CLEVELAND, Oh — Pasta entrees from a pizza chain? Why not?
Fast food restaurants are constantly introducing new menu items in a battle to keep customers coming back — or attracting new ones. Pizza chains are no different.
Pizza Hut was the first to branch out from its pizza pies and started serving up pasta way back in the 1970s when it added cavatini pasta — rotelle-shaped pasta baked with pepperoni and veggies, smothered in sauce and cheese. The dish was short-lived, but that didn’t deter Pizza Hut. In 2008, the restaurant chain introduced the two pasta offerings that are still available on their menu today and inspired other pizza chains to follow suit.
Cleveland.com’s Best of Cleveland team was curious to know just how good pasta from a pizza chain could be. So we scoured pizza chain menus and came up with 13 dishes at five pizza chains that call Northeast Ohio home — and tasted them all.
Which dish topped the rest? Who should stick with pizza? Check out our rankings below and see how your favorite pasta dish from a pizza chain faired.
13. Domino’s – Italian Sausage Marinara
Domino’s – Italian sausage marinara
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Penne pasta baked in a zesty tomato basil marinara sauce with Italian sausage, a blend of Italian seasonings and provolone cheese.
Price: $6.99
Serves: 1
Calories: 700
Includes: n/a
Our thoughts: Not a lot to write home about where this dish is concerned. The noodles were cooked until mushy, but dry. Generic grocery-store-style jarred sauce sat clumped on top. Oddly, the sausage was not crumbled, but little squares of “meat.” Topping it all off was a scant “layer” of non-melted cheese. Definitely an entrée that is not worth the calories.
12. Domino’s – Chicken Carbonara
Domino’s – Chicken carbonara
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Taste the delectable blend of flavorful grilled chicken breast, smoked bacon, fresh onions, and fresh mushrooms mixed with penne pasta. Baked to perfection with rich Alfredo sauce.
Price: $6.99
Serves: 1
Calories: 690
Includes: n/a
Our thoughts: The Carbonara we dream of is made with firm noodles, rich, creamy, parmesan sauce and smoky bacon. This dish was far from our dreams. Instead of thick white sauce, this dish was covered in thick, white onion slices – and very little bacon, not to mention a definite lack of the processed chicken, and seasoning. There wasn’t enough sauce – or flavor. Skip this one.
11. Domino’s – Chicken Alfredo
Domino’s – Chicken Alfredo
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Grilled chicken breast and creamy Alfredo sauce is mixed with penne pasta and baked to creamy perfection.
Price: $6.99
Serves: 1
Calories: 600
Includes: n/a
Our thoughts: One word: B-L-A-N-D. This dish would have benefited nicely from a dash of salt. There was a decided lack of chicken for an entrée with chicken in the name. The sauce did not have the creamy texture you would expect from an Alfredo sauce. Definitely lacking the “perfection” promised in the description.
10. Geppetto’s – Chicken Alfredo
Geppetto’s Chicken Alfredo w/ penne pasta with garlic bread
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: A creamy and hearty favorite
Price: $13.99
Serves: 1
Calories: n/a
Includes: Roll and butter
Our thoughts: The bread served alongside this pasta dish was the star here – buttery and garlic-y deliciousness. As for the pasta, the sauce was less than appealing – thin, runny, and left an oily film in your mouth. There was a generous amount of nicely-seasoned cubed chicken – which offered the only real flavor for this entrée.
9. Domino’s – Pasta Primavera
Domino’s – Pasta primavera
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Fresh baby spinach, diced tomatoes, fresh mushrooms and fresh onions, mixed with penne pasta and baked with a creamy Alfredo sauce.
Price: $6.99
Serves: 1
Calories: 530
Includes: n/a
Our thoughts: Thanks to the lack of sauce, this pasta dish was very dry. It also lacked any real flavor, thanks to the lack of any kind of seasoning. The veggies were plentiful, but the spinach was not fresh, and the onions and mushrooms were not cooked through. The savior of this dish was the thick layer of melted mozzarella on top.
8. Geppetto’s – Chicken Parmesan
Geppetto’s Chicken Parmesan
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Tender breast of chicken covered in sauce and smothered with mozzarella cheese, served over a bed of spaghetti or penne pasta.
Price: $13.99
Serves: 1
Calories: n/a
Includes: Roll and butter
Our thoughts: It takes a bit of work to get beyond the thick slice of parmesan cheese and sizable chicken patty to get to the pasta of this dish. The pasta is covered in a generic tomato sauce, and the cheese and chicken definitely add flavor to it, but the chicken definitely tasted of the freezer and was a tad on the rubbery side.
7. Geppetto’s – Penne with Meat Sauce
Geppetto’s Penne Pasta and meat sauce
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: That’s Italian! Freshly prepared and spiced just right!
Price: $10.99 + $1.99 for meat sauce
Serves: 1
Calories: n/a
Includes: Roll and butter
Our thoughts: Don’t look for crumbles in this meat sauce – while packed with plenty of meat, on closer inspection it is just chopped-up meatballs. Yesterday’s leftovers? Maybe. But the meat is still moist and tasty. The penne was well-cooked and nicely covered in a chunky tomato sauce. Sadly, it lacked any kind of seasoning.
