St. Louis. A lot of Italian food. I had some good arepas there too. Nothing more Italian than arepas. Lovely people. I had some Italian food too. Um. I don’t love the cracker like dough of Pizza Hut. I think the cracker like dough doesn’t do it any favors, especially with the blonde cheese. Mm hmm. This now, we’re talking about the sauce has baked into the cheese, has baked into the crust, made a delicious, almost like, we love bread goo here. Yep. It’s almost like bread goo pizza. The bottom is foldable, almost like a yoga mat, but it’s, but it’s pleasant. It’s, it’s a more pleasant eating experience than The Pizza Hut one. There’s still a nice chew to the crust on Little Caesars. Uh, somehow the Pizza Hut, it like feels thinner, but it looks Thicker. If you fold the Pizza Hut, it doesn’t do it. No, it’s not doing it for me. There’s a wonderful gluttony chew. Mm hmm. Here’s a little Caesars one. Also, a little Caesars sauce. It’s very sweet. Very intense tomato flavor. A hundred percent in a way that I like. Right. Pizza Hut, the pizza eats a lot saltier. Totally. In a way that normally I think I’d love but It just doesn’t do it for me. Little Caesars easily wins round one. Easily. Easily. Well done, Little Caesars. I was not anticipating that. How about you give me, you take the boxes and put them on the floor next to you. I’ll put the boxes next to me. Crack open the next zoll, see where we’re at. Okay, so the next one, so we went ahead and we got Pepperoni Lovers, not Fighters, and then we got a Build Your Own from Little Caesars with pepperoni on it. Pepperoni. These pizzas, why do they look more similar than I remember them looking? I don’t know. Well, there is something about the crust on. Do you want to start? Let’s start with Pizza Hut. The crust has a smattering of cheese on it, which I find very, very sexy. Just a grease covered bottom on Pizza Hut. So this isn’t, how do they describe this pizza? This is a hand tossed pizza. Hand tossed pizza. Yes, this is their hand tossed pizza. They all use different, different nomenclature for the different pizza styles, much like in Naples. Very delicious. How do you feel about their pepperoni? Okay, you haven’t even gone there yet. You’re just eating the crust. I was eating the crust. I want to get a good feel for pizza that’s crust. Um, have you ever heard that when you Smell bread dough or pizza crust, whatever. It’s, you shouldn’t, you shouldn’t smell yeast because the yeast should have, all the yeast should have all been eaten by that point. Well, I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that before, but I’m a sourdough girl, so all of my bread smells yeasty. Does it smell yeast? I don’t know. I, but like sometimes I, I feel like I can smell raw yeast and bread. Not getting that particularly, but that’s what I was checking for. I like to smell all my food. , isolate a Roni. I’m just a little sensory seeking boy, you know, I was a sensory seeking boy once. That’s all oh Come on, buddy But this pizza is like so good. It’s like a gusher. It’s really good. It’s incredible. It’s really good isolate a roni Isolate a roni. Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I thought you were saying one word isolate a roni. I got a roni. Um Why is the bottom? saturated in some sort of butter like Maybe they’re trying to be like dominoes and do the garlic butter thing without doing the garlic butter thing their own weird We’ve talked about this a lot, but I feel like Domino’s in, I think, was it 2008? Was it that early or was it late? Anyways, they decided to slather all their crust in garlic butter, and it’s just, I think that’s the reason they’ve exploded. They won. That’s why they won. That’s why they won. Okay, I’ll isolate a roni. Mm hmm. These are, these are very different ronis. They are to me. They look different. They’re quite different. Uh, Pizza Hut’s pepperoni is a lot lighter. It’s so funny. Pizza Hut’s pepperoni is like what I picture pepperoni. Thinner. Me too. As in my mind, it’s like a cartoon. I grew up eating, I think, so much more Pizza Hut. At like schools. Like our school was Sure. Pizza Hut school? Yeah. We were Pizza Hut school. Yeah. It’s a more, it’s diaphanous. It’s thin. It’s almost like a, like a scalloped skirt. Wow. We’re so funny. Diaphanous. Like Cara Delevingne’s wings in Carnival Row. Why did nobody watch Carnival Row? That was a great show. I mean, it was bad, but I love Cara Delevingne and Orlando Bloom. Hot, hot stuff. Those huge pepperoni taste way better. Less than Oh my god, really? Yeah. Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t offer you one here. I’ll take the one that I stole the pepperoni off of. Very what a gentleman. Just like Orlando Bloom in Carnival Row. He’s such a gentleman. He treats the fairies with respect. I’m guessing he doesn’t. Cheers! Sorry, I was trying to show you my undercarriage. Well, I will say this, the Pizza Hut undercarriage, beautiful golden brown, wow, stunning. The Little Caesars leaves me wanting more. A lot more. Something happened to mine. There was an air pocket in my piece right here. And I want to grab a new piece to give it a more fair shot, but they gave me this piece. The rest of the undercarriage looks pretty well browned. Honestly, this looks like a pizza dough that is like overproofed in a way. Or not overproofed, um, it’s been overworked. Yes. You know what I mean? You can almost see the gluten structures. The striations? Yeah, the striations. You don’t want that. No. Pizza, they’re using machines to do all this stuff, which maybe Little Caesar’s is too, but like, you ever see that? There’s that dude that works at Papa John’s that’s big on TikTok. He’s like, kind of weirdly, he’s like very aggressive. I’m not on TikTok as much as you think I am. I’m on Instagram Instagram Reels too. People syndicate their content everywhere. Oh. But is there, there’s, have you seen the Papa John’s guy on the, on the Scrolly Scrolly app? No! There’s a guy, he does it, and they’re like hand tossing their pizzas at Papa John’s. They say this is hand tossed, but it certainly feels machine tossed. I don’t like that pizza at all. Little Caesar’s? I don’t like it at all. This is the hot and ready, right? I, yeah, it is. Like their standard, not thin crust, not deep dish. I really don’t like it, I’m sorry. This is, this would give me heartburn. The Little Caesar’s pizza will give me heartburn. And I feel like I would stop eating it. I think the pepperoni and the sauce, uh, are in conflict with one another. The Pizza Hut pizza, much more harmonious. The Pizza Hut pizza, all of Pizza Hut’s pizza doughs, Mm hmm. They’re so, they’re so logged in oil that they are, You can say spongy, you can also say focaccia like, right? But it’s good. It’s good. I like that. This tastes almost weirdly homemade in a way, because I find a lot of people, when they make homemade pizza doughs, Um, I’ve, do you remember the first pizza dough that you made in Mythical Kitchen? The Martha Stewart one? Martha Stewart one, and I was like, hey, never use that recipe again. Yeah, I still use it. Cause it’s so bready and focaccia like. And so when I’m like making a pizza at home, I’m kneading the hell out of the dough, cooking it super hot, not doing a big second proof. Because I want that shoe in pizza. That said, this is like really delicious. Right, it is really delicious. There’s really kind of like clean flavor in that. You just, you get all that, whatever that fake butter, margarine esque stuff on the bottom is. My lips are very saturated. I can also see like the crackle of like the semolina. Yeah, it’s pretty, well there’s also, isn’t there a crackle of semolina? There is too, I actually really like, I think the Little Caesars is really good too. Maybe we are just starving. Yeah, we didn’t have lunch today. Did you see me eat a whole cucumber? No, I just I went raw dude. Sometimes you held it. No, but I didn’t slice it or nothing. I just went I ate it like a Like you’re eating a big ol corn dog. That’s good. What do you mean? I don’t know. I’m proud of you. Look at you getting your veggies in. Um, I think Pizza Hut wins this one. 1000%. I’m so sorry. I’m, I’m not nearly as convinced as you. I think the Little Caesars Hot and Ready. This is, a lot of people have had different experiences at Little Caesars. This is a pretty damn good Little Caesars. I’ve had much worse Little Caesarses. Really? Sorry. Than this. Uh huh. I’m really enjoying what I’m tasting this pizza, there’s part of me now that’s like really appreciating the sweetness and the concentration of Little Caesar’s sauce. Mmm, okay. You know what I mean? That I think gives a great contrast to the pepperoni, that said. You think, I think they’re in conflict with each other. I don’t think it’s a harmonious bite, I think the Pizza Hut is a much more harmonious bite. I think it’s part of the conflict that I really enjoy. So you enjoy conflict? The spiciness, of course. Yeah, I, uh, the push and pull, the, you gotta have the surge to have the darin you know. With too, yeah. Dude, like the, like, it’s like acidic and fatty, spicy and sweet. But you’re eating takeout pizza, you don’t, you, are you always, I’m looking for harmony and peace when I’m eating. Aren’t you the one that likes, uh, honey