IamA former manager of Papa John's (2 years) and Dominos (4 months), AMA!

I called Dominos once to mention they didn't cut my pizza. No big deal, could cut it myself, just wanted to give a heads up. The next pizza I ordered a week later looked like they angrily and randomly cut the pizza in so many ways.
What the hell, dude? Explain yourselves.

haha suffer

They track you, your order history, complaints, and more by your phone number. Use a different number next time.

Really? Everytime we order I am always filling out the surveys and giving mad props to the people who made my pizza in the Pizza Tracker. Been doing it for Dominos since Pizza Tracker came out. Every time, without fail.

Is that the reason our Dominos pizzas always seem to be just.... really good? We are never let down on sauce to cheese ratio, good coverage of toppings, etc. We always order from the same location.

Wherever (he has a REALLY unique name) is, he made/makes AMAZING pizzas for Dominos, I think he was the franchise owner or manager; and his quality was unmatched for a $5.99 medium pizza. I always got EXCITED when Pizza Tracker said he was making my pizza.

(Yes, I have a sad life).

You learn the regulars by their order timings, without having to look up the address. And you know who tips well because a lot of the drivers are pathological about tracking tips. One had race metrics too, but mostly they just tracked addresses for average tips.

I will say that I never made a pizza poorly for a customer. Everybody got quality pizza. But for the good tippers, they would sometimes get a little extra care or toppings for some unspoken appreciation.

I used to order so much Papa Johns and tipped well (I was regularly hungover and lazy) that around Christmas my local franchise sent me a thank you card with a coupon for two free large pizzas, two 2-liters, and two sides for free. That's when I realized I ordered too much pizza.

We called a man once because he stopped ordering for a few weeks and he cried because he was so happy someone checked on him

Can you drop a bunch of Papa John gossip on us? He seems like a douche.

he is a douche

I only met him in person once, he told me I was making the pizza wrong but wouldn't tell me what I was doing wrong. My pizzas consistently got 9.5/10 on random quality checks. Fuck that guy.

he does everything in his power to prevent his company from having to in any way provide insurance for full time employees. When tax season came around they actually passed around contracts saying that you were offered insurance benefits and chose to decline. Anyone who refused to sign was fired for whatever bullshit reason they could come up with. A lot of people had their hours cut on a regular basis because of the threat that we'd have to insure them.

Management makes about $9 an hour, which would be perfectly acceptable in the middle of nowhere but not in a city that gets ridiculous business and understaffs their stores.

he's also had a lot of work done and it's kind of obvious in person but I don't honestly feel that's a bad thing. Do whatever you want to your own face.

He thinks he's an A list celebrity. Saw him hanging out backstage at CMA Fest a few years ago. Of course he was wearing the Papa Johns red button up shirt and cowboy boots with those awful blinged out blue jeans. Wouldn't have known it was him if he wasn't in costume.

I've heard he gets pissy too if you don't recognize who he is. He's a fucking clown.

He does, he's really obviously insecure.

Management makes about $9 an hour, which would be perfectly acceptable in the middle of nowhere but not in a city that gets ridiculous business and understaffs their stores.

Live in Austin and ordered Papa Johns on 4/20 (1st mistake) for delivery (2nd mistake). Waited an 1.5 hours for the pizza before I said fuck it and drove to the store. They had maybe a couple people doing deliveries (who were only delivering 1 order at a time), 2 people making pizzas, the manager and a new hire who had no idea what he was doing at the registers. Phones were going off like crazy. Manager there said to just ignore the phones.

I looked at the schedule for 4/20 once and just flat out said "schedule more people for weed day or I'm not going in"

Which pizza do you prefer between the two places?

Papa John's has better ingredients overall and Dominos has better cheese. I don't like pizza anymore.

"Better Ingredients, Better Pizza, Papa Johns"

They do actually have better ingredients. The sauce is surprisingly high quality and the vegetables are all fresh.

The base mozzarella is literally the same cheese from the same distributor in the same box with a different label. You never noticed that?

just how many shits do you think I give

How does Dominos get those wings so rubbery?

they are cheap.

