Crazy Bread and Circus: Little Caesars For The People

Andrew Donaldson

Born and raised in West Virginia, Andrew has since lived and traveled around the world several times over. Though frequently writing about politics out of a sense of duty and love of country, most of the time he would prefer discussions on history, culture, occasionally nerding on aviation, and his amateur foodie tendencies. He can usually be found misspelling/misusing words on Twitter @four4thefire and his food writing website Yonder and Home. Andrew is the host of Heard Tell podcast. Subscribe to Andrew's Heard Tell SubStack for free here:

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11 Responses

  1. fillyjonk says:

    “Since 1985, they have funded the Love Kitchen, a tractor-trailer version of the Little Caesars stores that goes to disaster reliefs like hurricanes, floods, and even 9/11.” and also ” It’s about the time Mike Ilitch came to the aid of Rosa Parks, whose legendary defiance of segregation in 1955 led to the black civil rights movement.”

    THAT is why I’d never mock Little Caesar’s. It’s like Guy Fieri: the would be autocrats of taste may roll their eyes, but he’s just goin’ out there, doing his thing, feeding people after wildfires, being super positive in his Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives show, and just generally doing well while doing good.

    I will, very occasionally (I have to limit sodium these days) go and get an order of Crazy Bread from my local Little Caesars’ outlet. I also remember being a broke college student with even broker friends in the dorm, and how the dorm cafeteria didn’t serve after 11 am on Sundays, and how often we would walk the few blocks to the nearest Little Caesar’s and either get the personal pan pizzas or slice-slice, and a soda, and sit and eat and talk: again, people breaking bread and finding community over pizza. And it didn’t have to be gourmet pizza.Report

  2. Em Carpenter says:

    I love Little Caesars. In my opinion it is good pizza, not just cheap and I love the deep dish.
    I also have a soft spot because LC was my first real job, as a 16 year old. I was the main register person, until I got a bad mystery shopper report. Eyeroll.
    “Em was short with us; not discourteous, just not pleasant.”
    Well, eff you. How’s that?
    Anyway, after that, I mostly answered phones and stuffed crust. The cheese in the crust, by the way, is sticks of string cheese.Report

  3. Fish says:

    “When Ilitch read about Keith’s plan and Taubman’s promise in the newspaper, he called the judge and said he would pay for Parks’ housing for as long as necessary.”

    Incredible. I had no idea. Thanks for writing this!Report

  4. Slade the Leveller says:

    Little Caesar’s proves it’s pretty tough to make a truly bad pizza, especially when you stick to pizza basics.

    That is one of the best tunes the man in black ever recorded.Report

  5. LeeEsq says:

    I’m from New York. We have hundreds or even thousands of small and cheap non-chain pizzerias that provide pizza for the people. Many of them are cheaper than the chain places. A few bucks and you get two slices and a soda. I’m not really sure why the idea of chains are seen as more populist than little pizzerias.Report

  6. Anne says:

    We used to grab Pizza Pizza often when just needed dinner quick and cheap. We haven’t been in a while because a local place opened down the street and you can get a large the woks for $1 more and nothing against Little Cesar’s but Eagle one is really tasty not artisan but hand tossed and dollar for dollar one of the best pizzas I’ve hadReport

  7. George Turner says:

    Great piece! 🙂

    I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest that someone should write a post about public school 4″x6″ rectangle pizza, along with chocolate milk and sides like canned corn, spinach, green beans, or mashed potatoes.Report

  8. DensityDuck says:

    https://twitter.com/BodegaBats/status/847662093385977856

    (picture: “JUST DROP IN WHEN READY. NO PHONE OR ONLINE ORDERING HASSLE.” )
    Tweet: “ah like ma women like I like my pizza!”

    My reply: “Greasy and smelling of cheese! …wait. Filled with yeast! OH GOD NO THAT’S WORSE”Report

  9. pizza,pizza says:

    Yes, I like LC. I don’t think they are the best pizza in the world, not even close, but as far as the major chains go, LC beats them on both price and on value. Places like NYC or LA have lots of great pizza but its harder to come by outside that (my recent test of that was going to NYC, and literally finding the pizza place closest to my hotel having better pizza than anywhere in my hometown). But yeah, I can feed my family at LC on $5, which, sometimes, is so damn worth it.Report