Pizza review: Pizza Hut vs Papa Gino’s

Pizza Review: Pizza Hut vs Papa Gino’s – Summary

Who had the best cheese pizza?

Pizza Hut had the best cheese pizza in this review, but by a very narrow margin with 7 votes for Pizza Hut and 6 votes for Papa Ginos.

Taste test

Participants: 13
Date of tasting: 1/25/23

Average Ratings for Specialty Pizzas:

• Pizza Hut – Backyard BBQ Chicken Pizza: 8.45
• Papa Gino’s – Italian Sausage and Ricotta Pizza: 6.17
• Papa Gino’s – Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese Pizza: 5.9

Cheese Pizzas: Comparing the two

Pizza Hut’s Cheese Pizza

More flavorful cheese and today’s winner.

Today’s cheese from Pizza Hut was a Large Hand Tossed Pizza (not the Pan Pizza).

Those who voted for Pizza Hut liked the sauce and cheese the best but weren’t huge fans of the crust.

For those who didn’t like it?  Not enough sauce.  One person said it was the “grilled cheese one”.

I thought it was a bit dry and salty.  Or maybe it’s me who’s salty because the pizza I liked better lost!

People who liked the Pizza Hut pizza better felt it was due to the cheese.

Papa Gino’s Cheese Pizza

The option for better sauce and crust

Papa Gino’s cheese pizza was selected as the favorite by voters because of the crust and the sauce.

I admit the Pizza Hut cheese was more flavorful.

I’m not so sure the results would have been the same if we were comparing two pepperoni pizzas!  Papa Gino’s pepperoni takes the cake.

The Specialty Pizzas

Pizza Hut’s Backyard BBQ Chicken Pizza

Out of five pizzas, this was today’s big favorite earning an average score of 8.45 from the 10 people who tried it.

It really did well.  The lowest score was an 8.

Unlike the cheese, I ordered the Pan-style crust for this beauty.

Most loved the toppings.  Red onions would have been a nice addition.  What they gave were white onions.

Folks were a bit split on the crust.  Some liked it and others wished it were crispier.

The BBQ sauce was just right, smoky, and tasty.  Not too sweet.

If we were to go by flavor and leave off the issues with the crust, this pizza would have earned a 10/10.

Papa Gino’s Italian Sausage & Ricotta

I gave this pie a 7.  The lowest score it got was a 3.

I’m a huge fan of ricotta in general.  The sausage could have been spicier to help ramp up all the mild flavors.

The spiciness of the entire pizza ended up expressing itself in one chew of one bite when I bit into a peppercorn or whatever it was.

Everything else was very mild.  While all the ingredients were fresh and great on their own, the blending of them all ended up a little drab.

Many who had the pizza either weren’t a fan of the ricotta, or a fan of ricotta on pizza.

I was a fan of both.  The lack of spice in the sausage was the only thing that damaged this pie for me.

Papa Gino’s Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

The most divisive pizza of the day.

Pasta on pizza was a big no for some of the tasters.

Others liked it when they tried it even though the idea of it was weird to them.

For others, it was the best pizza ever but (I think) mostly due to childhood memories.

Personally, I gave it a 5.

There wasn’t much buffalo flavor.  The mix of cheddar and mozzarella wasn’t very prominent.

With an overall score of 5.9 from 10 tasters this pie earns the title “edible but nowhere near thrilling”.

Ordering Experience

The orders for both restaurants were placed through their online ordering, and I had no problems scheduling the 1 pm delivery time.

Both deliveries arrived just before 1 pm, pretty much like every order I’ve placed for these reviews, they showed up between ten to fifteen minutes early.  (Shame on me, I didn’t mark the arrival times.  I’ll try not to make that a habit).

One really annoying thing was the Pizza Hut receipt.  It didn’t show the prices of the individual pizzas.  It wasn’t itemized.  If you were trying to split the bill, you’d have to go back to the actual menu to see the prices.

Which is precisely what I had to do to get the prices of the pies listed below.

Sizes and Pricing

Want to see more things pizza?

Check out the main pizza page to see all the tastings and info we've gathered.