on your pepperoni pizza? Sometimes. Which is a motherfucking question. When I’m out and about, when I’m out and about, when I’m ordering for, like, a game at my house, you think I’m gonna Care about getting the hot honey pizza for the big game. No, I’m not doing I will I will concede this to pizza It is close. I do love the focaccia enos on the pizza. Yeah, that said like this is this is a great pizza It is very good. It is and I’ve had a lot of local spots that don’t do this good Well, there’s also probably a lot of ghost kitchens making a lot of garbage out there now for when you order delivery true true true What’s the, what’s the third pizza? Well, the third pizza is their, from Pizza Hut, is their pan pizza. Went ahead and got Sausage and mushroom and green peppers, and then we got the deep dish from Little Caesars with the same combination of toppings. Why do both of these make me sad? Because they don’t look like in the, they’re like in the commercials, I think. I think that’s what’s, what’s getting to you. Uh, okay, so Pizza Hut’s pan pizza. Iconic. Iconic. They redid the recipe, what, maybe like five years ago? They did? They completely redid the recipe. Um, they said it’s more Pizza Hut y than ever, but I haven’t had it in a long time. I’m curious how this holds up, because I haven’t eaten a Pizza Hut pan pizza since they redid their recipe a while ago. Well, I will say, the crust is less even than their hand tossed. Why does their crust taste like that? Oh my god, it’s so yeasty. I can taste the yeast in this, and it is not pleasant. But the toppings make up for it. Pizza Hut pan pizza is like a very silly anachronism to me, right? It doesn’t feel in place for 2025. Mm hmm. You know? Very, very vintage and nostalgic. Big Vintage, it’s so doughy, man. I mean, this was pizza when I grew up. Mm hmm. This is the, it was this and school lunch pizza, were the two pizzas that I would have eaten most growing up, right? Mm hmm. Now this tastes so strange. There’s this like, big layer of uncooked dough underneath the sauce. This is bread goo. That’s bread goo, but like, not in a way that I like. It’s bad, it’s bad, bad bread goo. That’s like a Frank Zappa song, just high out of his mind. It’s like bubble gummy. Yeah, this is really bizarre. Dude, I, I don’t know if there’s any room in my life for, uh, for, for pan pizza anymore. I love a deep dish. I love a Detroit. I’m curious to see how Little Caesar stacks up. It tastes like being a, it tastes like a kid. It tastes like childhood. It does. This tastes like, if you told me this is the national pizza of Moldova. You’d believe it. I’d believe you. I’d be like, yeah, it tastes like Moldovan pizza. They have different. Reference points than I do. So much yeast. Oh my god. Um, I don’t know if we’re gonna well Let’s see. This is just the little Caesars deep dish pizza. I’ve had this before I’ve never had this before. I once ate a whole deep dish pizza on the way back from a track meet Mmm sausage a little Caesars slightly saltier slightly better seasoned But they’re not as, um, globular. Mm hmm. I love little fast food pizza sausage balls. I think might be the best food on the planet. I wish I could eat them like popcorn at the movie theater. Do you think that I’m gonna be watching Baby Girl tossing sausage back. Nicole, you were saying? Did you see Baby Girl? No. Oh, it’s so good. Yeah? Oh my god, you need to watch Baby Girl. I’m taking myself on a solo date to see, uh, The Last Showgirl on Saturday at 11. 20am. You wanna come? Pam Anderson Well, it’s solo. I don’t wanna take away your I know, but you can go to another theater. And see another movie? Mm hmm. Why would I Why would I do that? Don’t say I never reach out trying to be funny. What would we talk about after? What, you want me to see Nosferatu while you watch The Last Showgirl? Someone has to. I don’t like, this pizza leaves me wanting more. What about you? Pretty bummed out. Pretty bummed out. This um, in no way is this deep dish. I mean one, some people refer to like Sicilian or Detroit style as deep dish pizza. To me, like, Deep Dish is Chicago style, which is very unique. And then Detroit and Sicilian are either Detroit and Sicilian. Little Caesars comes from Detroit. And so you’d think that they would, like, put some effort into their Detroit style pizza. Um, no, this is like a really upsetting pizza to me. Why is there no sauce? I’ve I don’t know if someone messed up on this because I’ve had their deep dish pizza before and it was significantly better I don’t know if this weighed down the dough, but there is a solid centimeter of uncooked dough in this Yeah, pretty