Food Review #10: Papa John's
Welcome to the first edition of Journalism Club's 2021 Food Review. Because it has been over a year since our last food review, why not start things fresh? Introducing the not-so-new-but-new-in-Cambodia, Papa John's! I will be breaking down our experience into a few categories, including a testimony section featuring none other than Bryant Lay from 10th grade.
Price
Considering most of the readers of this food review are students, price is an essential factor; we think this is where Papa John's takes the most hits. From our experience, a 12-inch pizza with a cheese-filled crust would set you back $20; that's for sure more than I expected. From a pure price-based perspective, Papa John's is comparable to that of Pizza Company's pizzas. A large pizza with a unique crust can easily cost more than 20 bucks. Contrast that with Domino's pizzas, and we can see a considerable price difference. At Domino's, you can get 2 medium-sized pizzas for 10 bucks(14 if you want a cheese crust), which is a lot more worth it if you ask us.
Customer Experience
Customer Experience is vital for some and not so important for others; we thought we should add it for those who care.
Because we are amid a pandemic, there weren't that many people. However, this didn't seem to improve the customer experience. The waiters and waitresses messed up a lot, which we didn't see much improvement from our first visit. The first time we went to Papa John's, our receipt was messed up and had to be redone after we complained. The second time we went, one of the waitresses forgot some of our orders, and we had to reorder them after we were already done with our food. We weren't expecting this problem as they have a large staff; therefore, one would think they would cover for each other's mistakes.
Not all was bad, though; the staff was friendly, and one of the managers even spoke to us during our first visit. Overall, the customer experience was surprisingly lacking, and improvement is needed.
**Note: We recommend you order through delivery, especially during this wave of Covid. You would also experience better customer service that way.
Taste
Finally, the part you have probably been waiting for. How does the food taste?
Well, the first thing that comes to mind when taking a bite into one of the pizzas is that it's very salty, especially when eating it with the cheese crust. So customers beware: if you don't like your food that salty, Papa John's is probably not for you. I love salty food, but even I couldn't finish the pizzas the first time I ate it. However, I found that during my second visit to Papa John's, I enjoyed the pizzas much more. This was probably because I had gotten used to the taste and knew what to expect. Besides the saltiness, everything else was good.
Out of all the pizzas we tried, I enjoyed the flavor "Papa's Favorite" the most; it has a good combination of cheese and meat. Some of our tasters, however, suggested that more ingredients are needed on the pizzas.
The tomato sauce to cheese ratio is more on the cheesy side. This can be seen as a good or bad thing depending on preference, but I like it when there's not too much tomato sauce. It is also important to note that the pizzas' size was enough to make us all full.
We also tried some of their side dishes, and there are some mixed emotions on them. We tried the "chicken pops" which looked like balls of small crispy deep-fried chicken pieces on the menu. However, our expectations were shortly destroyed by reality. The portion was a lot less than what it looked like on the menu, and it was not crispy at all. We were all very disappointed, but it was tender and tasted pretty good.
We also tried the delicious pepperoni rolls. They were exactly as they looked like on the menu (which was a pleasant surprise to us), and the portion was decent. The most accurate description of it is that it's a mini pizza that's more cheesy.
Testimonies from our fellow Logos students:
"It's very good." - Bryant Lay
"A mouthful of savory heaven; heaven is expensive." - Andrew Beck
"It's an overpriced version of Pizza Company." - Zion G Pol (don't trust this guy's opinion)
"The chicken pops are a 1 / 5." - also Zion
Conclusion
Altogether, we give Papa John's a solid 7.5/10. Although most of us liked the pizza, some people found it too salty for their liking. Combine that with their subpar customer service and an expensive price tag; the rating becomes just average. However, we would still recommend everyone to try it because we believe it is worth a shot.
*Disclaimer: we visited Papajohns right before this wave of lockdown, so please stay safe and order through delivery!
- Ryan S.