Eagle Boys is attempting to resurrect the “family sized” pizza in a bid to win over customers who are sick of ever-shrinking bases from the big pizza franchises. The result is a 15-inch, 16-slice throwback to the past that carries a $5 premium. Is it a worthy slice of nostalgia, or a slightly bigger version of the same old crap? Read on for the Lifehacker weigh-in.
As older readers will doubtlessly recall, gargantuan pizzas used to be a permanent fixture on fast food menus. It was an easy and cost-effective way to feed a rabble of hungry bogans, be they party-goers, footy watchers or multiple mewling sprogs.
Unfortunately, the ongoing franchise wars have seen pizza bases shrink in favour of cheaper prices. It’s no longer possible to buy family-sized pizzas from Domino’s or Pizza Hut. If you want something bigger, you need to go upmarket or independent, which translates to spending a lot more money.
Sensing a lucrative gap in the market, Eagle Boys has re-introduced the family-sized pizza to its menu. Packing 16 slices into a 15-inch base, it boasts a 50 per cent larger footprint than the average franchise pizza.
A few weeks ago, we tried this XXL pizza on for size, plumping for an “Italian” which comes with pepperoni, sausage, capsicum, red onion, cherry tomatoes, olives and garlic on tomato sauce with parmesan. [Lifehacker Tip: All Eagle Boys pizzas can be upgraded to a 15-inch base for a flat rate of $5, so go for one of the premium varieties.]
As the above photo attests, the end result isn’t too shabby looking — especially for a franchise-spawned pizza. Indeed, it could almost be mistaken for the handiwork of my local pizzeria. I can also vouch that it’s big enough to feed a family of four.
On the downside, the much-touted 16 slices are a bit of a cheat. While the pizza is definitely larger than normal, the individual slices are disappointingly small:
I’m also turned off by the cutting method — some slices are square-shaped and there are a bunch in the middle that have no crust. Ironically, it seems Eagle Boys’ has enlarged the pizza base while shrinking each slice — presumably to make the total sound more impressive. I’d much prefer fewer, larger slices that are all triangular and with a crust.
In terms of flavour, our pizza was little different to Eagle Boys’ standard fare, which is to be expected. (You’re paying for more pizza, not different ingredients.) All in all, we were pretty satisfied with how the pizza tasted. Like the other big pizza chains, it’s a little heavy on the cheese, but the toppings were evenly distributed and tasted fresh.
While it’s nothing to write home about (presumably to Naples), we think the Eagle Boys’ Italian family pizza easily holds its own against the best that Domino’s and Pizza Hut have to offer. More importantly, it’s also a lot larger.
Comments
13 responses to “Taste Test: Eagle Boys’ 15-Inch Italian Family Pizza”
Apart from the slicing, that looks great. Out of the chain pizzerias, I prefer Eagle Boys by far, they don’t seem to skimp on the toppings like Pizza Hut or Dominos do.
Why bother making a larger pizza but cutting the slices in half?
How big is their normal sized pizza anyway?
The large version is 12 inches. This is 15.
Better get one of these before the EB chain potentially could shut its doors for good – lost in the pizza ether! Notice you never see them advertised anymore? What’s more, no vouchers either.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/eagle-boys-pizza-blames-troubles-on-franchisees-20141010-113fun.html
Just had one open up next to me, adverts every week in the mail. I don’t see a problem.
@chrisjager seriously, this website, lags like crap on IE.
I think the question needs to be asked: Why are you using IE?
Here we go…
Some of us have to work and are restriced to a closed ecosystem.
I’m sure if you asked nicely they’d cut it into normal slices.
How much did the pizza cost? (or is it different depending on the franchise?)
It depends on which type of pizza you get: Eagle Boys has three different “tiers” (Classic, Favourite and Finest.) The one above was around $15 in total.
It’s stated in the article that you can upgrade any pizza to a family size for an extra $5.
I know this has nothing to do with pizza, but the girl in the photo has a cool T-Shirt. Where can i get one?
I think it was from ThinkGeek.