The Best All Meat Pizza – Trying The 6 Biggest Pizza Chains

As long time readers of my site may know, I like to eat. After the success (I mean for my own personal gratification) of my “Best Italian Sub Sandwich” quest my friend Patrick and I embarked on a new quest: The Best All Meat Pizza. Ok nobody would really say that. We of course called it the best Meat Lovers, but I assume Pizza Hut has that trademarked or something so what we really meant was the best Meat Lovers equivalent pizza.

How Do We Define The Best Pizza:

There are actual real professional pizza critics out there. Patrick and I are not among them, but we do like a good pizza and as we ventured to the 6 biggest pizza chains in America there were several things we considered including:

• How many meats
• Meat quality
• Meat density
• Cheese density
• Meat and Cheese distribution balance
• Crust
• Speed
• Ease of ordering via mobile app
• Cost / Value
• Overall deliciousness

Since everyone has different things that matter to them you might just scroll to the bottom and look at my image gallery.

The 6 Biggest Pizza Chains In America

I was raised in a Pizza Hut world. I think over time my hometown got a Domino's and a Papa John's as well but Pizza Hut was the dominant player without question. Not only were they the biggest but at the time I perceived that they were the innovators. They invented the stuffed crust and the meat lover's and I'm a really big fan of both.

The Pizza Hut nearest my house looks nothing like what I remember from my childhood. The customer area barely has room for a small bench and the whole thing would fit inside my home office.

Starting this quest however the landscape has changed in the last 25 years. Pizza Hut has moved away from dine-in restaurants, Dominos seems to have upped their game big time, MOD Pizza is awesome, and though I didn't see my first Marcos until I moved to Colorado in 2010, they do have over 1000 locations in the US.

Number of U.S. Locations by Pizza Chain

As you can see Domino's is winning this game big time. Crushing it really. Little Caesars is playing big ball but my childhood Pizza Hut is falling behind, Marco's is a top 5 player, and MOD pizza while small, is also the newcomer on the scene.

Pizza Chain Founding Years

With that background information lets get into the important topics.

What Meats Do You Get?

Since this quest isn't about finding the best crust or the best dipping sauce lets start with the all important topic of meat. Each of these six pizza chains has a Meat Lover – style pizza. They all come universally with Pepperoni and Sausage, but from there they start to differ.

Meat Topping Comparison

As you can see, Little Caesars which throughout this article you will notice is the low budget, low quality option; includes only three meats as does MOD Pizza; but the rest offer 4+. This chart suggests that if you want the most meat Pizza Hut is your game but I'm afraid the chart could be deceiving because having more variety of meat doesn't mean more meat in volume.

There are supposedly 6 meats on this Pizza Hut Meat Lover's pizza.

In fact we had a hard time identifying the 6 meats Pizza Hut claimed were on the pizza when we were eating it. Pepperoni is obvious; sausage and beef tend to look very similar so I guess they both might have been there, but if there was Pork and Bacon that would be news to us.

The point is, some variety is good, but at some point density is more yummy than variety. Here Pizza Hut didn't win. Marcos and Dominoes seemed to have a lot of meat density but Papa Johns really seems to have won in that category.

This one from Papa Johns is not in my opinion the best meat pizza but likely the most meat dense pizza.

Who Makes The Most Affordable or Highest Value Pizza

I think value matters. If I'm taking some friends out for pizza maybe I care about the absolute best pizza regardless of cost. On the other hand if I have to feed 20 kids at a birthday party I might be more interested in the cheapest pizza.

And in case you have been living under a rock, that would be Little Caesars. It isn't even a close comparison. To make this clear you have to understand that you could almost buy 2 Large 3 Meat Pizzas from Little Caesars for what you spend on a single large Meat Lover's from Pizza Hut (the most expensive). Make no mistake, if cost is the driving factor, Little Caesars is your best friend.

Patrick and I, after the 2nd or 3rd restaurant in our quest wished we had weighed them. Price per pound might have been a more valuable measurement compared to the price per square inch we ended up looking at in the end. MOD Pizza which is the second most affordable after Little Caesars has all the appearance of low cost when measured by square inch but its also a super thin crust with less toping density overall. By weight no doubt the lightest per square inch.

All Meat Pizza Cost Comparison

So again to summarize, Little Caesars is cheap, MOD Pizza is deceptively affordable, Domino's is the next lowest, with Marco's and Papa John's tied and and next most expensive, with Pizza Hut ultimately taking the top spot in cost. Perhaps they justify that with 6 meats but… see above thoughts on that.

