"Fine" Dining

Author: Michael Ornelas

Comedian Michael Ornelas dives deep into the stories behind your favorite chain restaurants like Cracker Barrel, McDonald's, and Dunkin' before determining if they are better or worse than Chili's: the most mediocre restaurant in America.
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Language: en

Genres: Arts, Comedy, Food

Contact email: Get it

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Season 4 Premiere!! Domino's Pizza: Hostages, Food Tampering, and Turning It All Around
Episode 1
Wednesday, 7 January, 2026

🍕📦🚗 Domino's Pizza: Hostages, Food Tampering, and Turning It All Around 🚗📦🍕 Season 4 (omg, what??) kicks off with a deep dive into the wild, complicated, and occasionally Noidy history of Domino's Pizza. Joined by improviser and musician James Werner (@jamesyjoehenry), I trace how a tiny Michigan pizzeria turned into the world's largest pizza chain by making bold promises, bad mistakes, smarter apologies, and some genuinely fascinating tech gambles. This is a story about shame, sincerity, and why sometimes admitting "our pizza sucks" is the smartest move a company can make. 🍕 Two Brothers, $500, and a Volkswagen Beetle That Changed Pizza History ⏱️ The 30-Minute Delivery Promise That Built the Brand (and Nearly Broke It) 😈 The Noid, a Nintendo Game, and One of the Strangest Ad Campaign Aftermaths Ever 📉 "Our Pizza Sucks": The 2010 Recipe Overhaul That Saved Domino's 📱 Domino's Becomes an E-Commerce Company That Happens to Sell Pizza 🕳️ Paving Over Potholes Because "Bad Roads Shouldn't Happen to Good Pizza" 🧠 The Pizza Tracker Is Mostly Fake and That's Kind of the Point 🎅 James Pitches His Dream Restaurant: Santa's Kitchen, Serving What Santa Eats ⭐ Yelp From Strangers Includes a Reviewer Furious About a Tip Request on Mother's Day 💬 COMMENT BELOW: Did the Domino's recipe change actually win you back? 📢 SUPPORT THE SHOW & JOIN THE COMMUNITY: 🎉 Patreon (Bonus episodes, extended Yelp segments & more): patreon.com/finediningpodcast 💬 Discord (Food talk, memes, cursed Yelp): discord.gg/6a2YqrtWV4 🎥 Watch full episodes: youtube.com/@thefinediningpodcast 🔗 All links: linktree.com/finediningpodcast 🎤 Guest: James Werner | IG: @jamesyjoehenry Patreon Producers: Sue Ornelas & Joyce Van Patreon Subscribers: David Ornelas, Kellie Baldwin, Jeremy Horwitz, Herbert Amaya, Simone Davalos, Scott Bennett, Amy Reinhart, Josef Castaneda-Liles, & Travis Langley Free Patreon Followers: Joe Warszalek, Lauren Cummings, Grace Krainak, Keri Estes, Robert Duran, Patrick Elliott, Michelle Elmer, Dave Plummer, Nicholas Volney, Michael Gerard, Tracy Molino, Phuong Duong, Tyler Robinson, Brandon Gully, Mason Cruz, Michael Milito, Mez, Aaron Hubbard, Steff, Robert McLaughlin, & Jewell Hermann 👉 NEXT WEEK: We put Domino's to the Chili's Test with a full review (and we actually found a Domino's that had tables for dine-in)!!