If I use Grubhub to buy pizza from Papa Johns, and include a tip on my credit-card-charged order, who does that tip $$ amount REALLY go to?

the tip goes to the driver but the cut grubhub takes comes out of the labor budget and contributes to understaffing.

Is it true that if you need to find weed in an area that you just have to order a pizza and ask the delivery person? Of course it isn't 100% but mostly true?

Yeah. Especially Pizza Hut.

Why are so many people over 40 years old getting hired as delivery drivers?

Most likely because tipped jobs pay better than minimum wage, they don't have many other options, and they're not pretty enough to make good money as a waiter.

I actually work at dominoes myself as a 17 year old kid, dude I was pretty surprised my first day of work nobody there was less than 28 years of age it was kinda nuts because it's an entry level job after all... apparently the whole dominoes corporation is trying to cut down on the number of underage workers because of the liability

underage workers can't legally touch the oven

Best way to reheat pizza?

frying pan with a lid, very small amount of olive oil. Makes the crust crispy without drying out the toppings.

I'm going to go ahead and upvote you a bunch because you've responded to a ton of questions? This isn't actually a question, but the the reddit bots don't know the difference?

I appreciate you

What was the worst thing you had to do, saw, or been a part of? What was your overall experience? is pizza ruined for you aNDDDD would you make me a pizza and garlic knots y/n

mostly wage skimming and tax evasion. Overall it was doing 3 peoples' job for 1 person's pay. Pizza isn't ruined for me and you're buying the ingredients.

How much would I have to pay you to make vicious eye contact with me, while also making a Pizza for me while I pose seductively in nothing but a spiky condom?

the going rate for a prostitute in my area is about $100 an hour but since you're not expecting me to have sex with you I'd do it for $50.

Geez dude. I guess working at two pizza joints has really lowered your standards. My guy does this for no less than 500.

I'd be doing it for the story more than for the money, but if you want to tip I'm not gonna refuse it.

What would you do if my salami got sliced during this?

how much participation do you want me to have in slicing your salami?

I want you strokin' my sausage, I don't want my salami to be sliced during this encounter. I'm not comfortable with that shit.

That's gonna bring you up to about $200.

Why is Papa johns the most expensive chain of them all?

because corporate wants the dollars and customers are willing to give them the dollars.

What made you leave the game?

I got a better paying job as a furniture salesman and I was sick of micromanagement, but that was Dominos local, not corporate.

My friend's trying to move up to GM asap, any tips?

Make the DM like you, that's the most important.

Also, get really good at upselling and get really good at stocking so nothing goes bad and nothing runs out. Make sure your numbers look better than everyone else's numbers (delivery times, order production times, etc.). Your numbers don't have to be incredible they just have to be the best in your area.

Their whole job is to maximize the profit going up the ladder, so they're primarily just looking at the numbers and rewarding anyone whose numbers are good for profit.

What's the hardest thing about being a former manager?

I feel like this question was a joke but honestly it took a lot of work to stop taking control of situations. Moving to my current job, which is not in management, I had a very hard time with going to find a manager instead of trying to handle situations on my own.

The question was not a joke but thanks for answering

I think it was just the phrasing tbh

no problem

What does each store do with the $2 delivery fee?

The driver gets $1 and the rest goes to corporate. A tiny bit of it is used to cover mileage (drivers get an amount of money based on how many miles they drive, which is supposed to cover gas but doesn't really)

Does either place drug test?

lmao no they'd have no employees if they did

I got drug tested twice at Domino's in Utah. I got randomed once as a driver and then again when I became an assistant manager. Had to fake the test both times. 😂😂

Utah is a special place.

I've worked as a driver for both papa and dominos and an assistant manager at dominos.

What was the best tip you or a driver you worked with got?

What is the craziest creation you made in the oven?

I'll answer my own questions for reference. I got a 140$ tip on a 75 pie order that was across the street from the store. So no real driving. I helped prep the order and it was just me and the AM. Pretty much the only order we got. After it was done we order Roy Rogers and got literally one of everything. Ate like kings.