How Fast Do They Make A Pizza?

With each of these 6 restaurants we followed the same approach. We drove to the restaurant and then, while waiting in the restaurant we opened the mobile app on my phone and placed our order via the app. Or at least that was what we attempted to do. More on it later but Marco's app just outright refused to let us place an order. We tried over and over again on the checkout screen but couldn't make it happen. Ultimately had to walk up to the counter and place an order like normal people. More on the apps later.

As soon as the order was submitted we started a timer to see how long from submission until they would bring our pizza to the counter for pickup. All of these restaurants delivered that end result in between 9:41 and 10:31. A gap of less than a minute between the fastest and slowest. So nothing really to report there. If you are ordering for carryout or delivery and speed matters, probably you should order from the place that is closest to your house.

The Mobile App Ordering Experience

As mentioned we placed (or attempted to place) all orders via the app. This was in part because that is how I like to order food these days. Also because the Pizza industry either invented food delivery or they perfected it and so more often than not you tend to place orders online or via your phone.

Each of these experiences were recorded using a screen recording app and I'm not going to share the full recordings here because nobody wants to watch them, but here is a sample and some insights worth noting:

• Domino's Excellent app. Easy to use and real easy to customize your pizza.
• Little Caesar's app worked fine but don't bother with this place if you want to customize anything. Slower and maybe a few little UI issues but functional.
• Marco's app was the best design. Up until we hit the checkout I was thinking they had the best mobile app. So easy to customize and super modern. But yeah, none of that matters if it won't let you make a purchase. Maybe your experience will be better.
• MOD. Smooth and fast and effective. They are the kinds of a customized pizza and their app reflected that.
• Papa John's Felt comparable to Domino's. Guest checkout allowed.
• Pizza Hut. Also comparable to Domino's and Papa John's. Easy to customize, easy to order, no issues.

All of these company's could benefit by supporting Google Pay and/or Apple Pay. It is 2026 and that should be a no brainer thing. All these brands also have loyalty rewards so if you are going to order from the same place with any frequency it makes extra sense to setup and use the app.

A Word About Customized Pizzas

As you may have noted, our intention was to create the most apples to apples comparison between these restaurants as possible. That meant skipping all the potential upgrades and some of these guys have a LOT of potential customization and upgrade options. Different crusts, dipping sauces, toppings of course, sauces, and other extras. With the exception of Little Caesars (where you can have any pizza you want as long as its a large and one of their existing menu options); every one else had multiple crust options.

To keep it close to a fair comparison we got the “hand tossed” or “original crust” equivalent everywhere. So if you know you love the Pan crust at Pizza Hut or the Cauliflower Crust at Marco's etc then I guess you should just stick to what you love.

We didn't for example order any stuffed crust even though several of these companies offer it and everyone knows its delicious.

Lets Talk Pizza Crust

The first restaurant we went to was Domino's (alphabetical order) and I was impressed to see the employee behind the counter putting a garlic-herb sauce around the outside crust on our pizza after it came out of the oven. I didn't know they did that but it was awesome and included/assumed as part of your order. This set a standard that was frankly hard to beat.

Marco's had a notably thicker crust edge than the others. Frankly just a thicker crust all around but especially the edge and that means if you like dipping your crust in something or treating it like a breadstick Marco's might be your favorite and it was really good. Also worth noting that Papa Johns, whose crust is fairly average and boring does include a free Garlic Dipping sauce which might be as good or better than having the flavor on the crust.

Speaking of dipping sauces most of these guys sell a variety of dipping sauces if you are willing to pay extra for them. We got a free dipping sauce for free at Marco's as well but its unclear to me if that is normal or if the guys at that location felt bad that their mobile app was sucking.

Pizza Hut, much to my surprise, also applied a garlic-herb sauce around the crust edge which was also very good. The crust from MOD was barely there. Think artisan-style. Cooked fine and shaped well but just doesn't compare given their focus on thin crust pizzas.

Little Caesars is worth calling out. We watched our pizzas get made at every restaurant but Pizza Hut (where the kitchen wasn't visible from the customer area) and what is noteworthy is that most of these places take about 2 minutes to assemble a pizza and 6-7 minutes to cook it. Little Caesars cooked our pizza in 5 minutes and it was not fully cooked. Saggy and raw would be the words that come to mind.

