It takes a lot of luck and a little hunger to partake in this delicious deal.
It’s hard to deny that Japanese pizza is quite good despite its very liberal preferences for toppings. You can even get a really good pizza at a place like Domino’s, which is one of those American chains like 7-Eleven and Denny’s that’s lightyears better in Japan.
The only problem is the price. Major chains will usually offer a single “large” (usually the size of a medium in Western countries) for upwards of 3,000 yen ($20) and this was even years before inflation threw everything out of whack. These same chains will also sell them for half-price if you pick them up instead of delivery, but that’s still a little steep pound for pound.
So, it’s quite shocking to hear that Domino’s in Japan has started an all-you-can-eat deal, granting customers unlimited pizza for 90 minutes often for less than you’d pay for a single pizza!
The catch is it’s only offered in a few stores and not advertised anywhere except inside these stores on posters and banners.
There are three courses to choose from: Course A will let you choose from 16 types of small pizzas for 1,500 yen ($10) while Course B will give you access to small sizes of the full pizza menu for 2,000 yen ($13). Real big eaters will probably go for Course C, which gets you any kind of small pizza and side menu items like fries, chicken, and salad, for 2,500 yen ($16). Also, elementary students can eat any option for half-price.
And if you post something about eating there on social media, they’ll throw in a 500-milliliter (17-ounce) drink for free.
Again, the trick is finding a Domino’s location that offers this. To start it would have to be one with a dining section, so chances are you’d have to be in the relatively spacious suburbs or countryside to find one. As luck would have it, our reporter Haruka Takagi sniffed one out and decided to try it.
She and her husband/photographer each tried out the B Course for a full run of the menu. However, Haruka had never eaten Domino’s or any delivery chain due to the price. She’d been strictly a supermarket pizza fan until this moment.
Our writer was pleased with the wide selection and the option to choose between regular, fluffy, and crispy crusts. Unfortunately, limited-edition pizzas were not available at this branch but there was still more than enough to choose from.
Since price was what always kept Haruka away from Domino’s, she decided to focus on the most expensive pizzas they had and got the Quattro Meat Max, which is divided into four quadrants of Korean Galbi (beef rib), Charcoal Grilled Chicken, Giga Meat, and Charcoal Grilled Beef. A small Quattro Meat Max normally sells for 3,300 yen ($21) when delivered.
The other was a Cheese-In-Roll Twist Quattro, which normally sells for 3,460 yen ($22) as a small pizza. It’s made up of a Seafood Special, Garlic Master, Margherita, and Domino Deluxe. However, the real estate for the toppings is comically almost completely taken up by the Cheese-In-Roll Twist crust. Since this is a special crust, filled with cheese, Haruka also had to pay extra for it.
She tried the Quattro Meat Max first and was blown away by the bold flavors that were completely different from supermarket pizzas.
She had originally gotten the crispy crust because she didn’t want to fill up too quickly, but ended up loving the gyoza-like texture of it. The smoky flavor of the Charcoal Grilled Beef was her favorite.
However, Haruka liked the chewy crust even better, especially when it was overflowing with cheese inside. The Quattros turned out to be a good choice because they allowed her to get a taste of eight different varieties at once.
This was also the first time our reporter had seafood with pizza and was surprised at how well they went together. The fact they were fresh out of the oven each time only enhanced their deliciousness, even though the heat started to warm her belly more than expected.
The fact these are fresh-baked pizzas is crucial to the all-you-can-eat format. They take about 10 minutes to bake so it is imperative to order your next pizza while eating the current one to ensure a steady intake. Also, even though it’s a 90-minute deal, the last order has to be before the 60-minute mark, this might be where the C Course is useful as you can bank side orders for that last 30 minutes too.
For the second round, our power couple got a Loooooooooooots of Garlic Shrimp pizza with a crispy crust. This pizza is a version of Domino’s regular Garlic Shrimp pizza but with 50 percent more garlic and twice the shrimp. It sells for 3,780 yen ($24) as a small pizza and is a part of their “Loooooooooooots of” series, which Haruka was surprised was included in the all-you-can-eat deal.
Also on deck was the Quattro Camembert Mille-Feuille, which is a combination of Ham & Mushroom, Tomato & Basil, Shrimp & Garlic, Pepperoni & Italian Sausage pizzas. A small version of this savory beast normally sells for 3,690 yen ($24) and even this small cost a little extra because it uses Domino’s mille-feuille crust which is made of several thin layers of dough with thin layers of camembert cheese in between.
The Loooooooooooots of Garlic Shrimp lived up to its name with two sizeable shrimp on each slice and even a generous amount of cheese which was perfectly gooey having come straight from the oven.
This Quattro was also a delight with the flavor of the plentiful camembert jumping out and brought a whole new cheese taste to this meal.
The topics were all very fresh and mingled together well, making Haruka excited to eat even more!
Or so she thought…
When it came time to make the next order, our writer found herself slowing down despite her thorough enjoyment of each pizza. Even her husband started dropping subtle hints that he might be at his limit.
She wanted to go on. “Just one more,” she pleaded to herself, “This is my first time eating Domino’s, so just one more…” However, her stomach had different plans and was very adamant about them. Haruka and her husband threw in the towel after two small pizzas each.
Haruka felt disappointed that was all she could eat but even though “two small pizzas” doesn’t sound like much, money-wise she did all right. The two of them paid 4,000 yen ($26) for the all-you-can-eat and ended up putting away a total of 7,130 yen ($46) worth of premium small pizzas, twice that had they been delivered.
Now that we know this deal is good even for somewhat light eaters, a real big eater would be able to make quite a meal out of it. The only challenge is finding it. It seems the number of locations that offer it are few and far between and they’re not listed on the company website. Since customers get a free drink if they post about it on social media, that can be a good way to see where it’s offered.
If you are lucky enough to find one of these Domino’s near you, Haruka recommends going when it’s not so busy not only to not annoy the staff but to ensure your pizzas come quickly so you can make the most of your all-you-can-eat window.
I was able to find a fairly good way to hunt one down. By searching Domino’s on Google Maps you can bring up all the locations in your area. Then, check them one by one and look in the section with user-submitted photos. Those will usually have images of the storefront and entrance where a poster like the one shown at the beginning of this article can be seen if it’s available at that store. I managed to find the following two locations this way, but they are few and far between, possibly one per city or even prefecture. Happy hunting!
Domino’s with All-You-Can-Eat in the Kyoto Area
Domino’s Pizza Kisshoin Store / ドミノピザ吉祥院店
Kyoto-shi, Minami-ku, Kisshoin Kannondo Minamimachi 1-50 Retoro Mansion IV
京都市南区吉祥院観音堂南町1-50 Retoro Mansion Ⅳ
Domino’s with All-You-Can-Eat in the Osaka Area
Domino’s Pizza Kizuri Store / ドミノピザ衣摺店
Osaka-fu, Higashiosaka-shi, Kizuri 2-3-4
大阪府東大阪市衣摺2-3-4
Photos ©SoraNews24
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