These pizza chains serve buttery, crispy pan pizzas diners can’t stop ordering.
When I was a kid, a lot of my pizza-eating memories involved a deep-dish pan. Pan pizza was incredibly popular in the 1980s, with the buttery-thick crust a favorite amongst diners. While not quite as popular as it once was, pan pizza is still available at popular chains. Here are 5 pizza chains with the best pan pizza, according to diners.
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is famous for its iconic original pan pizza.
“The dough is placed in a deep pan with oil, creating a rich, buttery, and crispy crust,” the chain says. What makes it so good? “The airy crunch. It’s not a hard crunch like a thin crust and it’s not soft like hand tossed. It’s the perfect middle man. Plus it’s thicker because it’s so airy. The dough actually deflates pretty easily if you pick up a bit of the edge at all before making a pizza. Pan dough is one that often needs to get burped so the air pockets get out of the way,” a Redditor explains.
“Personal pan is even better imo. I think it has to do with the cheese:sauce:bread ratio. It tastes how I remember pizza hut tasting like in the aughts,” another suggests.
Jet’s Pizza
Diners also love Jet’s, because “it has that crispy edge,” a Redditor says. “Jets is amazing but be prepared to pay $$,” another adds. “Jet’s for sure brings me back to my youth of the 80’s enjoying a fresh pan pizza in the restaurant,” a third chimes in. “Great pan pizza but he said DEEP dish. Jets pizza is very similar style. Burnt edge and focaccia crust. True deep dish has a sickening amount of cheese like 5ft long cheese pull. You can barely eat two slices,” another says.
Domino’s
Domino’s deep-dish is delicious, according to diners. “Dominos’ handmade pan is the closest I’ve found. Crust isn’t premade, but the first time my friends and I ordered it we were immediately like omg it’s old school Pizza Hut reborn!” one person says. “I like the Dominos pan pizza. It’s probably the only chain pizza that I like right now,” another agrees.
Little Caesars
Little Caesars is well known for its Detroit-style deep dish pizza, offering a thick, crispy crust with toppings and cheese baked all the way to the edges — a style that has earned it a loyal following among pan pizza fans.
Whether you prefer the nostalgic buttery crust of a Pizza Hut personal pan, the charred edges of a Jet’s pie, or the handmade thickness of a Domino’s deep dish, these chains prove that pan pizza has plenty of devoted diners decades after its 1980s heyday.
