Junk Food Nation, today is a DC holiday, Emancipation Day. This holiday commemorates April 16, 1862, “the day that Abraham Lincoln freed slaves in the city, getting a bill through Congress that offered new lives to more than 3,000 people.” Because of this holiday, I didn’t have work today. Which is why I woke up at 10:30am. Which is why this post wasn’t up until after 2:00pm.  Which is due in part to the fact that I’ve been watching the first game of a Cubs-Yanks double header since 1:00pm. Which is why I haven’t changed out of sweatpants or brushed my teeth yet.  MMMmm sexy.

Because of this day off, I have a chance to do two things: First, I have the unique opportunity to watch sports ALL DAY.  Well, it’s not THAT unique, I guess I *did* do that for four days straight during March Madness.  But this time I get to do it on a Wednesday!  Huzzah!  Baseball during the day, quick break to workout, and then SO MANY BASKETBALL GAMES TONIGHT.  Depending on what happens tonight, the 3-7 seeds of the NBA Eastern Conference are entirely up in the air! Plus, HOCKEY PLAYOFFS begin tonight!! Who out there cares? Anyone? Anyone? #IDo.

Second, the day off meant I could go out and buy/try today’s junk food: Dominos Specialty Chicken!  OR, as many blog/news outlets have been dubbing it: Dominos Fried Chicken Crust Pizza!

Dominos isn’t calling their Specialty Chicken “Fried Chicken Crust Pizza,” because it’s not really that – each of these items above are just 12 chicken bites covered in toppings and then super-heated.  There’s no tomato sauce, there’s no bread crust.  These are like loaded tots or loaded potato skins, except instead of potato – it’s chicken bites.  Got it?  Good.

There are four flavors of new Dominos Specialty Chicken – classic hot buffalo, spicy jalapeno pineapple, crispy bacon and tomato, and sweet BBQ bacon.  I have a fifth box in the picture above, because when I got to my local Dominos, after ordering online and paying for it – they had given my order away. GIVEN IT AWAY.  “Someone else also ordered all four, and we thought not too many people would do that, so we only made one order and delivered it,” the guy at the counter told me. I suppose it’s a problem when even the Dominos people don’t actually believe someone would want all four of these.

Anyways, they made my order for me and gave me a fifth (an extra Buffalo chicken one) on the house for the trouble.  That was nice.

Each order of Dominos Specialty Chicken came in a small box about the same size as their orders of wings or subs come in…

…and they have the entire description laid out on front: “Dominos Specialty Chicken – 100% whole breast white meat covered in out toppings, sauces and cheeses and then baked at 450 degrees in our oven.”

I’ll be eating these with my fingers, thanks.

And here they are!  All four flavors of Dominos Specialty Chicken, unboxed!  Now let’s take a closer look and review each individual flavor:

Dominos Spicy Jalapeno Pineapple Specialty Chicken was doused with a sweet mango habanero sauce, then covered in white and yellow cheeses as well as bits of pineapple (seemingly from a can) and sliced jalapenos.

Dominos Spicy Jalapeno Pineapple Specialty Chicken was pretty good.  The chicken itself was hot, but not super crispy.  Still the flavor of jalapeno and pineapple and mango habanero sauce, I thought, went really well together – sweet and spicy.  The cheese itself was nondescript – just generally creamy/cheesy, there wasn’t much bite to it. It was really the tangy bite of the jalapeno and pineapple that aligned well atop of the chicken-y bite – the cheese helped as as sort of a mellow base to counteract the spice.  I liked this one.  Chicken could be crispier.

Dominos Classic Hot Buffalo Specialty Chicken was doused in buffalo sauce, blasted with ranch dressing, and then covered in melted feta, cheddar and mozz cheese. All the cheese seemed to melt nicely.

Dominos Classic Hot Buffalo Specialty Chicken was sort of a letdown – the buffalo sauce was very tangy and vinegar-y, just like I typically like my buffalo sauce, but was not very spicy…but that could’ve been because of the EXCESSIVE CREAMINESS added to this flavor. Seriously, ranch, feta, cheddar AND mozz???  Way to kill any possibility of buffalo flavor.  If not for the tang, I wouldn’t have been sure if this chicken was actually touched by any buffalo sauce.  Not a great combo for me.  Again, chicken could’ve been crispier.

Dominos Crispy Bacon & Tomato Specialty Chicken was more straightforward: chicken was covered in garlic white sauce, then covered in cheddar and mozz cheese, and sprinkled with bacon and tomato.

Again, the chicken in this Dominos Crispy Bacon and Tomato Specialty Chicken could’ve been crispier.  Flavor wise, this was the one that tasted closest to pizza (obviously, because of the tomato).  The bacon had decent flavor, and the tomato added a much needed stab of sweetness and bite to the creamy base chicken and sauce.  I’m beginning to wonder if they intended to just blasted every chicken cluster with some form of white sauce, whether it be garlic or ranch.

Anyways, bacon, chicken, and tomato tasted good together, so this was an ok combo. No wow factor, but the impact flavor was more accessible and tasted better than the Classic Hot Buffalo.

Dominos Sweet BBQ Bacon Specialty Chicken was probably my favorite of the bunch. I think this was because this chicken was not covered in any white sauce – this time the flavor combo was VERY straightforward. Chicken, covered in sweet BBQ sauce, and covered in cheese and bacon. DONE.

Dominos Sweet BBQ Bacon Specialty Chicken was sweet and VERY smoky in flavor.  The BBQ sauce held up nicely.  The cheese helped add some creaminess to the flavor, and the bacon’s smokiness was enhanced by the sauce itself.  This tasted EXACTLY how I’d imagine it to be – very smoky, very sweet, and very bacon-y.   A well executed combination.

So there you have it!  All four fried chicken crust pizzas….I mean, Specialty Chicken varieties.  All in all, every single order would’ve benefitted from crispier chicken – when they assemble these and run them through that slow conveyer belt oven, I think the chicken should go first, single pass, to heat up the meat, and THEN add all the toppings and send it through again.  Otherwise, you end up like these – melted toppings with sort-of-hot chicken.

Not a bad concept.  I’d rank them Sweet BBQ Bacon first, followed very closely by the Spicy Jalapeno Pineapple.  Third, Crispy Bacon and Tomato, and Classic Hot Buffalo LAST.  If I were to ever buy these again, I’d buy the BBQ or the Jalapeno ones only.

PURCHASED AT: Dominos

COST: $5.99 each, unless they give away your order, then maybe you’ll get one more on the house like me.

Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.

Sincerely,

Junk Food Guy