Discontinued Domino's Menu Items We'll Sadly Never Eat Again

Most businesses have their ups and downs, and learning to adapt to ever-changing markets and customer demands is key to staying not only relevant but in business. This is true for even the most popular fast food chains, and that means plenty of old-timey favorite menu items have, unfortunately, gone the way of the dodo. Domino's is no exception, and while it might seem like pizza is a pretty straightforward thing to have on the menu, there are lots of favorites that you may have loved ... but forgotten about.

Domino's actually has one of the most darkly fascinating stories of obsolescence in fast food history, and that's the story not of a sometimes-loved, sometimes-loathed pizza but a mascot. The Noid made his debut in the 1980s, and he was almost inexplicably popular. (Step up, Gen Xers and Xennials: Who remembers the "Avoid the Noid" video game?) The Noid disappeared after a bizarre and pretty heartbreaking saga in which a 22-year-old man named Kenneth Lamar Noid held two Domino's employees at gunpoint. It later came out that he was a paranoid schizophrenic who believed he had been specifically targeted by Domino's marketing campaign, which led to the Noid's retirement. The ill-fated mascot isn't the only thing that's been retired, so let's take a walk down memory lane to see what else has been removed from Domino's repertoire.

Read more: Major Pizza Chains, Ranked Worst To Best

Brooklyn Style Pizza

New York-style pizza is incredible, and we're not the only ones to say that: When we surveyed Mashed readers to find out their favorite kind of pizza, New York was the clear winner. It makes sense, then, that in 2024, Domino's added a New York-style pizza, seemingly in response to Pizza Hut discontinuing one. There's only so much room on a menu, though, and social media users were quick to report that a very similar Domino's pizza had seemingly disappeared in favor of this new addition.

Maybe. Is there a difference? On Domino's official Instagram post announcing the reveal of the New York Style Pizza, commenters couldn't agree as to what was going on here. While some claimed it was simply a re-branding of the Brooklyn Style pizza, one Domino's employee chimed in to explain exactly what the difference was.

"Before, we'd make the Brooklyn pizzas with a small dough patty. [For the New York Style], we just made the medium dough patty and stretch it to a large screen. That's all it is." That said, any pizza lover knows that the crust is a big deal. Was it worth the retirement and the tap-in?

Calzone Pockets

Calzone Pockets were on Domino's menu in India, and for Americans who think it's absolutely unfair that there's no U.S. version, here's some small bit of consolation: They're discontinued. Based on the comments posted in response to decade-old calzone commercial on YouTube, plenty of people would like to see this make a comeback. "Please bring it back it was my favorite ahh why it got discontinued," lamented one person ... who commented eight years after the video was initially posted.

"Bring this back," "Start it again please," "Please bring back!" and "It's delicious luv it!" commenters say, with one suggesting they create a petition to bring them back. And that's exactly what's happened, with a 2021 Change.org petition kicking off a plea to Domino's: "Pls bring back Calzone Pockets on public demand... Please!"

And honestly? We've never even had it, but we get it: It's a pretty brilliant idea for a side. It's definitely a shame to see this one go.

Baked Apple Oven Dip

Adding some dippable desserts makes sense for a company like Domino's, particularly because they're easy to package and deliver. While it seems like the Baked Apple Oven Dip would be pretty delicious — who doesn't love the combination of apples and cinnamon, after all? — plenty of Redditors had nothing good to say about this particular menu item.

As one described it: "This is just a can of apple pie filling dumped in a pie tin and stuck in the oven," and honestly? When you put it like that, it's no wonder that the Baked Apple Oven Dip didn't make the cut. Others described it as being sickeningly sweet, while still others said that they didn't even bother to try it because it seemed just way too expensive. One of the more generous commenters called it "underwhelming," so it's definitely no surprise that in the summer of 2022, this dessert was phased off the menu and into the land of long-forgotten menu items. Don't remember it? Don't worry, it's not just you: It was available for less than a year.

Chicken Taco Pizza

Chicken taco pizza is definitely delicious, but it comes with some expectations. There should be a decent amount of chicken, for starters, and it should have all the taco flavor that makes Taco Tuesdays such a popular thing. When Domino's headed to Instagram to advertise its Chicken Taco Pizza, one commenter responded with something that, well, kind of predicted the removal of the seeming home run of a pizza from the menu: "We tried the new chicken taco pizza and it had almost no taco taste. Disappointed."

Sure enough, the Chicken Taco Pizza disappeared. A curious Domino's fan took to Reddit to try to find out just what happened to it, as well as the Cheeseburger Pizza, which seems to have vanished around the same time. While responders called both pizzas "disgusting," "an abomination," and "gross," there were a few replies that were a little more helpful.