One bored afternoon a driver picked up some apples on a delivery. We cut it up made a cinnamon sugar butter sauce and made an apple pie.

My best tip ever was an unopened bottle of whiskey on my 22nd birthday. I had a driver once make a pizza with nachos and taco bell on it, he called it the ultimate munchies pizza.

Why do 75% of the delivery customers living in $1M + houses always tip under $2 or stiff their driver completely?

because they've never worked a job where tey see firsthand what happens when people don't tip.

You are paid so little for so much work. How do you make ends meet?

I rented a room in an area with a lot of students and never had weekends off anyway.

What are the owners like from both locations?

if John Schnatter and a cockroach were drowning I would save the cockroach.

I've never met the owner of Dominos.

Worst child related experience?

I very rarely saw kids. Most people don't bring kids with them to pick up pizza and we were not sit-down restaurants. Nothing comes to mind honestly.

What items are so seldom wondered that you wonder why they are on the menu?

Papa John's has a spinach alfredo sauce that's delicious but only gets ordered maybe once a week, and it hits its sell by date 3 days after you open the bag but no one actually throws it out until it's either gone or nasty looking. Dominos has a gluten free pizza crust and I don't know why they bother because if you actually have a gluten intolerance you shouldn't be ordering pizza.

How many people did you manage and how late did you all stay open?

At Papa John's it was rarely more than four people at a time, 2-3 drivers and maaaaaybe one person in the store. On weekends it was two managers plus 3-6 drivers and 1-2 insiders. Papa John's is severely understaffed, at least at the three locations I have worked at.

Dominos was properly staffed and typically had double as many people, only exception being on weekdays, which are slow anyway, and had only the manager and two drivers. This isn't a problem 90% of the time because they aren't really getting orders before about 2pm.

Which pizza do you prefer of the two?

Papa John's pizza is significantly better but I would go local if I was going to buy pizza just on the basis that Dominos tastes bad, Papa John's hates their workers, and I don't even like pizza anymore.

In your opinion what is the worst pizza topping combination possible that's available?

Johns Favorite is awful. It's just grease on top of grease.

How far were/are the delivery radius miles from both stores?

Dominos delivery radius is a 20 minute drive in any direction. They try to maintain a 30 minute or less delivery time, even if they no longer market it.

Papa Johns delivery zones depend on the region and who the upper management is.

Do both companies ever get hit with charges by the EEOC/Labor Department or state from/by employees?

Yes. I used to occasionally pick up extra hours doing menial tasks for Papa John's legal department so they could handle all the drivers suing them for wage skimming. Usually they just settle outside of court and the drivers don't care enough to pursue it.

At Dominos they rarely hired anyone who would have the experience or legal knowledge to do anything to them. The health department shut them down once while I was working there, and they just turned off the lights and kept delivering out the back door. If anyone mentioned that something they were doing was illegal the upper management said "Then call your lawyer"

Both companies never checked whether I had ServSafe certification.

Most ridiculous Customer complaints while working each place?

Both places got a lot of people who tried to double their order for free by calling to complain about something insignificant or by saying this isn't what they ordered when it absolutely was. So I'd tell them that's no problem, I'll replace it free of charge, just put their current food back in the box and send it back with the driver. If they wouldn't do that, no replacement.

I had a woman once say that she tasted pork on her pizza, and that she can't eat that because she's muslim, and she went so far as to say that she thinks someoneused a dirty pizza cutter or "rubbed a pepperoni on it" before cooking, as there was no actual meat on the thing. Given that this was the first order I'd had that day and that I'd personally made it I knew she was full of shit so I told her she can send it back if she wants a replacement and she threw a fit and demanded to speak to the manager.

I always loved when people asked to speak to a manager because I'm short and young looking with (at the time) bright colored hair and piercings in my face, so if they wanted to bitch about things that weren't true to make us give them something for free they always had to deal with a 21 year old who clearly makes poor life choices.

