I worked there for a time. They would refrigerate all the hot and ready pizzas that got too old to sell and the local mission and other charities would come pick them up and feed the needy. It was a good 100 to 200 pizzas a week.

Their quiet charity is quite inspiring.

I often wonder how many of us would have starved to death without Little Ceasar's cheap pizza. I know my Mom was a big fan of the hot-n-ready when she was working her ass off with two(sometimes three) jobs.

I went to the Little Caesars by my house and someone came in talking crap and the worker went outside, literally put the guy to sleep, went back inside and started making the pizza again. It was fantastic.

I adore the Ilitch’s and their story. Learning about them a few years ago made me feel very good about supporting their shops. I go around defending the brand against the pizza snobs (which I once was) and I’m so happy our local shop is under new management (because now it’s always delicious instead of hit or miss) . The sticks and slices hot n ready is our favorite Friday night treat! Thank you for sharing their story. Truly awesome people.

I generally prefer mom-and-pop pizza places, but Little Caesar's is actually my preferred "greasy fast food chain" pizza of the three big names. can't rightly explain why, but it is probably nostalgia from always ordering it when visiting my grandpa's house back in the early 00s

I'm not a fan of Little Caesar's Hot 'n Ready pizzas, but their lunch combo, a four slice deep dish pepperoni personal pizza with 20oz bottled drink for $5 is among the best lunch deals in fast food. It's beyond filling and could easily feed two moderately hungry people, it's fast, and crazy cheap. You never hear it talked about and it gets very little fanfare in advertisements, but I consider it the high mark of Little Caesars without question.

The saddest thing about Mr. I’s investment in the Tigers is he actually wanted success in the form of a World Series Championship but only got 2 WS appearances in 2006 and 2012 before his death in 2017. RIP to a Detroit pizza and sports legend-we’ll never forget the great value and the 4 Stanley Cups your ownership brought to the Detroit Red Wings.

The 90s pizza wars that we all benefit from as a kid.

For me, Pizza Hut has really dipped down in recent years. Dominos is still my favorite pizza chain, but Little Caesar's has really impressed me as of late. Their old school curled pepperoni pizza really hit the spot with me last weekend. So much cheese and so much pepperoni, it really makes itself worth the $10+ you pay for it.

The first Little Caesars pizza I ever tried was up here in Canada, in the late 80's. It was definitely a good price for an unemployed teenager. Great video and thank you!

Honestly of the big chains, Little Ceaser's is probably the best. It doesn't pretend to be anything it's not. It's not fantastic, high quality pizza, but if you want something that'll feed you for a few days on the cheap, they're there for that.

I will say this for Little Caesar's in the 1990s, they had the best commercials on tv. I only had the BIGFOOT pizza from Pizza Hut and all it really was is an oversized birthday party pizza. Little Caesar's still makes a good pizza and I'm glad they're still around to break up the standard Pizza Hut/Domino's game.

I'm German and in 2010 I did a school year abroad in North Carolina and Little Caesar's was the go to pizza chain of my host family. While Dominos (even though they basically just overtook some other regional chains here) und PApa John's (finally one authentic American style Pepperoni Pizza in Germany!) have expanded to Germany in recent years, I really wish Little Caesar's would do so as well.

I do remember one night, the weekend after my birthday, my mom let three of my friends stay over late, went swimming, played video games as usual, but I'd been asking my parents if we could order a Bigfoot pizza after seeing the commercial, so she finally did for that night with my friends.

I do not frequent Little Caesars, but when times are tough and you need something filling and cheap, Little Caesars is awesome. I am glad they do a lot of work to 'give back.' Happy for the Ilitch's and their amazing success story!

Cool video. Growing up here in Pontiac, Michigan, I am very familiar with Little Caesars and have been in a TV commercial for them. Little Caesars used to have a very good toasted tuna melt on their menu in late 80's and mid 1990's. Fun times!

Man I miss the heyday of the 1990's pizza wars. I get their lunch combo because it is an amazing deal. Pizza and soda for like 5 bucks is hard to beat. Also their pizzas kept me fed during some really rough times.

