A few weeks ago, I looked at my Uber Eats app and noticed that this Papa John's had a BOGO deal on a number of pizza varieties. I had never been to Papa John's, so I placed an order after doing some grocery shopping on a Wednesday night.
My first time seeing a Papa John's in my life was in Rochester, MN. You could buy a pizza and heat it up at home (it was called take-and-bake), or you could order pizza that was hot and ready for you to consume.
My officemate ordered from Papa John's often. I never did. Sadly, Rochester doesn't have a single Papa John's left anymore.
I ordered the following items:
- 10" meatball pepperoni pizza (BOGO)
- Honey chipotle chicken poppers
I got garlic sauce for everything. I was excited to try it.
My takeout order was expected to be done in ten minutes. Super fast. Sure enough, it was.
This store is on the north side of highway 7. I pulled into the parking lot next to Papa John's. There were a handful of spots. The store's official parking lot is behind the store.
I walked up the cement pathway to the store. There is a single outdoor table with chairs if you want to eat there. Otherwise, there are no seats inside the store for dining.
I walked in and was greeted by a friendly woman. I indicated that I was picking up an Uber Eats order. She nodded and went to fetch it above the oven, keeping everything warm. I thanked her and headed to my car with my three boxes of food.
Let's start with the pizza. Each pizza came with a container of garlic sauce and a couple of pepperoncini.
The slices were not cut uniformly. I got one slice that could easily be two slices for a normal human. In turn, I got a dinky little one that could be considered finger food.
The pepperoni distribution was great on the pizza. You got pepperoni in each bite. The meatball chunks seemed to indicate rationing. You got exactly one meatball chunk on each pizza slice. As someone who loves meatballs, I expected more.
The crust was yummy. Chewy. Crunchy. Not soggy. It was great.
I was trying to figure out where the garlic sauce had dairy in it. It does not. Yay! It tasted like melted margarine mixed with a mild amount of garlic. It was good and had a velvety texture. I ended up pouring it on top of each pizza slice. It became addictive.
Verdict: Yummy, but I want more meatballs.
I had enough pizza to last a couple more days. I love leftover pizza. Still delicious. No complaints here.
I also had half the honey chipotle chicken poppers and the rest of them the next day. They are essentially white chicken meat in nugget form that are breaded and I assume oven-baked. They weren't greasy. The honey and chipotle sauces were drizzled on top. They were pretty good. I could do without the sauces on top. They tasted better dipped in the garlic sauce. Then again, I'm biased and would say that anything dipped in garlic sauce makes the main food item taste better.
I had a wonderful first experience at Papa John's. I'd love to build my own pizza next time and see whether I get a slice a mushroom on each pizza slice or if rationing is lifted.
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