hello everyone this is running on empty Food review well hello ladies gentlemen
and everyone watching welcome one and all to this newest edition of The Running on
Empty Food review series I'm your host the report of the week thanks for checking in
when you think of Papa John's what comes to mind what's what's the first thing that comes to mind
when I think of Papa John's in this day and age 2023 we're talking about
I don't think of the papa bowls and I don't think of Papa's burger sauce or anything like that
I think of innovation and when you look at it this way Papa John's I think has some of the
leading experts in the scientific field today at present on their team when you realize the
amount of innovative ideas that Papa John's not only conjures up but sees through to the very end
well my jaw was a gape it was it isn't right now but just take my word for it that it was
because think about it what other establishments decided to take all the pizza toppings
and slide them off the pizza and put them in a plastic feeding trough
Papa John's did what other establishment even thought let me take an Oreo cookie wrap it around
in some pizza dough bake it and send it your way Papa John's did so it should be no surprise that
Papa John's was the establishment that made this groundbreaking absolutely groundbreaking
development and this is a game changer when you think of the future you might think of flying cars
you might think of Life Extension you might think of interstellar travel this exceeds everything
this is groundbreaking stuff so you know how you have pizza
and you put cheese generally speaking on top of the base right so you have the dough
and then you have the sauce this is like for a general pizza right you have the sauce and then
you put the cheese on top of the sauce and then the toppings on top of the cheese what if you
found out that Papa John's discovered that you could also put cheese on the bottom of the base
who they did it they actually did it and that's right Papa
John's has released their crispy parm Pizza and here's what it is
it has cheese on the bottom of the crust it's a thin crust pizza has a blend of shredded parmesan
and Romano cheese under the crust not the crust but the base really you'll see in a minute a
picture I think we'll tell a thousand words on the top it has some mozzarella cheese on the pizza get
it with any topping of your choice but the big big news right here is that there's cheese on
the bottom of the pizza some have compared it to being like their papadia but unfolded wow
12.99 for a large pizza so about thirteen dollars it also comes with some special seasoning
there's the Box and again the description might not make a ton of sense but you're
going to see in a minute when I when I show you what the pizza actually looks like then I think
everything's gonna make sense anyway there's the uh box what does it say better ingredients
better Pizza Tima Pizza that means the team of of scientists that made this have you ever wondered
I mean when it comes down to Advanced degrees what the p in PhD stands for it stands for Papa John's
and
all right that one that one got me there's what it looks like so you see from the top
it looks like a standard thin crust pizza right it looks I mean I'd say it
looks pretty good I like pizza anyway I got pepperoni and again you could see it's got
good distribution you see the cheese you see the sauce you see the crust all the pepperonis there
garlic sauce and the little pepper as well so it looks pretty straightforward right
let's find a good slice I'll go with this one here but then as you will soon see
here's the difference okay this is what I was saying this is the important part
so you've got the thin crust pizza right Standard Pizza so far but then look at the bottom
there's the big deal that's cheese on the bottom of it so see that's what they mean by because
when they say the crust and this is what they say in the official description when they say
the crust you know I just think of the crust I always consider this to be like the base I think
that just makes more sense from a descriptive point of view but see there it is there's the
cheese blend right on the bottom so that's what the big deal is it's got that cheese on the bottom
Standard Pizza on the top with again the cheese blend right there on the bottom
I was concerned initially that this is one of those items that strikes me that disaster could
unfold in that I could get this and find that the cheese on the bottom is all burned and everything
but it seems like it's cooked nicely obviously you could see has a lot of structure to it it's not a
floppy slice of pizza at all so what I'm going to do now I'll try it out I'll let you know if
it's any good or not if the addition of course of the cheese on the bottom is noticeable at all
and uh that'll be that so let's try it out the new crispy parm Pizza from Papa John's it's going in
foreign
take a quick bite of the the crust
take a sip of water
so
there we go taking a look at the pizza when I when I got I know I always play these things up
as I'm you know doing the introduction and all of that I have fun doing that but uh as I was looking
at the pizza and as I was thinking to myself what exactly it is and what the the concept is
ETC I was thinking this is one of those pizzas that you might uh you might be a little bit
underwhelmed by it perhaps because it might be one of those things where the the reaction upon
which it invokes is uh you might think all right so it's got cheese on the bottom of the pizza
and right you might be expecting all right and what what else does it have and then you
realize oh wait I guess that's just it that's that's that's the catch it just has some some
cheese on the bottom of the uh the pizza and it's just a standard Pizza otherwise
and as I mentioned just as a little bit of a tangent so to speak I mentioned that I had my
concern in regards to the cheese on the bottom being perhaps burnt because I could certainly
see that happening and obviously if that were the case that would enormously detract from the
pizza and the eating experience because I mean I know I've had pizzas before where Sometimes
some of the toppings or the cheese or the base or whatever it might be it's not just well done but
it winds up being burnt and then of course that's sort of that sort of overcooked Char really cuts
