The Launch
Donatos Pizza is adding two permanent chicken pizzas to its menu on August 24 while simultaneously overhauling a condiment that touches nearly every ticket: ranch dressing. The Columbus-based franchise, which operates more than 177 traditional units plus over 250 non-traditional locations including select Red Robin restaurants, is replacing its previous ranch packet with a housemade buttermilk version served in dipping cups — and offering a free sample of the new sauce with every large pizza ordered for a limited time.
The New Menu Items
The Buffalo Chicken Dip Pizza layers boneless chicken wings with hot chicken rub, jalapeños, Gorgonzola crumbles, and a Mariachi spice mix over Alfredo sauce and shredded provolone, finished with a mild wing sauce drizzle and the new ranch on the side. The Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza pairs sliced chicken breast, Roma tomatoes, and crispy bacon on Donatos' Famous Thin crust with the brand's Romano cheese blend, finished with a ranch drizzle. Both SKUs are designated permanent additions rather than limited-time offers — a meaningful unit-economics commitment for a franchise system navigating ingredient costs and menu complexity.
Brand Strategy
Kevin King, President and CEO of Donatos Pizza, framed the ranch reformulation as a market-positioning move rather than a routine recipe refresh. "Ranch isn't just a condiment anymore, it's a craze, and we wanted Donatos Pizza to lead it instead of chase it," King said. The brand is leaning on consumer data to support the bet: ranch has held the top spot among U.S. salad dressings since 1992, and 75.0% of Americans report liking or loving the flavor, according to Forbes. Jodie Conrad, Chief Marketing Officer of Donatos Pizza, noted the dual-pizza structure was deliberate — one build showcasing ranch's cooling function against heat, the other highlighting its creamy savory notes alongside bacon and chicken.
For franchise operators, the in-house preparation model carries labor and training implications that a packet program does not. Shifting from a pre-portioned condiment to a fresh buttermilk recipe made on-site requires consistent execution across a multi-unit system — a consideration that will be watched closely as the rollout extends beyond the brand's Ohio-heavy footprint. The non-traditional channel, where Donatos pizzas appear inside Red Robin dining rooms, adds another execution variable given shared kitchen environments.
The timing also intersects with broader casual-dining and pizza-segment dynamics. Pizza category operators have leaned heavily into LTO-driven traffic strategies to offset softening same-store sales trends, while chicken-forward builds have remained a reliable daypart driver across QSR and fast-casual. Donatos' decision to make both chicken pizzas permanent rather than rotating LTOs signals confidence in long-term menu pull-through and franchisee buy-in. For more on how ranch and dipping-sauce positioning is reshaping pizza segment menu development, the category continues to show elevated attachment rates at the point of checkout.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