I don't know why it feels so rare to hear about a founder's story that didn't end in divorce.

There's actually a still-operating Dine-In location in Corunna, MI. Their quality is a noticeable step up from the normal locations (especially the deep dish). They are also one of very few locations that offer what locals call "orange cheese," a crazy bread spread that's a whipped mix of pizza sauce and cream cheese and it is AMAZING.

It's cheap, it's fast, and it's surprisingly good, with some actual seasoning in the sauce. What's not to love?

LC has been a big part of my life! My childhood had occassional pizza pizza treats. My husband delivered pizza for them during our college years, in a '73 cutlass supreme V8 when gas was 99 cents a gallon. Our daughters firat trick or treat halloween had very cold temps, so we visited him at work and she was given a slice of pizza as a treat. We love the Tigers and the Red Wings, and attend various events at both Tiger Stadium/Comerica park as well as Joe Louis Arena and now LC arena. Ilitch has put a lot of money back in to Detroit, something very much needed. Our rural MI town boasts an LC with a drive-thru, and we still indulge now and then. Raising 4 kids, 3 boys and all 4 in sports, meant a lot of pizza! LC made this affordable (esp when the teen boys consider an entire pizza 1 serving😂😂). Domino's and LC fight for MI's heart, and we appreciate all the owners have done to reinvest in our state. Thanks for mentioning Rosa Parks too!! ❤❤❤❤❤

Hands down my favorite cheap pizza for many years. Happy to read the comments of the stories and impact this fast food chain has done! Rest well Mike Ilitch, your impact is an underrated legacy.

While watching this video I was feeling some nostalgia seeing the big big pizzas my dad would bring home after work, and picking up a bag of crazy bread to nibble on while shopping at Kmart when I was a kid. Real shame about PIzza Hut. Those dine in nights were truly special events for kids back in the day.

Michigan is the all star game of pizza franchises. LC, Domino's, Jets, Hungry Howies are the most popular ones. All have their own "niches". LC for value, Jets for quality, Domino's for selection and HH for their flavored crust. If you order LC off the menu, they have some really good pies. Nice work, WH!

“How Did Little Caesar’s Became”

We hope to see more content like this. They contain information we all need to know about.

I used to love Little Caesars pizza! Unfortunately I can't eat pizza anymore. On another note...our narrator is back! Woo Hoo! Thank you! 🙏☮️❤️

The 1990’s Little Caesars commercials where THE BEST! I genuinely still remember AT LEAST 3 off the top of my head, and still giggle! “Is it on straight?” F-ing comedy GOLD!!!

I love Little Caesar's, it will always be my favorite fast food pizza

I so loved that two pizza bag, such good childhood memories of Friday night pizzas!

My grandfather had a side hustle installing aluminum awnings. All of the houses in the neighbourhood had them. It was actually sad to see a few years back the current owners of my grandparents' former house had taken them off. They didn't know the local history.

the pizza was different back then. even the crazy bread tasted different. the pizza pizza with a side order of crazy bread was a fabulous meal for the whole family

I've eaten Little Caesar's since I was a little kid. It's not the best pizza around, but it fills you up just right when you don't have a lot of money. You just gotta know when to get a pizza fresh right out of the oven. Most of the time, their regular large pizzas are already made. They'll hand them to you in as little under a minute. If you really want a freshly made pizza from them, order the Extra Most Bestest Pizza. It'll take some time, but it's worth it.

I remember when you could get a milk carton-sized soda from Little Caesar's.

I'm eating Little Caesars right now. It is really good when you don't have someone in your ear telling you how bad it is.

Gosh, didn’t know they performed so much charity work. Glad their company has found so much success.

Lil Ceasars is great when you're on a budget. I use to dislike them, but there improved the quality of their food a lot. They're not my go to, but if ever I wanted a quick, hot, cheap but decent pizza then they'd be one of the options I'd consider.