disappointing. Um, but the crust isn’t as bad as I thought it was gonna be. This is like bubble gum This is raw pizza dough that we’re eating right here. You think that’s more bubble gummy than the pizza hut one? Yeah, I’m gonna eat the Pizza Hut one again. Go for it. Dude, feel just the, the density. Feel the density of these pizzas. Oh my god. Right? The, the Papa, or the, uh, The Papa Caesar’s pizza is three times heavier per square inch. Wow. Which is nuts. Pizza Hut, like, there’s at least, the leavening is working in the dough. Oh, I can see the uncooked. I can see the uncooked dough. You know what I want to do with the pizza hut pizza though? I just want to like, throw it on a griddle for three minutes. Sure, I get that. I want the bottom of this pizza hut pizza to have some sort of cook that isn’t just like, oil, soakage, and soft. Sure, yeah. I know it’s been steaming in a box for a while. Neither of these pizzas made me Even one iota happy. I’m sorry. Pretty bummed that we No, we had to test it. For science. Winner on three. One, two. Pizza Hut. Pizza Hut. Easy. Easy, easy. Well, I think we’re at a point where we could make a decision. However, Nicole, we got one more item to taste test here. That’s right. We have We got one more. We have breadsticks, and crazy bread, and crazy sauce, and marinara. Is there a pill for gluten intolerance? Pizza, pizza. Pizza? Eat the crazy bread. Pizza, pizza. Are you okay? Stop being weird. Uh, never. Break out the crazy bread. Is this what crazy bread looks like? Yeah, dude, it’s very flick. This is called the Corona. I like Little Caesar’s sauce. I think crazy sauce is my favorite. Breadsticks, this is very similar to Olive Garden’s breadsticks. Yes! You’re so right. I reject Pizza Hut’s breadsticks. Why do you reject? They put all the flavors on it. It’s not a fair fight. All the flavors, there’s just a large dusting of just butter product, garlic, some sort of dried herb. Could be marjoram. You think they have margarine on here? Um, dude, the dough recipe at Pizza Hut is so light. There’s this Spanish bread called Pancristal. Okay. Have you ever had Pancristal? Never. Crazy high hydration dough, and they just, they bake it super hot, wide pockets, big gluten structures, it’s like nothing I’ve ever had, it’s so light. Pizza Hut breadsticks, this is light, golly, it’s like a feather. And that’s coming from, not years of Spanish baking technique likely, um, but probably dough conditioners, right? Right, tons, yeah. Tons. Azodicarbonamide, I don’t even think it’s a dough conditioner, but it’s in yoga mats. All right, let me dip it in the sauce. I have my winner. It is clear as day. For me, at least. I know what I’m doing. Me too. On three. One, two, Little Caesars. Little Caesars, baby! They’ve got it on lock. That crazy bread with that crazy sauce. Super crazy. And this is like, obviously, just leftover pizza dough they’re rolling about. Whatever. That’s good. No, I’m saying pizza that’s like running through a machine. They’re adding all the dust and flavors on top. Still can’t come close to how good Crazy Bread with Crazy Sauce is. I have to tell you though. Go on. The total for the Little Caesars was 48 with like delivery and tip or whatever. Pizza Hut was 112. Oh my god! For three pizzas? What the fruit? 112. You get scammed? No! Well did you tip? Of course! Stop doing that! That’s why you’re no I’m kidding. I’ve always been a good tipper, hey. Tip 20 percent plus. I always tip well. Um, that’s nuts. I do want to use this Pizza Hut breadstick as a hot dog bun, I will say that. Uh, thank you so much. Um, that is such an insane price difference. I know. What is, I mean, Little Caesars is doing national ads now too. They used to not advertise as much. I mean, Pizza Hut obviously has massive, massive ad campaigns. They got, um, what’s that, Daryl from the office, Craig Robinson out there. Singing. But now Little Caesars got Eugene Levy, which, that’s who I want to sell me pizza, just an anxious Jewish dad. Um. Oh, why are we spending all that money on pizza? Go to Little Caesars. Little Caesars price point and I think their flavors. I’m going to give it to them in this, in this discussion, this debate. I, it’s very painful for me to see Pizza Hut’s incredible fall from grace over the last 15 years. However, I want to just issue that as a challenge to yum brands in general. I’m, I’m looking forward to Pizza Hut doing a revamp. I think there needs to be some soul searching, figure out what they’re really about. Maybe bring back the special mythical kitchen flavor of pizzone. Oh, yeah, maybe that can save it Um, that said little