Review: Papa Johns, Grand Papa Pizza

@ Papa Johns

$20.39, online deal and includes +$2.50 extra pepperoni ($24.89 regular price)

This post contains an Amazon affiliate link, which means I receive a small commission if you click on and buy through the link in the post. The Amazon website and Amazon affiliate links have the same product prices.

I am definitely team New York-style pizza. So I am always intrigued when the chains offer their various takes on it. Which usually involves just stretching out their regular dough. And I know you need more than stretching to change the characteristics of dough but I always hope for a little pizza magic. In fairness, Papa Johns was not advertising this as a special New York Style pizza. They already have a New York Style crust on their regular menu which consists of their “original dough hand-stretched, and cut into oversized, foldable slices”. While the Grand Papa was described as their “original dough hand-stretched into an XXL pizza with oversized, thin slices” and  topped with their “NEW large, savory deli pepperoni”. Sounds like a New York Style pizza to me.

I was most intrigued by the new, deli pepperoni. So I got extra pepperoni. I was wondering if it had a different flavour profile then their regular pepperoni. And…not really. I think it actually tasted a little milder than their regular pepperoni. All well. The sauce and cheese were classic Papa John. The sauce was slightly sweet and it nicely rounded out the salty cheese and toppings. I also enjoyed the texture of Papa Johns’s mozzarella. I think it kept a pleasant, semi-soft texture melted that created a good mouth feel in combination with the toppings.

I did utilize the folded slice eating technique. I felt that the thinner crust created a different bite. You have an equal topping to crust ratio. Hence, it tasted more cheesy, saucy, pepperoniy. The crust was just a vessel for the toppings. And I’m not mad at that.   

I’ve always been uncertain of the proper dipping sauce serving etiquette. Should the sauce be hot and in melted, oil form? Or should it be more warm, room temperature and in creamy form? I prefer creamy form. To me, this turns the crust into a sort of garlic bread. I also like to keep a bite-sized row of topping with the crust. So it becomes a delicious mix of garlic bread and hot pocket. I think the sweetness of the tomato sauce and garlic sauce played off of each other well. The thinner crust did take away slightly from the crust dipping experience. The regular or fluffier dough would be yummier to dip in the sauce; it would have a better chew. If we were to create a spectrum of crust, with thin crunchy bread stick on one side  and focaccia on the other side -  this thin crust leaned more toward dipping a crunchy bread stick in sauce.

Overall, perhaps I have learned a very important lesson. To just accept and appreciate the refined formulas of chain pizzas. Their deliciousness formulas are designed for a pizza with a thicker crust, not a thinner one.

And I eventually decided to part the great sea of salty cheese and pepperoni with a Virgil’s Orange Cream soda. Pepperoni pizza and orange soda were a nostalgic combination for me. Took me back to the days of pizza parties at Chuck E. Cheese. Back when animatronics knew how to be animatronics. Equally entertaining and scary. This finished up a pack of orange cream soda I bought awhile back. I probably would not get it again. Fanta still reigned supreme. With Virigil’s you got actual notes of cream in the soda. For me, that throwed off my nostalgia. But if you haven’t tried Virgil’s Cola soda *Amazon affiliate link*. I strongly recommend it. I have bought it again and will continue to buy it again.   

Glad I tried it: Yes

Would I buy it again: No, it just doesn’t satisfy like a true New York pie does