Papa John’s Pizza

This place used to be great. One day, we decided to order an XL John’s Favorite pizza. I’m not sure why it’s John’s favorite, but it certainly wasn’t ours. Don’t get me wrong, I love cheese, and cured meats, but I’m not a big fan of pieces of plastic the size of grains of sand embedded within my pizza.
Yes, there were clear, little pieces of plastic in our pizza. So small that most pieces were invisible to the naked eye. I was so hungry, I ate one piece with the grit-​like plastic in it. At first, I thought it was black pepper or sea salt. Regardless, it was not pleasant and we stopped eating the pizza since we were mostly full on our side order. The next afternoon, I tried another slice. My hunger failed to overcome my senses, so I did a more thorough inspection, eventually finding a visible plastic shard. But wait, was this chunk of clear material really plastic? I tried it again but didn’t find the salty flavor typical of salt. I tried to dissolve it in water to no avail. Yes, it really was plastic.
I called and asked about it. The first manager offered me another pizza, but I declined as I wasn’t looking forward to a second serving of plastic. The second manager I spoke with apologized and offered a refund. I asked them what they were going to do about it, e.g. look through their surveillance tapes to see if there was intentional tampering or even an accident. He said no. Although definitely a rare occurrence, I suggest everyone to stay away since they are not taking steps to prevent this in the future. I will post pictures of the plastic piece I found.

First ever Unilocal review, but had to tell everyone about the terrible service. Called to order delivery and Rachel told us to call another location, which is 5.8 miles away instead of 1.7. And they were no longer taking delivery orders on top of that.
We looked at the Papa John’s app, which said that the Main St location would deliver to us, so we placed an order, which arrived in 21 mins. We asked the driver and he said that he has delivered to our neighborhood many times, with no issues at all.
Went in the next day to ask the manager why we could place an online order but not call, and he claimed that «It isn’t a safe area and no one delivers there.» Which is incorrect on both counts and I told him so. Then he changed his story to say that it isn’t in his area, which is again incorrect, because obviously it is since they delivered to us the night before.

Dear Papa Johns, I tried to order a pizza tonight to pick up… But the manager of your corporate establishment informed me that they no longer are accepting pick-​up orders, only delivery orders are being accepted, even though this specific one has a walk-​up/​pick-​up window. I DON’T EVEN HAVE TO COME INSIDE THE BUILDING TO PICK UP OR PAY FOR THE PIZZA, THERE IS A WINDOW ON YOUR BUILDING FOR THAT REASON! You are telling me that there are people inside the building who can cook a pizza drive a block down the street and deliver it. But if I call in an order to your establishment with employees cooking the pizza, nobody is able to walk to the pick-​up window, accept payment and give me a pizza? Good job Papa Johns not even your better ingredients and better pizza are worth that bad customer service.

We ordered a large pizza and chocolate chip pie last night. Took 30 mins for the delivery guy to arrive. After we had already paid him (and gave him a way too generous tip) we noticed that he delivered the wrong order to us. I looked at the box and it wasn’t even the right street. Like seriously? You had one job, dude.
So he doesn’t even bother to give us the medium pizza that was intended for another customer (even though they already took our food… jerks) to tide us over as we waited for another 40 MINUTES for him to come back. Even then, it wasn’t right because we had paid for four garlic sauces and instead received one.
Maybe your delivery drivers shouldn’t be stoned when trying to do their job. Or y’all could hire people who aren’t idiots. And maybe management should consider treating customers right when they’ve been waiting an hour or more for a simple order. I get that mistakes happen, but the whole situation wasn’t handled well at all.

Typical Papa John’s chain. Exactly what you expect from a standard Papa John’s menu. I would say that this location is managed well. I’ve never experienced any issues. The food always arrives hot and what I imagine it to look like. The drivers that deliver the food are always super friendly. The orders arrive promptly at the estimated time. We’ve used this location a few times for large orders (20+ pizzas) and never had any problems. I like to order online because it’s usually quicker that way. This location is also great because it is open late so you typically see people there late at night on weekends. Out of the pizzas chains that deliver, I prefer this one. I only gave it 3 stars because this is a typical pizza chain but the 3 stars is not reflective of the service.

So many better options in Durham, like Pop’s, Lily’s, Pie Pushers, Amante.

Papa Johns used to be my preferred pizza when it comes to ordering in, but I recently walked by the actual location and thought, what the heck, this way I won’t have to wait for the delivery.
The store has a very small waiting area so my friend and I sat on the one bench that was provided and watched the workers spinning the pizza dough; what skill.
From ordering to getting the pizza about 20 min elapsed, so not bad in terms of time.
If you order online you can see the full selection of toppings and even a couple of deals. I recommend ordering extra sauce because that really adds another dimension onto the already great pizzas. The thick soft crusts I like to dip in the garlic butter sauce provided in the box.
All in all, nothing gourmet like at Pizzeria Toro, but still decent option for pizza just off East campus.

Note this review is of the service with this particular branch. As for the food, it’s a papa johns they all taste pretty much the same I think.
The service at this location is fantastic. I had an issue come up after placing my order and had to call the store. They really went out of their way to help me out. I really appreciated how easy they made it for me. Great service.
I also tried the online ordering and it was really nice.

Late night, not sleepy, a car full of hungry people. .. but what’s open? It’s late late night in Durham and the choices seem slim when drinking isn’t an option.
We were driving aimlessly looking for something and found a Papa John’s. We didn’t call first and it didn’t matter. I think these last-​minute after-​midnight-​munchies attacks are what keeps these chain places thriving. It was raining out, but the manager let me inside to order for the group — which according to the late night pizza joint rules, they shouldn’t have done. I don’t know who was more embarrassed, me for not considering the time as I stood there pulling on locked door in the pouring rain or the manager who had to listen to me thank him profusely for letting me inside as I dripped water all over the newly cleaned floor.
Pizza wasn’t really what we wanted that night, but when we got them we couldn’t have imagined anything else. The pizza was okay, hot and the right amount of tasty, but the service really stood out. Chain pizza place or not, the crew really delivered a great experience for a last minute rush order on a wet and gloomy night.

I absolutely had to review this place after I received some of the best customer service since living in Durham. I ordered a lot of pizzas for delivery a week ago for a party at work after learning of the current special of any large pizza with any toppings for $ 10. AWESOME DEAL. Thank goodness for the Super Bowl coming up.
I tried to order via the website, but unfortunately my work location does not seem to be readable on their GPS or even Google Maps. Bizarre. So, that led me to actually calling and placing my order, and I am so so glad I did.
I have no idea who I spoke to (I’m really mad at myself that I didn’t get his name), but he was a young-​ish sounding guy and I could tell he was smiling as he was talking to me. He was so helpful in trying to find my work location and then helped me make sure I was ordering enough pizza and wings to feed my hungry staff. He went above and beyond by explaining all the specials on wings (thereby saving me money) and assured me that all 7 pizzas and 6 orders of wings would arrive at 11am, which was only 45 minutes away. When it arrived, the delivery worker was extremely friendly, the pizza and wings were hot, and I had a very happy staff that day.
I’m not much of a chain restaurant (and especially chain pizza) person, but Papa John’s won me over that day, and I definitely will order from them again when the time arises. The employees at this location rock.