6. Geppetto’s – Spaghetti & Meatball
Geppetto’s Spaghetti with Meatballs
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: That’s Italian! Freshly prepared and spiced just right!
Price: $10.99 + $1.99 for meatball
Serves: 1
Calories: n/a
Includes: Roll and butter
Our thoughts: If you like your pasta al dente, you will enjoy the spaghetti with meatballs at Gepetto’s. Firm noodles are drenched in a thick, generic-tasting tomato sauce. The meatballs are the star of this dish. They are moist and have a nicely spiced flavor. The downside: Looking at the dish when you first have it served to you, you believe you have four meatballs on the plate — when they are actually cut in half and placed strategically with the rounds facing up – so what you actually have is just two meatballs. Meat-lovers revolt!
5. Pizza Hut – Chicken Alfredo
Pizza Hut’s Creamy Chicken Alfredo Pasta – Grilled chicken and rotini oven-baked in our Alfredo sauce. Includes 5 breadsticks.
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Grilled chicken and rotini oven-baked in our Alfredo sauce.
Price: $9.39
Serves: 2
Calories: 930
Includes: 5 breadsticks
Our thoughts: There is plenty of real chicken breast to love in this pasta dish. The noodles were firm and not overcooked, but the sauce left a bit to be desired. Though it tasted creamy, holding the pasta up, the sauce was runny and didn’t adhere to the noodles. The sauce was also very salty, and garlic-forward. One of the best attributes was the layer of crunchy cheese baked on top that added a lot to the texture of the dish.
4. Rascal House – Traditional Pasta Dinner – your choice of spaghetti or penne
Rascal House – Traditional Pasta Dinner – spaghetti with meatballs and garlic toast
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: A generous portion of our popular Penne or Spaghetti Pasta topped with thick and hearty marinara sauce. Served with Garlic toast. Add a salad and meatballs to make it a total meal.
Price: $6.99 + $1.99 for meatballs
Serves: 1
Calories: n/a
Includes: Garlic toast
Our thoughts: There was a lot to like about this pasta dish, whether you choose spaghetti or penne noodles. The pasta was well-cooked. The chunky tomato sauce was plentiful and topped with four decent-sized meatballs, which were surprisingly tasty. It is served with a tasty slice of garlic “bread” that is really just half of one of their sub rolls that have been coated in garlic and butter and grilled. All-in-all, a decent meal.
3. Pizza Hut – Meaty Marinara
Pizza Hut’s Meaty Marinara Pasta – Italian-seasoned meat sauce and rotini topped with cheese and then oven-baked. Includes 5 breadsticks.
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Italian-seasoned meat sauce and rotini topped with cheese and then oven-baked
Price: $9.39
Serves: 2
Calories: 860
Includes: 5 breadsticks
Our thoughts: Truth in advertising! When they say “meaty,” they mean it. The sausage and pepperoni in the sauce were plentiful, but didn’t overwhelm the tomato-y flavor, nor did all that meat add any greasiness. They didn’t skimp on the cheese or the spice in this dish either. There was plenty of kick on the backside – flavorful and hot (from the spice). But – being perfectly transparent, the real star was the herbed bread served with the dish. It is warm and buttery and full of herb-y flavor with a delightful dusting of parmesan on top.
2. Antonio’s – Spaghetti or Rigatoni Dinner your choice of spaghetti or rigatoni
Antonio’s Pizzeria LoSchiavo – Rigatoni Dinner with meatballs and garlic bread
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Spaghetti or Rigatoni topped with homemade tomato sauce and savory meatballs, served with garlic bread.
Price: $10.99 + $2 for meatballs or sausage
Serves: 1
Calories: n/a
Includes: Garlic bread
Our thoughts: If you are a fan of meatballs in your pasta, Antonio’s is a shop you will want to visit. The meatballs here are the largest we encountered on our journey. In fact, the whole dish is generous. While moist, the meatballs are slightly on the salty side. The saltiness can be easily masked with the plentiful – and bright – pasta sauce. The garlic bread is buttery, with just enough garlic flavor, and toasted to have a crunchy outside, but remain soft and tender on the inside.
1. Antonio’s – Chicken Parmesan Dinner
Antonio’s Pizzeria LoSchiavo – Chicken parmesan dinner
– Photo by Yadi Rodriguez, cleveland.com
Description: Spaghetti or Rigatoni topped with homemade tomato sauce and crisp homemade breaded chicken filet and melted provolone cheese, served with garlic bread.
Price: $14.99
Serves: 1
Calories: n/a
Includes: Garlic bread
Our thoughts: Another sizable entrée from Antonio’s – with a large, breaded breast of chicken, that didn’t taste frozen. The same bright pasta sauce covers a large mound of noodles. Best of all, is the thick slice of provolone, which covers the entire dish.
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