Domino's Detroit Pizza Review: The Motor City Deserves Better Than This Half-Baked Imposter

Detroit-style pizza is a type of pan pizza but with a few upgrades. It gets a massive amount of cheese and the sauce actually goes on after the cheese, not before. Iconically, a Detroit-style pizza is rectangular and was originally baked in forged-steel pans borrowed from automotive manufacturing and maintenance plants. It's one of the most beloved regional dishes in the U.S., hailing originally from (you guessed it) Detroit, Michigan in the 1940s. Domino's, one of two popular pizza chains born in Michigan, is finally bringing the pizza to its repertoire in a self-titled menu item.

Beginning August 31, 2026, Domino's added the Domino to its menu. This personal pizza is in the shape of a domino and comes precut in half, making it easy to eat all the best parts of Detroit-style pizza (the corners) and leave out the rest. Customers can order whatever they like on their pizza, maxing out at three toppings.

The day the Domino hit restaurants, I ordered three for lunch to try a few varieties. Domino's is trying to make this personal pizza into its very own fast food icon, akin to the McDonald's Big Mac, Burger King Whopper, or Taco Bell Crunchwrap Supreme. Still, I couldn't help wondering how different it would actually be from a basic personal pizza.

I ordered three versions of the Domino: one topped with Italian sausage, another with pepperoni, and one with veggies. After tasting each, I determined if this pizza is worth your time based on how well it actually achieves a Detroit-style pizza and delivers on flavor. The crust needed to be delightfully cheesy and crunchy, without being burnt, and the crust under the toppings needed to remain pillowy.

I've had my fair share of Detroit-style pizza, and I've come to love the mixture of textures. Upon opening the Domino's box, I noticed very little browned crust around the outside of the pizzas. I hoped looks would be deceiving, but after a few bites, it became very clear that this was basically just a rectangular pan pizza. I can see where the pizza attempted to have more of a crispy, cheesy crust, but there just wasn't enough. Since Domino's is one of the best chains for pan pizza, it was no surprise that this pizza leaned closer to a basic pan pizza than a specifically Detroit-style one.

While the crust wasn't crunchy enough, the dough inside was very soft. It felt just barely completely cooked, and after a few bites, I found that it was even a little doughy and less than fully cooked in parts. The texture may have been off, but the taste was enjoyable. It wasn't surprising or out of this world stellar, but it'll get the job done with its saucy, zesty, and savory flavor.

With a few small tweaks, this pizza would be great. It needs more cheese cooked on the outside of the crust and longer in the oven. With a fully cooked pizza and more of that tasty, crunchy cheese on the outside, it would be a total win, but there's still some work to do. The concept of the domino-shaped pizza for Domino's feels so obvious, I have to wonder why it hadn't been thought of before this item. Hopefully, a few small alterations can be made to improve this item because it definitely has promise.

Domino's Warwick shows that these pizzas are, indeed, made in a rectangular pan, with sauce on top of the cheese, but the biggest issue is that there's just not enough cheese. Great Detroit-style pizza needs a ring of cheese around the outside of the crust to achieve those cheesy, crispy edges. It's not like preparing a typical pan pizza, so Domino's has a bit of tweaking to do to actually achieve one of America's favorite regional pizza styles.

Beginning August 31, 2026, the Domino became an option you can order from Domino's nationwide. I ordered mine right on the Domino's app, where customization was easy.

Though I was able to order exactly what I wanted, I found the pricing structure of the Domino somewhat misleading. If you were to purchase the Domino with one topping, it would be $7.99. However, you're allowed up to three toppings, but you pay more for each one. This meant that my veggie pizza, for instance, was $9.49, while a basic pepperoni was $7.99. If you want to add two toppings, it is $8.74. Meaning, you can add up to three toppings, as the website states, but each additional one will cost you. Granted, as I write this, Domino's is offering a deal where if you purchase more than two Dominos, they are $6.99 apiece, regardless of how many toppings (up to three) you add.