Some of those in the know said that it was the use of specific ingredients only in those particular pizzas that helped make food costs unsustainable, while another said there was a completely different problem: Suppliers couldn't keep the needed ingredients stocked. Another volunteered, "You want a taco go to Taco Bell. A cheese burger any number of fast food joints." Rest in peace, Chicken Taco Pizza.

Pasta Bread Bowls

Pasta makes sense to include on the menu of a pizza place, and what's the best part of pasta? If you said it's the bread that goes along with it, you would be correct. While Domino's Pasta Bread Bowls seem like they would be the carb-heavy comfort food that the world needs, it turns out that the world did not, in fact, need them at all. At least, that's what many Domino's locations seemed to think, even though many customers disagreed.

In 2021, Domino's confirmed in a tweet that it was up to individual franchise owners as to whether or not the Pasta Bread Bowls were going to stay on the menu, and that led to them getting dumped from many locations. Were people happy about it? Not really, and in a Change.org petition created in the hopes of convincing Domino's to make Pasta Bread Bowls an unconditional reality once again, commenters wrote, "The bread bowl pasta is the only thing I like from Domino's," "I need the bread bowl," and in one heartbreaking post, "This was my comfort. This was what I got on a real bad day. Please bring it back." C'mon, Domino's!

Oreo Dessert Pizza

Is it possible to go wrong with Oreos? We didn't think so, but Domino's found out differently when it debuted the Oreo dessert pizza and then discontinued it.

Just what happened to take this one off the menu isn't clear, with some people taking to Reddit to claim that the problem was that it was simply too popular and no one could keep up with the demand. If that was the case, though, wouldn't we still have it? Others suggest that the problem was a pretty straightforward one that we didn't even think was possible where Oreos are involved, and that's the idea that it just tasted bad. One Redditor remembers it as tasting "like cardboard," while another summed it up as "a great idea but terrible execution." They continued: "The chocolate crust was completely without flavor and the toppings weren't much better. It should have been great, but it wasn't."

And here's some good news: If that has you craving an Oreo dessert, check out our roundup of our favorite Oreo recipe hacks.

Fudgems

Remember Fudgems? If not, well, that's probably for the best. Domino's introduced what it described in a press release as "oven-baked Brownie Squares" in 2006 and, for some reason, decided to call Fudgems. From there, the chain kicked off a marketing campaign that saw a 3-foot-tall brownie mascot, also named Fudgems, hugging children, and then? According to the comments posted to old commercials that are still available on YouTube, people thought the whole thing ventured a little too far into weird territory. As one commenter said, "Mid 2000's is a fever dream."

While we couldn't find much on why the snacks disappeared, we did find something that might explain part of what happened. Fudgems the mascot was portrayed by a very real person, and in 2010, Phillip Duran, the man inside that brownie suit, sued Domino's. The lawsuit states (via CaseText) that Duran was hired on as Fudgems in 2006, appeared in a series of public events, and was severely injured during one appearance. This led to worsening pain and ultimately required surgery. Was that the end of Fudgems as a menu item? It's unclear, but it undoubtedly didn't help.

The Dominator

If you're wondering what The Dominator was, you're not the only one: There are whole Reddit threads discussing the short-lived life of this particular Domino's item, with comments generally either wondering what the heck others are talking about, or being glad it's gone. The latter largely comes from those who had to make it, and it seems as though that was one of the problems.

There's not a lot of information available out there, though newspaper articles from the 1990s confirm that yes, it did exist. The Dominator was essentially Domino's entry into the super-giant pizza wars, which also featured Pizza Hut's more well-known Bigfoot pizza. The unofficial competition to see who could make the biggest and best pizza that fell into the "ridiculous" size category kicked off in the mid-1990s — because of course it did — and it didn't last much longer than the short-lived Dominator.

The general sort of chatter found on the internet suggests there were a few things that happened to guarantee customers would just have to order two pizzas if they wanted a lot of pizza: The Dominator was apparently not only a pain to make but impossible to deliver, as it wouldn't fit in most cars. Were people happy when they were told they needed to pick up their massive pizza at the store? Absolutely not.

Double Decadence

There was a time when people may have thought there was only so much you could do with a pizza crust. There was only so much creativity you could get ... right? Domino's helped prove everyone wrong with the Double Decadence pizza base, which featured a layer of cheese and herb sauce between two dough bases. Sounds pretty amazing, right? Domino's U.K. customers agreed, and when it was discontinued in 2018, they started a Change.org petition to bring it back.

It worked ... sort of. The pizza made a brief comeback in 2021, much to the delight of many. Not so delightful was the news that it was only going to be offered for a limited time, but who knows? Maybe customers will actually see this one popping up on the menu again, and it would be even better if it spread beyond the U.K. to Domino's customers far and wide.