caesars man for the price point that they do it at is really really impressive I’m a fan little caesars gets the win josh. I think 2025 is a year for personal growth How do you feel about that speak that into existence sister? Yeah, I mean like everyone’s like oh i’m gonna start working out I’m gonna start eating better but me I want to learn a new language. I think it’s just gonna expand the way that I see the world and the way that I can communicate with other people. I think it’s really important. Well, how do you plan on learning that new language, Nicole? Rosetta Stone, obviously. Obviously, the thing I love most about Rosetta Stone, listen, I took foreign language in high school. Same. You did. You listening out there probably did. I’m not great in a classroom setting. I need an actual immersive experience, and that’s what Rosetta Stone gets you. You can actually practice as if you were a native speaker. Rosetta Stone is the most trusted language learning program available on desktop or as an app, and it truly immerses you in the language you want to learn. They offer Spanish, French, Italian, German, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Arabic, Polish, and so much more. There’s no English translation, so you really learn to speak, listen, and think in that language. It’s an intuitive process that’s designed for long term retention. With Rosetta Stone’s built in True Accent feature, you can get feedback on your pronunciation, so you can perfect your accent. Mmm, esta bien! Their lifetime membership as all 25 languages for 50 percent off, that’s a steal! Start the new year off with a resolution you can reach. Today, a hot dog is a sandwich. Listeners can take advantage of this Rosetta Stone’s lifetime membership for 50 percent off. That’s a heck of a deal, Nicole. Visit rosettastone. com slash hotdog. That’s 50 percent off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. Redeem your 50 percent off at rosettastone. com slash hotdog today. Pizza pizza. Let’s do some trivia. Yeah, let’s do it. Yummy in my tummy. Got some trivia for you. What is the first pizzeria in America? Oh, obviously I know this one. Do you? Yeah. Oh, I don’t think I do. It’s actually been disputed that there’s two, and um, I’m not sure what answer we’re gonna have in front of us. I’m stalling because the name is gonna come to me eventually. Oh no, she doesn’t know it. I’m gonna go ahead and say Old World Pizza or something. I’m gonna say, it’s not Ray’s, but I’m gonna say Ray’s in New York. The correct answer is Lombardi’s in New York. Oh, Lombardi’s. Dude, I knew that. I’ve seen that on so many travel channel shows. Yeah, me too. It’s bad that neither of us got it. It’s really embarrassing. You know what’s even more messed up? What? Is, embarrassingly, uh, I messed up. There’s a place called Lorenzo’s in Philly that’s like a famous slice shop. Yeah? Take a Lorenzo’s slice, wrap it around cheesesteak, get the Philly taco, they call it. Are you that close? Or Philly Burrito. Philly Burrito? God, I’m so washed. Uh, but anyways, I called Lorenzo’s Lombardi’s and another thing. Damn it. I’m so dumb. I’m mad about that, Maggie. Mad. You’ll get this one. I don’t think so. What do the letters C and H stand for in C and H sugar? Pfft. Cohen and Hobbes. I was like, uh, C C C C Cane and Harvest. So close. They’re both states. Oh! California and Hawaii. The correct answer is California and Hawaii. Oh! Well, now this isn’t trivia, but we’re learning together. I never thought about that. Robot Maggie sounds different. You sound like real Maggie. Last question. Thank you, Robot Maggie. Which fast food restaurant chain once tested bubblegum broccoli as a children’s menu item? SONIC! Uhhh SONIC! Bubblegum broccoli. Who would have done something as crazy as SONIC! It’s a fast food restaurant chain, they’re saying. Bubblegum broc Who was doing exciting You know, one time I did an episode of International McDonald’s and they put bubblegum in a McFlurry in Australia slash New Zealand. One of those, so maybe it might be that. I’m going to say Burger King. I feel like they were doing some bombastic things. The correct answer is McDonald’s. McDonald’s was right in front of us. So we need to, we haven’t eaten more until one of us gets one right. I think, I think my explanation was that I changed my answer. Oh, yeah, I’d give it to you. So I get the point. Yeah, yeah. Okay. I’m, I’m ashamed of that performance, and I think you as an audience deserve better, Nicole. I’m very proud of you. You deserve every second of that. Tastes like bubblegum. Hey, guess what? It’s time for a little segment we like to call