through and not in a good way it just monopolizes everything and you can't uh you can't really taste
anything else so I was very concerned about that at first but as I was eating this pizza I
was pleasantly surprised noticing that despite it being on the bottom it did not have any of those
characteristics now I will say if you get this pizza and you are expecting the world from it
so you're expecting this is going to be the best pizza ever this you know somehow the uh shredded
parmesan and Romano cheese blend on the bottom is going to be life-changing and it's going to uh
it just it's going to change everything you're probably going to be a little bit let down it's
not bad though but don't expect this to be the uh necessarily game changing Pizza
because it isn't it's like all right Pizza thin crust crispy
the toppings are totally standard there is nothing different about the the toppings at all you've
got of course the mozzarella cheese on top of the pizza along with now again I went with pepperoni
that's what's marketed in the advertisements but you could go with any topping that you want
but again pepperoni is always the classic Choice that's I think that the the standard so to speak
so it's a greasy pizza pepperoni has a little hint of uh of spice to it nothing overwhelming
nothing overbearing at all but uh a little bit of a hint of spice to it again greasy
the sauce is all right it's got that little sharp note to it which again I always like it helps
moderate everything out so then when we look at the bottom of the pizza right what's really what's
something that I notice about it immediately and I pointed this out even before I tried it
I think it adds structure to the slice because the cheese solidifies it hardens
and you could see all right the thin crust pizza generally speaking is pretty firm to begin with
but definitely it amplifies texturally speaking the crunchiness in each bite
and uh as you could see right here if I tap on it
has that degree of solidity to it but I should note that's not to the point where it's like
you know a cracker or something and you you bite in and you feel like your teeth are going to
shatter or any of that it's a thin crust crispy crunchy pizza but if those are characteristics
you're looking for then I think it'd definitely be a fan of it if you like the real soft doughy
deep dish pizza then this probably wouldn't be for you but texturally speaking that cheese definitely
adds to the firmness and again makes this a very crunchy uh Pizza the other thing that I noticed
that this cheese contributes is I could especially taste the parmesan cheese not so much the Romano
but definitely the parmesan cheese on the bottom and as I mentioned it has this sharpness that you
could definitely taste I mean you could definitely tell in each bite I would be willing to bet
actually despite when you look at this obviously you're going to see the pizza and everything on
the top of it but I would be willing to bet that the parmesan cheese on the bottom is actually more
pronounced than the mozzarella cheese on the top so you're really going to notice that it's really
going to stand out also you are going to notice though that this pizza is going to be a little
bit on the saltier side now I think it should go without saying that as far as fast food goes yeah
sodium pretty much is in everything in copious amounts so that should really be no surprise but
my taste perspective it's definitely discernible so you're going to notice it of course just in the
toppings but as you take that bite in especially as your tongue hits the bottom of each slice
you're going to really pick up on that saltiness again especially from the parmesan cheese that's
there but all in all it's a cheesy pizza it's Unique it's a Crispy Crunchy salty Pizza
but I would say it's exactly what they advertised it being they said it's going to be a pizza that's
going to have this cheese on the bottom of it and that's precisely what it has so it might not it's
like a No Frills Pizza I would say there's no major surprise there are no massive twists or
turns you know what you're gonna get and you get what they say you're going to get it's as easy
as that but uh all in all pretty straightforward it's just if you want that pizza and it's gonna
have that cheesiness to it it's going to have a little bit of a crunch to it that extra saltiness
if that's what you'd like then give it a shot but it's exactly as advertised might not be everyone's
cup of tea but that's what you're interested in I think it'll be exactly what you expect of it
real quick I'll just try it out with some of the garlic
the garlic dipping sauce always complements it nicely
it's complementary so may as well utilize it they also give you this seasoning this too
is complementary now I I've had the seasoning before the special seasoning I find it to be
enjoyable but I don't know if it would be what I would consider essential in this circumstance
it's like a glorified garlic salt essentially which I mean for me personally I'm fine with it
but I already commented on the level of saltiness that you may experience in this pizza it's not
overwhelming or anything but you just it might not be one of those circumstances where that's
something that you absolutely need it's like the good thing about this anyway is that if they give
you the little packet of the seasoning like this you could easily just pour out a tiny bit on a
slice and then it's like yeah I could find out I could essentially dip that metaphorical toe in
the water see how I like it and then go from there so all these little accoutrements so
to speak they are complementary they come with the pizza it's like what the heck try them out
I don't think many of them are game changing but worth giving a shot I mean they're there to begin
with so may as well see what it's all about all right out of 10 the Papa John's crispy Parma Pizza
I think it's a straightforward concept and I think the execution is straightforward as well
it's exactly as advertised no thrills no major twists and turns but that stability is often a
good thing therefore out of 10 I'm going to be giving this item from Papa John's I'm going to
give it a 7 out of 10. yeah it's all right for what it is and if it sounds interesting
to you go ahead get it give it a shot I think it'll be to your liking that's all that I have
for you thank you for watching until next time I'm your host the report of the week