I love little Caesar's just from a nostalgia point. Hot and Ready pizza was a mainstay in my college life 2005-2009. Lately I have been torn from them because of the shaky franchise platform. I did an online order and showed up to a closed store with no food, but my order was stated as complete and I never got a refund. I hear that customer service is non existent or difficult to get any response on refunds, so I haven't ordered from them since. I use slice and support local chains now. Love seeing the videos as always. 😁

I'm so glad you guys did a very positive video about all the good LCs has done. They also give out free pizzas to veterans every years, something that the others don't. The pizza is solid, it's obviously not the best, but it's great value, something that struggling families, single bachelors, schools, etc. really appreciate. There are so many "pizza snobs" droning on about "their local mom and pops store," it makes me sick. Nothing wrong with chain pizza, especially one that gives back to its community.

An amazing family, I loved their story, thank you for brining it to light.

That pretzel pizza is amazing! And i love the lunch combo

Great episode... Thanks for doing the research and posting a video.

We used to have little Caesar’s pizza parties when I was in 5th grade in 1996. Good times.

Awesome story. Good to see little Caesars still going strong.

For the price, I LOVED Little Caesars. Used to grab a $5 pizza on the way to work when I was on nights. Had to stop eating there though. Took a bite and broke a tooth. Cost me around $450 to get it fixed (no dental insurance). Figured it was a fluke so tried them again and got something, bone or rock, stuck between teeth. Gave them up for good at that point. Not going to risk breaking anymore teeth because they use cheap cornmeal to dust their pans.

Whoever wrote this script is absolutely fantastic! It’s such good writing.

Wow, that's actually a really nice story! Thanks for the upload.

Hey, Pizza Hut was fine dining for kids of the 80s and 90s. And they served pitchers of beer, so dads loved it too. Or at least the ones in my area did.

I love Little Cesar's affordable menu offerings. It's a good way to provide take out pizza when money's tight.🍕💸

That Kmart LC's just hit different.... you have been and always will be missed.

Little Caesar's will forever remind me of school socials and events.

This was an amazing video, Weird History! Little Caesar's used to have this DELICIOUS bacon stuffed crust pizza, but it was discontinued very quickly. Weird thing is, the Little Caesar's near me closed down after the discontinuation of the bacon stuffed crust. It's cool to see that Little Caesar's still uses their mascot, considering both Pizza Hut and Domino's dropped theirs. Well, Noid makes an appearance now and then, but Donny Domino is only a walkaround character, which I think is a huge shame. Donny was a pretty cool mascot, and I feel like he and Dottie could have been used more.

$5-6 pizza with 0.15 cents worth of product with 98% of the product being dough/crust.

Seeing all of those old timey prices makes me cry.

Nothing will beat 90’s fast food

“Now THATS some crazy bread.” Omg I hate you weird food history writer lmao

You wanna take another stab at that title?

My Dad used to get my brothers and I Little Caesar's Pizza when we kids, and didn't feel like cooking anything. Their pizza was delicious in my opinion, but it was their crazy bread and sauce that I just couldn't get enough of! 😋❤️🍕🥖

I remember eating Little Caesars for the first time as a kid inside a K-mart. The pizza was so much better back then.

The brief anecdote about the owners paying Rosa Parks’ rent feels like a video unto itself

My mom loves Crazy Bread, but doesn't care about the sauce. Me and my brothers like slathering the pizza in extra sauce.

A+ video! Great to hear Little Caesar's origin story!

Little Caesars never overplays who they are or takes themselves too seriously, they know who and what they are and make no qualms about it, tha'ts why they succeed.

Never saw it in the UK

Little Caesar's came to my hometown in the late 80's. They had a great special: the Baby Pan! Pan! It was only $2 and very delicious because the cheese and crust were very crispy, there was a little more cheese, four pepperoni slices in each square, and the right amount of marinara sauce. I was hooked on them!

Need a video on Cici’s Pizza. All you can eat for only $2.99! Back in the 90s at least

Oh man. Being a 12-year-old back in the early '90s during the great pizza wars. What a magical time to be a kid. God I miss it. But you just can't beat the convenience of ordering a Little Caesars pizza on the app, driving over, and then being in and out of the building in less than 1 minute thanks to the pizza portal. But still I'd trade it for a second to go back to the Pizza wars

I’d love to see history of Subway, Carl’s Jr./Hardee’s, Jersey Mike’s.