Other Observations Before The Final Ranking

• I imagine locations vary. Maybe the specific Little Caesars near you has the oven set to a 7 minute cook or the Domino's near you is a gazillion years old and the paint is peeling. However for me judging the physical location and experience of walking into one the Domino's was the most impressive. Very modern. Very clean. Of course if you want to dine in next time you eat a pizza you will be going to MOD or Marco's I imagine.
• If you care about technology I would suggest Domino's as your #1. Papa John's, MOD, and the Hut are also very good at order taking and order tracking.
• If you don't want to deal with a human when you arrive Little Caesars will have your pizza waiting in a oven-like thing that you can type your code into and then open and retrieve your pizzas yourself.
• At Little Caesars we ordered the Three Meat Treat. I didn't realize it until putting together this written review but they also offer a “5 Meat Feast.” Sorry Little Caesars that we didn't get that one instead. Might have performed better in this quest but your undercooked crust and lower quality ingredients wouldn't have salvaged it fully.
• If you want something that is personal sized, not to share, that you can put down in one sitting, Little Caesars is not for you. They offer one size. Large. Pizza Hut has a 6″ “Personal Pan Pizza. Marco's, Papa John's and Domino's have 10″ options. MOD's entire business model is built around a 11” pizza.

Most of these guys are various sizes. Little Caesars says you can have any size as long as its a large.

Final Ranking

Patrick and I agree on this final ranking more or less. I think for me the primary factor is quality and taste but I think you also have to take into some consideration the cost. That dictates this ranking:

#1 Choice: Domino's

Domino's delivers among the best tasting all meat pizza (MeatZZa) with a lot of cheese and a lot of meat and they do it for less money per square inch than Papa John's, Marco's, and Pizza Hut. They make it really easy to order and track your order with fantastic technology, and give you a garlic-herb crust (an upgrade from others) at no extra cost. Their location was clean, modern, and impressive. We saw 3 different employees there on a random weekday lunch time which is more than any other restaurant suggesting they are the busiest as well. Good job Domino's. I didn't go into this thinking you would win but you did and now you can put up on your wall a plaque that says “Voted #1 By 2 Random Dudes in Colorado”

#2 Marco's

Despite the mobile app crazy issue (which they have likely addressed by now) this was a fabulous pizza. Not the most expensive but close to it. If we had estimated cost per pound this pizza would have been among the least expensive I suspect. You were getting a lot of pizza for your money and I love it. I like having the option to dine in and every Marco's I've been to (3) have plenty of room for dine-in customers. The guys there were hustling and the 4 meats they give you were a great combination with good density.

#3 Papa John's

The most meat dense pizza and it comes with garlic dipping sauce. The price was up there but not the most expensive. I think these guys could gain market share by dropping their price just a bit or offering free upgrades. Ultimately it just wasn't as yummy but hey and if you love a good Pepperoncini you know there is going to be one in the box when you open it up so there is that.

#4 Pizza Hut

My hypothesis going into this was that Pizza Hut would win and it was a good pizza. Call me up and offer to bring me a slice or two of a Pizza Hut Meat Lover's and I'm in. I think they would have done better if we had ordered the Pan crust but that would have been an unfair advantage. It was as good as Papa John's but cost a little more. Despite claiming to have the most meats we couldn't see/taste it and the density wasn't as good. I would summarize it as predictably good but not impressive.

#5 MOD Pizza

MOD is the outlier in this little contest. Feels almost like we shouldn't have included them at all. They aren't trying to be another Domino's or Pizza Hut. Probably they are the only one that sells more dine-in pizza than carryout and delivery and their whole thing isn't ordering a specialty pizza off the menu. They are the subway of the pizza world and that has its distinct advantages. However, in this contest, looking at their Mad Dog (meat lover equivalent) it just wasn't as good. I'd eat it every day of the week and that is why they too are successful but it wasn't as good. Less meat, less cheese, less crust… less pizza. Of course that makes it the cheapest by square inch but by weight I bet it wasn't any less expensive than any of the others.

#6 Little Caesars

Hey, if you need to feed 50 people and those 50 people are under the age of 12 and thus don't have discerning tongues; Little Caesars is your best choice. But if you want a good pizza I can't recommend it. Would I eat it if it was served for lunch at some event I was at? Yes, but I would have less slices and I would assume the host of the event wasn't having a great year financially. If their goal is to just be the cheapest and quality be darned, then they are nailing it. 100%.

Image Gallery

Little Caesars 3 Meat Treat

Aperture: 2
Camera: Pixel 7
Iso: 163
Orientation: 1

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