Opinions on the casseroles They smell like onions and they’re Why don’t you sing with me anymore? Do it again. Okay, okay, one more time. Okay, do it. Now it’s time for a little segment we like to call OPINIONS ARE LIKE CASSEROLES! Josh, before we get in Meggie, Josh, before we get into the questions and the opinions, I got a little game for you. Let’s play This or That Pizza Styles. You ready? Let’s do it. Okay. New York or Chicago deep dish? New York. New York or Chicago tavern? New York. New York or Neapolitan? New York. New York or Detroit style? New York. New York or Sicilian? New York. New York or St. Louis? New York. St. Louis isn’t pizza. New York versus grandma style? New York. New York or New Haven? New Haven. New Haven or Altoona style? New Haven. New Haven or pizza bagel? New Haven. New Haven or Calzone? New Haven. Okay, well, New Haven is the pizza you get to take home. New Haven. Shout out to Michael Bolton. He loves New Haven style pizza. He’s a big Connecticut coal fired pizza guy. The singer? The singer, Michael Bolton. I think Michael Bolton is a very, very handsome man. Yeah, older gentleman, but he’s still got a nice earring. Still got it, he’s still got it. New Haven style pizza, um, God, what are they? Sally’s, a pizza, there’s the other one, but there’s like, some people consider New Haven to be like the pizza capital of America. They make a very, Thin fire, thin crust. I believe it’s a coal fired pizza, so you get this like deep rich black char on the bottom They’re also known for making a clam pie. I was gonna say is it the clam place? Okay, good to know. Yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I mean that’s not what they’re only known for but to me It’s just this beautiful it almost eats like a lehmacun. Mm hmm. You know like the Armenian pizza It’s so thin the toppings are baked in there so hot. I love it. Maggie hit us with that first opinion Hi, Josh. Hi, Nicole. This is Allie from St. Louis, and no, our pizza is not my unpopular food opinion, even though our pizza is the best. Girl! My unpopular food opinion is that when I make meatballs, I don’t put anything in it except for seasonings. Um, I just get, like, my ground beef in a bowl, and I season it, I mash it together, I shape them, and I make them in a pan. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized people actually put stuff in it, and I was really confused, um, because meat keeps its shape, so. Yeah, love the podcast. Thanks for what you do. Um, yeah, thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, from St. Louis, how much can we really trust their opinion? You gotta be nicer to St. Louisans. St. Louisans? St. Losers? No, no, St. Louisans? St. Louis? I don’t know what you call them. St. Louisians? Louisianans. St. Louisians. St. Louisianians. I have opinions. Talk about your opinions. One time, I made meatballs without anything added in there, no egg, no bread crumb, just like you. Seasonings and meat. Let me tell you, my husband said, this is one of the worst things you’ve ever made. I love you. I’m telling you because you need to know. And let me tell you. Never made another meatball without eggs or breadcrumbs again. Well, I think what they’re describing are, uh, balls of meat versus meatballs. Fair. You know what I mean? Yeah, I think you’re right, man. You’ve made it into a ball. It’s perfectly fine. No, I think, so for instance, um, God, what are they called, like, polpettine? Polpetti. Polpetti, right, polpetti is Italian for meatball. Tiny little meatball. And they’re already Italian meatballs, they’re not making like, you go to a buca di beppo, they have a half pound of meatball, which is, I’d argue you’re at a loaf once you get past like four ounces. You know what I mean? You’re at a personal pan meatloaf there. Um, but there’s another thing, I think they just call them pulpitini, but there’s other regional names for them. They’re like tiny, tiny, tiny balls of meat. But they like, they hand roll all of them. It’s not like they’re just cooking big hunks of ground beef and they’ll put them in things like soup. So if you take just like a ball of Beef like that and you cook it to fully well done, right? It’s probably going to be However, if you were to use something like that and really braise it in sauce, so you’re getting just like braised beef, it’s gonna break down those proteins, that’s pretty good. And so, like anything in life, there’s nuance. It’s all contextual, what you’re doing with the meatball depends how you make it. If you like it without eggs or bread Go for it, man. Not all meatballs in the world have eggs. I I get a little funky with