A slice of nostalgia: Domino’s through the decades

Smell that? That’s the sweet, familiar smell of nostalgia.

It’s been more than 37 years since Domino’s first arrived in Australia in 1983 – the promise of prompt, piping hot pizza deliveries quickly gaining popularity with hungry locals across the country.

There’s been a lot of changes – both in the world and on the Domino’s menu – over the years, but one thing still remains the same: the power of pizza to bring people closer.

From jovial jingles to head turning pizza creations, we’ve taken the time to deep dive into the Domino’s vault to bring you a piping hot slice of nostalgia.

Got the hots for the ‘90s

It was a time when most of our Gen Z pizza lovers were nothing more than a twinkle in their mother’s eye.

As families sat around their CRT tellies (Google it, Gen Z) enjoying episodes of Seinfeld and Friends as they finally reached Australia more than two years after first airing in America, Aussie folks were treated to this catchy advertisement during breaks.

Yes, boys and girls, you can still call 131 888 to order a pizza. There’s even a real human on the other end of the line – how retro!

What was Australia’s slice of choice in the ‘90s? I hear you ask.

As well as some familiar players that still grace the Domino’s menu to this day, pizza lovers in 1996 were treating themselves to the below menu of pizza perfection.

We wonder if former PM John Howard celebrated his successful 1996 political campaign with an Aussie Legend pizza?

Bursting with flavour (2005)

Calling all BBQ sauce lovers! Who remembers Domino’s BBQ burst base?

Introduced to the menu in 2005, this early dabble in specialty pizza crusts did not disappoint.

Promising pizza lovers an explosion of tangy BBQ flavour in every bite, Domino’s stores across Australia were soon bursting with orders for this pizza sensation.

‘Puff-ection’ (2006)

“Truly puff.”

Arguably Domino’s most popular crust EVER, Puffection first entered our hearts (and our stomachs) in 2006.

While Pluto was being demoted to a ‘dwarf planet’ and Google took a gamble on the purchase of a little known start-up called YouTube (isn’t hindsight wonderful), your local Domino’s was taking the pizza game to a whole new level with this melt-in-your-mouth, golden pastry crust.

Initially introduced as a limited time only product, Domino’s Puff Pastry crust has since rivalled John Farnham for the number of comebacks it’s made, returning most recently in January 2019 after passionate pastry lovers responded overwhelmingly to Domino’s online petition to bring back the crispy crust.

Is it time for another Puff Pastry comeback?

This pizza icon has also returned in a variety of forms over the years, including the box-filling Square Puff, as an edible Pastry bowl for pasta, and in dessert form as Crème Brûlée Puffles.

Pie-ning for pie (2007)

It doesn’t get much more dinky-di Aussie than this.

Featuring minced beef, gravy, onion, fresh tomato, peas, mozzarella, shortcrust pastry, and finished with a tomato sauce swirl, the Meat Pie pizza made a limited time only appearance on the Domino’s menu back in 2007.

Pizza and pie lovers alike were indulging in a slice of this ‘true blue’ masterpiece while listening to Avril Lavigne’s Girlfriend and OneRepublic’s Apologize on their iPod Nano stashed snuggly in the pocket of low-rise jeans (you cringe now, but we’ll bet these songs and a low-res selfie in said jeans once featured on your Myspace profile).

Who wants to see this pizza icon make a comeback?

Egg-ceptional (2014)

Breakfast, but make it dinner. Brinner?

In 2014, Domino’s finally gave us the perfect excuse to eat pizza for breakfast with this limited edition creation.

Featuring crispy bacon, scrambled eggs and smoky BBQ sauce, the Aussie All Day Breakfast pizza gloriously blurred the line between breakfast and dinner and Australians couldn’t get enough.

Over the past four decades we’ve seen trends come and go, technology revolutionise the world, and the word ‘viral’ come to mean two distinctly different things, but our love for a piping hot slice of pizza will never change.

Because no matter what happens, Domino’s is always close by to deliver a slice of joy.

What’s your favourite slice of nostalgia?