Breakfast Pizzas

Here's another one that may have faded into the depths of a decades-old memory and shadowy pizza history: Remember when Domino's had breakfast pizzas? It was the 1980s, and it was one of the first forays outside of the standard pizza menu items that the company credited for allowing it to grow so much, so fast. Did it work? No, and that's a shame. When Adam Richman investigated this '80s-era experiment for "Home.Made.Nation," he spoke with a delivery driver-turned-franchise owner who remembered opening early and — for just six months — delivering breakfast pizzas and coffee.

Richman remade the pizza using sliced American cheese, liquid egg, and toppings. The general winner? Bacon and sausage. Even more amazing was the sweet version, made with cream cheese, apple strudel, blueberries, and streusel topping. He called the savory version "A little cross-section of the right way to start your day," and both do look pretty delicious.

So, what happened? The breakfast pizzas only hit test markets, but the bottom line was that the logistics ended up being pretty impossible. Breakfast pizzas were ordered during a small window of time, people wanted them on the table before school and work, and it just wasn't practical. That? That's a major bummer. (Craving breakfast pizza now? Check out our easy yet delicious bacon breakfast pizza recipe.)

Roasted Red Peppers

In 2023, Domino's confirmed on X that it had discontinued roasted red peppers as a topping option. The announcement came with the general sort of apology that noted customer feedback was definitely important, but it was also the kind of response that made it clear that it didn't really matter -- the topping was discontinued, and that's all there was to it.

Domino's has also said that there's going to be talk going on behind the scenes, but will the roasted red peppers return? It seems highly unlikely, especially given the fact that there are other options for ordering peppers on pizza. Green peppers remain available, so it kind of makes sense that roasted red peppers might disappear in an attempt to streamline options. That doesn't really help anyone be happy about it, though.

We do have some good news that can help out anyone who really, really wants to see this one come back: It's super easy to roast your own red peppers on the grill, so the next time you fire it up, throw some on. It's totally worth it!

Chicken Kickers

Pizza and chicken go together like peanut butter and jelly, cake and ice cream, and wine and chocolate. It's just a basic fact of life that we can all agree on, just like the fact that we can agree — mostly — that Domino's Chicken Kickers were downright amazing. While sure, Domino's still has chicken on the menu, these spicy chicken bites are no longer available, and that's a shame.

Some customers are pretty serious about wanting them back, too: This is another Domino's dish that has inspired a Change.org petition. There's a lot of begging and pleading going on here and across the internet, but will it work? We'd like to be optimistic, but realistically? Probably not.

So, why are the Chicken Kickers gone? There doesn't seem to be official word from Domino's on why these were taken off the menu, but Reddit commentary suggests that not everyone was a fan of the spicy flavor. When regular boneless wings hit the menu, there was apparently no contest between the two. One Redditor offered a hack for getting your fix: Apparently covering the regular chicken bites with Frank's RedHot and baking for just a short time brings back that spicy, oh-so-delicious flavor.

Hawaiian Pizza

It's no secret that Hawaiian pizza is incredibly divisive. (On that note, here's everything you ever wanted to know — and more — about Hawaiian pizza.) That love-or-hate stance on Hawaiian pizza hasn't kept it off Domino's menus around the world, but here's a little bit of ammunition for anyone who thinks that pineapple has no place on pizza: In March 2024, Domino's Taiwan announced that it was going to be dropping Hawaiian pizza from its menu.

The response was just as love-or-hate as one might expect, with some people lamenting the loss and saying that they no longer had a reason to order from Domino's. News outlet TVBS suggested that it was such a big deal that it might upset the balance between pizza chains in Taiwan, as it would force Hawaiian pizza lovers to shift their business over to another pizza place. Will Domino's Taiwan come to regret it? Or will people forgive, forget, and move on? (Did you know that pineapple wasn't the first fruit that was put on pizza? It's true!)

Domino's Original Pizza Recipe

Here's a big one: Technically, the backbone of Domino's menu was retired after a Domino's employee went viral for posting a video of himself putting cheese up his nose and blowing his nose onto a sandwich. The incident not only led to two arrests but also an overhaul of the entire company.

And it was brilliant. The viral video put an already existing problem into sharper focus, which was that Domino's was kind of the joke of the pizza world. Domino's embraced the fact that everyone thought its pizza was just terrible and won fans over with a simple promise to do better. Add in another promise to run commercials and advertisements that showed food as it actually was, and it led to a massive burst in growth and sales.

In 2010, Domino's then-chief marketing officer Russell J. Weiner spoke with CBS News and explained that the powers that be recognized that they were still using the same recipe they had started with, and it was time for a change. "We dissected our pizza, then reinvented it from the crust up. We tried scores of different sauces, cheeses, and doughs, with the idea of improving each of them." And it worked. While you're not going to get that original Domino's pizza again, well, that's actually fine. Nostalgia, after all, never tastes quite as sweet as it does when it's still a memory.

Read the original article on Mashed