it sometimes, and I’ll just put, uh, uh, baking soda in it. My dad does that. A little baking soda in the balls? That’s nice. Do you do that with koobideh? Uh, yeah, my dad does that. Yeah? Yeah. Onion juice and koobideh. I was thinking about this the other day. What’s up, man? I’m I’m I’m not stalling for anything, but this is a podcast about food, I can, I can talk about food can, of course you can, of course you can! All these rules that we’ve learned watching Food Network Chefs, watching people that we trust tell us stuff. I remember watching Bobby Flay make a meatball, and he was like, you gotta cook down your aromatics. If you don’t cook down your aromatics, your garlic, your onions, and you add them to your meatballs, it’ll be terrible. Whatever. Uh, and then I learned how you make kubideh, which you put raw onion juice in it. Yeah. And that’s the good flavor. Such a good flavor. That’s such a good flavor. Raw onion is like a staple in Persian cooking, yeah. And it’s incredible. And there’s enzymes in the raw onion that like help break down the meat. It’s just fantastic. And so I’ve started like, uh, interrogating those. Things that I’ve learned growing up. I started just grating some raw onion in my meatballs. So much effort. I love it. So much flavor. So good. Onion tastes good. So good. Cooked onions are also great in meatballs. Context dependent. Next. Hi Josh and Nicole. My name is Maddie from Baltimore. Hi Maddie. Baltimore. And my struggle meal is an Eggo waffle. I put it so it’s lightly toasted. Lightly, okay. I slather it with peanut butter. Okay. A dollop of uh, Greek yogurt. And then I fold it up like a taco and I Eat it, usually running out the door to work, and if I’m feeling bougie, I’ll go a chocolate chip Eggo, and almond butter instead of peanut butter, which is fancy, but yeah, honestly, I think it’s a better alternative to like, just eating a protein bar, I think it’s way more delicious, but um, yeah, thanks, love this show, go O’s! Go O’s! What does that mean? Oh, the O’s are the Orioles, the, uh, Baltimore based Major League Baseball team. Oh! I thought it was cereal related. Uh, they could just be a fan of Cheerios, we don’t know, but I would guess context dependent. Anyways, um It’s good, I’d eat that. Yeah, pretty good. I kind of don’t love the combination of peanut butter and Greek yogurt, though. I do! It’s the sourness of the peanut butter, I don’t think I like Sometimes I think it’s also why I prefer banana and peanut butter sandwiches, banana and peanut butter honey over PB& J. Okay. You know what I mean? You don’t like the sour? I’d say put some fresh fruit in that yogurt, but I know this is your struggle meal, so what are you gonna slice up a strawberry? No, don’t listen to him. Keep on keeping on I would rather either have peanut butter and jelly in that waffle or Greek yogurt and jelly. I like the bougie version of this a lot. Choc Choccy Chippies? Choccy Chippies Almond Butter. Chocolate and Greek Yogurt have never done it for me. Certain things I like ass with, certain things I don’t like ass with. That said, uh, you’re right, it’s more delicious than a protein bar. I eat so many protein bars that they now induce a gag reflex in me, so. That’s what does it? Really, but that’s almost the only thing that does it, yeah. Uh, next! Firstly, firstly, I love the voicemail. This is, I’m actually an international caller and I’m from London. My name’s S. Hi! Um, in your opinion, if you have like noodles, like instant ramen, and you like cook them until they’re really like, not really mushy, but like until they’re soft, and then you fry it like an omelette. That’s my hot take. Oh my god, that is the hottest take of all time. You talk like you’re from London. You can’t do that. You can’t do that to our international callers. What movie is that even from? Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It sure is. Duh. Is it Jonah Hill? No, it’s Paul Rudd and, and Russell Brand. You’re right, you’re right. You should be ashamed, you should be ashamed. Uh, okay, so soft, soft, soft noodles. Omelet it up. Frying like an omelet. Yum. This is Matzo bri, it’s matzo bri. It’s matzo bri, matzo bri. I say matzo bri, you say matzo bri. Still, we’re friends. I think what you’ve done is created a unique Texture unlike anything that I’ve ever experienced before especially I’m curious how those soft wet noodles react to hot oil I’m sure there’s egg as a binder. They’re just not talking about it I don’t know They might just be putting because you’ve ever just like leftover noodles like you let your ramen sit you didn’t finish it like no I never not finished my