The Once-Popular Pizza Chain McDonald's Owned In The '90s

How many different types of pizza can you name? Unless you're from Ohio, you may not be familiar with one in particular: Columbus style. Columbus-style pizza is characterized foremost by a thin, crisp crust, provolone cheese, a sweeter sauce, square slices, and toppings that spread from edge to edge — if you're someone who tends to toss their pizza crusts, this might be the style for you. One pizza chain that specializes in Columbus-style pizza is Donatos

The restaurant's story really began in 1963, when a young entrepreneur and pizza enthusiast, Jim Grote, bought a pre-existing pizza restaurant (called Donatos) for $1,300. While Donatos' early days saw Grote and his family living adjacent to the original shop — with Grote even encouraging customers to visit his family at home — Grote eventually found enough success that McDonald's purchased the company in 1999. At that time, there were 143 Donatos locations, and as part of the deal, Grote and his family would continue to run the business.

However, just a few years later, in 2003, McDonald's announced its decision to sell the company back to Grote. This decision didn't seem to be about Donatos in particular so much as McDonald's determination to focus its energies on fewer brands. For example, McDonald's had also purchased Chipotle a year prior to its Donatos acquisition; and while the company held on to the fast-casual Mexican chain a bit longer, it sold its shares by 2006.

Donatos still exists, with locations in 30 U.S. states. Additionally, you can order Donatos pizza at select Red Robin restaurants. Red Robin's website even claims Donatos is "America's Favorite Pizza Since 1963," which seems like a bit of a stretch, considering the prevalence of other chains like Domino's and Papa John's. In fact, when Chowhound ranked seven chain pepperoni pizzas, Donatos fell toward the bottom of the ranking, coming in at No. 6 out of 7, though this had less to do with the taste than the small size of the pie. 

Some people on Reddit aren't as positive. In one Columbus, Ohio-based thread, several unhappy customers reported that the pizza isn't as good as it used to be, often turning out doughy and undercooked. They speculate this is due to the simple fact that you can produce more pizzas — and therefore make more money — by reducing cooking times. But reading the entire thread, it seems like the key issue may just be inconsistency from location to location. A couple of regulars say they order their Donatos cooked extra long, or with extra cheese and toppings, to get a better product more consistently. So if you've never had Donatos and you're curious about it, these might be good tricks to try.