Why didn't you get a job at Pizza Hut or Little Caesars?

There isn't a Little Caesars near me and everyone at Pizza Hut is high all the time, which is fine by me but not something I want to be around full time.

What are the best ongoing secret discounts? My roommate worked at PJ's in college, the employees would punch in some code to get a $4 medium with several toppings, but you had to ask for it by name. Any deals like that?

student discount is usually the best they have but not all locations have it. AARP is 25% and they usually don't care enough to check as long as you look kinda old.

I work for a frozen pizza company, and frequently order Papa John's and Dominos to my workplace for competitive tastings. Sometimes the drivers will say "Doing some research huh?" but no one has ever given me any pushback on delivering to a competitor. In your opinion, does the management know/care about this?

management thinks it's hilarious and sometimes we ordered from competitors for something different.

Why does papa John pizza have a sweet after taste? It's like the red sauce is candied.

it's full of sugar

What is your job now?

furniture salesman

How many times did someone try to order "left beef" after that meme hit?

A few times but not nearly as much as I expected. We did have to call every time to make sure it was intentional because I'm the only one who knew it was definitely intentional.

I have an interview at Domino's in 2 hours. How big of a mistake am I making, if not, how should I treat this interview?

if you don't absolutely need the money, don't. Though I've heard corporate locations are better than franchise.

Best dessert item from each place?

The lava cakes from Dominos are pretty good and from Papa John's I'd go with garlic knots, not technically a dessert but they shouldn't be selling desserts in the first place.

What are your favorite pizza toppings?

a lot of vegetables and some parmasean, light on the mozzarella, extra sauce anywhere that isn't Dominos, light sauce if it is.

How do you possibly live on $200 per week?

carefully

Why are some delivery drivers so bad with directions? Do they just hire people who can pass an interview and background and driving record check regardless if they have a sense of direction?

We couldn't retain good drivers because they always got a job somewhere that treated them better and wasn't skimming their wages. I did the interviews for a new set of drivers once and only hired people who could give me easy directions around the city without having to look it up, and they stayed for a grand total of 2 months or so before leaving for other delivery jobs. Most of the people we can retain are students who aren't from around here and don't know any better, or people who are lucky to have any job at all because they smell like they don't know what a shower is and barely speak English.

How hot is the oven?

if I remember right it's like 550 degrees F but I never calibrated it so that may be wrong

How often are you on Reddit and what are your favorite subreddits?

a few times a week and I usually just hang around the big ones like askreddit and nostupidquestions

Ever have any delivery driver who were/are Gorgeous women that you wonder why they aren't Servers or bartenders?

actually we kept trying to recruit women and they never stayed for more than a week. If you get a female driver, she's probably a manager covering when the store is short on drivers.

Do people actually order the Gluten free pizza?

Yeah, about 3 are ordered per week.

I don't know why. There's flour in the air. If you stand in a pizza chain for 5 minutes, eating nothing, you probably manage to somehow consume gluten.

Have you ever met Papa?

once, he is an asshole.

How old are you and what region of the USA are you from?

I'm 23 and I live on the east coast.

Have you ever gotten or seen someone get sick from eating at either place? I used to use a lot of dominos coupons until my roommate thought he got food poisoning from a chicken parmesan sandwich there

I never personally saw it but it wouldn't surprise me from either place. Don't buy anything woth parmasean.

What has you awake at this hour?

I do my best writing early in the morning.

How big was the city in which both places are located that you worked at?

pretty big

Roughly how many thousands of people?

at least 12 people.

How often do they get orders 10 minutes before closing time?

constantly, and Papa John's got a lot of people who called long after the store had closed and the equipment had been shut down, tried to convince me to make their order anyway. A few people would say that since I'm still answering the phone I should still be taking orders, after I had left the phone ringing waiting for them to give up for 10+ Minutes and got tired of listening to it.

Why do you think old people are such bad tippers?

because they don't understand how capitalism works

What are your hobbies?

I do a lot of political work and I write fiction books.

Which place has better TV commercials and why?

I don't watch TV