ramen Oh, it happens to me all the time, it’s just so distracting. Um, it, but, you know, you take that, you toss it in your frying pan. I mean, I think you’ve created a purely unique food, which is So difficult. So, you know how there’s, like, the Caesar salad, right? Oh, please! Oh, please! Man, like a hundred years ago. Oh my god, you know, okay, you know, you know what we should do? Yeah, go ahead. You know how there’s the little Caesars? We should make a pizza chain called Big Brutus! Go Big Brutus. Big Brutus? Because, uh, Et tu, Brute? Oh, is that Marc Anthony? No, Brutus is the guy who killed Caesar, yeah. Yeah, we should, we should Big Brutus Pizza! Big Brutus Pizza! I like that. What’s our catchphrase? I’m big! Stabby stabby. Et tu? It should just be et tu. Et tu pizza? Oh gosh, terrible idea. Well, I’m glad to have pizza. Like all of your ideas are winners? I’m very sleepy, I would like to go home and take a nappy nap. Um, sounds great. You guys, all, all of us, go home, nap. You, people at home, you take a nap. Have you taken a nap lately? When’s the last time you took a nap? I nap every weekend, almost every day and every weekend. Every day? Every day that I’m not at work, I’m taking a nap between like 3 and 5 PM. Wow. Yeah. Is that not normal? It’s a siesta, they call it in España. A siesta. I, I studied, I studied abroad in Barcelona. In Barcelona. Treat yourself! To watching more of our podcast. Thanks so much for, Nicole, get, get. And on that note, thank you for listening to our podcast, The Hot Dog is a Sandwich. We got new audio only episodes every Wednesday and a video only version here every Sunday. Spend your Sundays with us. We’re your Sunday best. And if you want, you can just go to bed. Shhh. Just shut up and go to bed. We have, wait, no, three, Meggy, I need three minutes. Okay. Okay. Oh my God. If you’re, if, if you’re still here, if you’re still here, someone, um, there was an opinion casserole on a podcast a couple weeks ago, and somebody wrote in. They wrote in and they told me something. They said, Hi, this is at CorinneAnne20. Hi, just listen to this week’s episode for clarification on the Greek sauce. Nicole, listen. Oh, it’s Greek Remember Greek fries? How could I forget Greek fries? I remember everything about anything all the time. Chili and Greek sauce are not the same. There’s a pretty large Greek population where I am in northwestern Pennsylvania. I said that! Greek sauce is beef and or lamb that’s cooked for a really long period of time to the point that the meat’s broken down into the tiniest little pieces. It’s tomato based sauce, but has warmer spices than traditional chili. That sauce is then put over fries or a hot dog and a hamburger. Kind of onions as well. So first, this person messaged me that and I was furious because I said you’re describing chili. You’re describing what skyline chili is. It’s warm spices. It’s tomato. It’s broken down meat. Um, but then I was like, Josh, this is more a reflection on yourself than it is this nice helpful person telling you about Greek sauce, uh, which is what they call it, this, uh, Corinne is from Erie, Pennsylvania. Mm hmm. And, uh, I started, went on this little deep dive on it, and it’s created this weird little micro regionalism of calling what most people call chili, because there’s no monolith of what chili is. Right. So when I say it’s different from chili, it’s like, well, what do you mean chili? This is a, what America has decided chili means, this is now a type of chili. It’s a tomato based meat sauce with spices that you’re putting on hot dogs. That’s what we call chili. Yeah, right? But it is a very unique moniker called Greek sauce and that’s fascinating. What if I told you I said a very similar thing in the podcast, but now my information was all corroborated with Corinne. What did you say in the podcast, run the tape back. I said, I don’t like what do you mean right now? I, I said that there’s probably a large Greek population where this person is and it’s chili I said something, didn’t I say that? Yeah, was that what she said? Isn’t that what they said? Well, they said that and other things. If you want to be featured on opinions casserols, hit us up at 833 dog pod 1. Take us home, Josh. And for more videos if you like to see in our face, you can go over to Mythical Kitchen on the Youtube, check us out on Tiktok on Instagram. Uh, go to, go to Tubi we’re on tubi yet. We are on tubi. Are we on tubi? We should be on Tubi. Maybe. We’re on, what are we on? Roku? We’re on Roku. Roku, fast channel, most fast channels. We get, um V O D, video on demand. Yeah, we’ll see you next time.