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We had a Papa John's franchise in the area years ago and I thought it was good. They disappeared. Now we have a new Papa John's franchise in the area. The sauce is no where as good as I remembered it.
I actually like Papa Johns though like you said I realize it's the further thing from a legit pie but for some reason i like it, I think its the garlic sauce, I'd eat a shoe soul with that garlic sauce. THere's plenty of other options ie pizza hut, dominoes, etc not sure why you'd order papa johns if you know you hate it. I worked there for a year during high school. I notice not many of them around anymore.
My hometown in Jersey could support precisely one chain pizza restaurant. There was one Pizza Hut, and it was still limping along when I left. And there was a Domino's one town over. Keep in mind there were also about 30 local pizza places in my town (not even exaggerating). I tried to count them all and stopped somewhere in the 20s.
Domino's and Pizza Hut were just not considered "pizza," just like Olive Garden was acceptable but not considered "real" Italian food. The fast food versions of these local specialties were just not evaluated along the same lines, the same way you wouldn't compare Taco Bell to actual Mexican food.
A Papa John's came into the area several years before I moved away. The local reaction after a few weeks of novelty was "meh." Business dropped off quickly and it closed within a year. There just wasn't that much room in the market for more of what was locally viewed a sort of "alternative pizza."
For someone who just wants a crust, sauce and cheese concoction without too much experience with regard to high-quality versions, Papa John's seems just fine. But I grew up in an area where everyone made their own dough and sauce and spun the crust thin. You can't put that in the same class as chain pizza.
I can tell you this; the marketing on Papa Johns boxes is misleading and someday they will get sued into Oblivian. Their ingredients arent high quality and in fact the grade "cheese" they buy from Sorrento is the lowest available (in fact Sorrento had to lower their standards to meet what Papa Johns wanted!). It's sad but a typical trend; the company started out as high quality and then over the last few years massively cut corners to get their costs as low as possible. Many large corporations have done this. Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns are just a few of the pizza chains... Their garlic sauce, pizza sauce, bread and cheese is mostly cheap industrial chemicals. *sigh* only in the US can companies get away with this nonsense.
Some people, probably pretty many, like Papa John's, even though you have the opinion that its disgusting.
I've tasted better, but I seen worse as well.
The fact that you have the same level of disgust for different PJ franchisees in different cities is actually a feather in the company's cap. Chains strive for uniformity, travelers and others know what to expect if they've had the product before.
I like Papa Johns. Like Dominos too, and Pizza Hut, and Papa Murphy's. I guess I'm a hick. I don't care much for Godfathers, however.
I used to be a huge Shakey's fan. We searched them out while traveling. We didn't have one in (or near) the town we lived in for years, so we'd travel 300+ miles (round trip) some nights just for a Shakey's pizza. Finally one opened up in town and we were able to enjoy it just across the street from where I worked... until it burned to the ground one night.
I can tell you this; the marketing on Papa Johns boxes is misleading and someday they will get sued into Oblivian. Their ingredients arent high quality and in fact the grade "cheese" they buy from Sorrento is the lowest available (in fact Sorrento had to lower their standards to meet what Papa Johns wanted!). It's sad but a typical trend; the company started out as high quality and then over the last few years massively cut corners to get their costs as low as possible. Many large corporations have done this. Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns are just a few of the pizza chains... Their garlic sauce, pizza sauce, bread and cheese is mostly cheap industrial chemicals. *sigh* only in the US can companies get away with this nonsense.
That's probably the reason they are so popular. If it's mostly cheap industrial chemicals, it probably has very few calories. Dieter's Heaven!
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