For those of you who loved it, there is still a Little Caesars Pizza Station at the Kmart store in Upper Tumon, Guam (there are also four successful Kmart stores in the Virgin Islands, but they don't have Little Caesars).

the great pizza wars was a truly good time to be alive, i was born around the end years of it and it was great

I remembered eating Little Caesars when I was a kid.

My economics professor said he thought Little Caesar’s was about the best bang for buck franchise you could get after talking to the employees one day and the units they sold just that day alone. Course having it across the street from a college was also a good idea.

the funniest commercials of the 90's and late night crazy bread when i had the munchies is what it think of when i think of Little Caesars

I’m in Guatemala right now and Little Ceasars is so popular with locals here!!!!

True story. I and 3 other work colleagues were in the California desert for about a year and a half building a solar power site. One day, i had to drive into the closest town, which was tiny, to buy some materials we needed. While i was in buying hardware from the hardware store, i noticed the K mart across the street. Went over and bought 3 hot and now pepperoni pizzas. When i got back, i only brought one pizza in with me. When my co-workers saw it was little Caesar's, they turned their noses up. But it wasn't long before all 3 were consumed. The main comment? "I didn't think they were any good, but this *IS* good."

I actually like the hot and ready pizza. Is it the best pizza? No. But it is decent pizza, now, and for an extremely low price. And those factors are important in the frantic pace people live their lives now. My local Little Caesars is constantly busy.

I didn't try little Caesars until I was almost 30 my parents always said it was too expensive we rarely ordered out

Great. Now I'm hankering for Crazy Bread. Thanks a lot, Weird History Food.

How did Little Caesar's became...?

Little Caesrs was my family's go-to every other weekend. With four kids, it was a great deal. I really love the thick crust more than anything and the mushrooms.

I love this channel. Always watch it when Im eating something

When Little Caesar lost a pizza arms race, it started pizza revolution? Okay, that is something!

Little Caesar's pepperoni pizzas have always been just a step above Domino's and their cardboard crust, but the lunch combo isn't something to scoff at. It's good that the Deep Deep Dish stuck around and wasn't a limited time thing like their pretzel pizza. The staple Crazy Bread and Italian Cheese Breads are still leagues above when you'd find at a different pizza place, and once they nail the dessert pizza, there will be no stopping them.

Yes! The Proper Dude!

Little Caesar’s is my go to when my stepmom doesn’t make dinner or when I’m stoned

"I ate 40 pizzas for the past thirty days" is surreal. Someone made a song about that

Little Caesars pizza is to pizza as Taco Bell is to Mexican food.

It’s the dude! 👍

It's funny watching this as a Detroit local and native. A lot of this is common knowledge here, particularly everything about the Illitches. They're a household name here, along with the Fords (who own the Detroit Lions). When I used to groom dogs, one of my clients was one of the Illitches, don't know who, it was always an assistant that dropped off and picked up, but the tip was ALWAYS nice. Between them and the Fords, they have done a LOT in recent years to rejuvenate the city from what it once was.

I’ve literally never seen any adverts of it anywhere, not on tv, not on billboards, and not even on the highway! here in the New England coast, until I started getting recommended fast food-related & business channels like WHF and company man, etc.

Little Caesars Pizza Pizza.... sucks sucks

You mean, how the became one of the worst pizza makers ever? Because LC really are that bad.

The real question is, after all this time, why can they STILL not cut a pizza into 8 even pieces?

Mike Ilitch was an amazing man. So much nostalgia for me.

Wow, the Ilitch’s were/are such amazing people!! What an inspiring story and selfless couple.

Thats crazy cause Blue Line just bought out a big recycling center here, central ohio.

Wow, I had no idea the owners did so much for charity. Another interesting watch! Thanks WHF

Now this is making me want to go look up why Round Table didn't score higher in the pizza chains battle!

"Its purpose -- revolution" = quality writing. That made my morning.