I've been working in the BPO industry for quite some time now and as those in the industry know, Pizza is call center agent fuel.
We get pizza days, we get gift cheques for pizza as rewards for a job well done, we have pizza for fun contests and we get pizza just because there are several places nearby.
Some people would think that I'd be sick of pizza by now. Nope. Not me.
Sure, I'd get sick of pizza if id be eating the exact same thing from the exact same place. No matter how good the pizza, repetition and saturation would make even the shiniest canary taxi look like a beat up old R&E. The trick is to look for new guys slinging the dough and try something different.
Now, Papa John's ain't exactly new. They've been in the business for a while in the US and now they've found their way to our shores. Their motto is "better ingredients, better pizza" and Roxane and I were able to put them to task.
I've been talking about trying something new so far, it's kinda funny though how after sitting down and looking at the menu, everything seemed familiar, common even and Roxane and I gravitated towards something that we were comfortable with.
We ordered their house pizza who's name escapes me for the moment. Think of this as their version of the Super Supreme.
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| A familiar face, yet something is different... |
We also got a couple of their sodas. A rootbeer float and an italian soda. I got the girly drink.
Verdict: I'm going to sound like I'm shilling for this company but their motto holds true. I've never had onions and bell peppers this fresh in a pizza before. The vegetables definitely werent raw but they kept their crunch even after being in the oven. The dough was awesome. Usually when it comes to pizza I'd take or leave the lip crust. Papa John's the dough was so good I'd be happy eating the dough on its own with just the garlic butter dip that they serve along with the pizza.
Taste-wise, the pizza is a very familiar mix of cheese, meats and veggies in a very familiar tomato sauce. Like I said this tasted a lot like Pizza Hut's Super Supreme. The edge though is the top notch ingredients that give it its own signature even if you've tasted dozens of pizzas like this before.
It feels like a love song cliche in a way.
I really don't want to end this review with that cheesy line, even considering the topic so I'll go over the stuff that PJs does differently. Or at least uncommonly.
PJ's serves the pizza with a garlic butter sauce that I mentioned earlier and a pickled pepper. I've had pickled pepper's before but PJ's is really good - spicy enough to wake ya up but mellow enough not to ruin the conversation. You can order a couple of other dipping sauces as well (I really like their pizza sauce by the way...) but again the pizza stands on its own to not need the sauces in most cases (unlike Monster's where the dipping sauces are THE focal point)
They also serve "cheese sticks" which is basically their pizza dough covered in cheese. 90 bucks from last visit I think. These are awesome with the sauces and if Papa Johns was nearby I'd be stopping in regularly for them.
Speaking of price, I've been comparing prices between PJ's and the other major pizza players locally and considering a dinner for two consisting of a pizza, a side dish and drinks... PJs goes toe-to-toe with the likes of Pizza Hut and is actually better priced than Shakeys. And all of this with BETTER ingredients
I cannot stress that enough.
Thumbs up.
