As a self admitted pizza connoisseur, I do my best to try and test out pizza places as I get the chance to peruse them.  Now, granted, no chain place is going to match up to places like Imperial, Bocce's and Maria's back in Western New York, or to my own that I make in the kitchen, but occasionally, we sample the major chain fare, either because we don't want to go through the labor of making our own, or we just want something quick and easy.

Papa John's is usually our top choice here, as they have not disappointed in the times we have dealt with them.  On rarer occasions, we go with Domino's, if for no other reason than I like their cheesy bread.  Then that leaves the remaining big chain, Pizza Hut.  I won't discuss Imo's because a) I don't like cracker thin crust, and b) I don't know how national they are, while the other ones I mentioned are more, shall we say, mainstream. 

Now, in between a stint at college and before joining the military, I worked at a Pizza Hut, back in Fredonia, for about 16 months.  Back then, I didn't mind their fare, because a) I was getting paid to work there, and b) it was free.  I would take home a pizza, some cheesesticks doctored the way I wanted them, either with pepperoni or bacon, or both, and a two liter a couple times a week as compensation for sticking around past the end of my scheduled shift. 

At that time, it was the spawn of the stuffed crust pizza and the short lived triple decker, which was a thin crust with a six cheese blend covered by a second thin crust, this one with a hole cut in the center, and then topped with whatever toppings that were wanted.  The stuffed crust is still around today, the triple decker went the way of Crystal Pepsi, a good premise, but not something that caught the majority of the public.

Now, in the era of everyone under the sun having deals on cheap pizza, Pizza Hut has their latest addition to the fray, the Pizza Mia! pizza.  Pizza Hut bills the Pizza Mia! as being made with whole milk mozzarella cheese with a hint of cheddar and vine ripened California tomatoes.  Plus, if you buy three or more one topping ones, they are five bucks apiece.  Of course, this is the same as Domino's, Little Caesars and the rest, but who cares?  With them being low on the food chain for me, I hadn't tried one.  That changed last week.

Tina went and babysat our niece Sabrina, since Kate had class.  We both want to see her graduate, and Tina doesn't mind the watching of the little one, so everything was settled.  After she returned, some four and a half hours later, with profuse thanks of course, she also came bearing the remnants of two of these Pizza Mia! pizzas. Since I was hungry, and hadn't cooked dinner since I wasn't sure of her return time, I decided to test it out.  That turned out to be a bona fide disappointment.

For starters, it was not a standard Pizza Hut pizza.  The crust was not a thin, nor was it the pan pizza that Pizza Hut has been famous for.  It didn't even resemble any pizza that I have ever had from there.  Second, the cheese was skimpy.  If I order a pizza, I expect to see a full blown, uniform layer of cheese across the pizza from crust to crust.  This looked like what scientists predict the ozone layer looks like:  blotchy and full of holes.  The sauce was extremely weak as well.  I prefer, oh, flavor when it comes to my sauce, and that means spices:  garlic, oregano, basil, fennel, sage, onion powder, parsley, etc.  This was basically like someone opened a can of tomato sauce you buy at Walmart for 58 cents or whatever the price is, and poured it on the pizza. 

There is and has been far too much hype about the Pizza Mia for it to be as poor as it was.  Perhaps there are people out there who enjoy bland, subpar pizza.  I am not one of them, and I have to say that there was far more hype than taste in the product.  I won't go out of my way to order one myself, as if I am going to shell out cash, it should be for something that meets the standards I am looking for.