When in Manila and living in the north side of town, be sure to drop by Annapolis street, Greenhills  to try the newest pizza joint in town: Papa John’s Pizza. I’ve heard great things about Papa John‘s and I’ve been intending to see for myself what the fuss was all about so when an invite to try it came up, I took the opportunity. Together with two of my best pals, I went to Papa John‘s at their Greenhills branch for  dinner on a Wednesday night and we brought our appetites.
It was hard to miss Papa John‘s which stood so brightly in an otherwise dark Annapolis street. We were greeted by a friendly face as soon as we walked in through the doors and met the manager on duty who was kind enough to open up the second floor of Papa John’s just for us.
1st floor area of Papa John's Pizza Greenhills
- We had the 2nd floor of Papa John’s all to ourselves!
While my friend took pictures of the place, I delved right into checking out their menu. The pizza category alone had a number of options to pick from. We asked what their best sellers were and our server told us that it was Super Papa and All Meat Pizza. Both looked so delicious  my friend and I had debated a little bit as to which pizza to get. I won that argument and we went for a medium sized Super Papa (P450) since I personally like pizza that has a lot of toppings in it.
Just looking at the menu's photos are enough to whet one's appetite
We were surprised to find out that Papa John’s pizzas came with dips already. We loved the garlic butter dip that was served. It made eating their pizza more delicious.
Getting the first slice of Super Papa's! Looks yummy!
We also tried some of Papa John’s pasta: the Diablo Burst (P180) and Pasta Bolognaise with meatballs (P195). We were given a choice between penne pasta or spaghetti pasta. We chose spaghetti pasta for the Diablo Burst and then penne pasta for the Pasta Bolognaise. We’ve heard that the Diablo Burst was pretty spicy and though I normally don’t eat spicy foods, out of curiosity  I tried it. Definitely too spicy for my taste. But if you’re like my friends who like it hot, you should order Diablo Burst. I just helped myself to the Pasta Bolognaise, also  tasty but the flavor was really just okay.
The Diablo Burst
- The Pasta Bolognaise
Aside from the pizza and the pasta, we also tried a couple of the side items like the Baked Italian Meatballs (P140) and the Chicken and Mushroom which also came with tomato sauce dip and garlic butter dip (P160). At first bite, I thought the Chicken and Mushroom was bland. But I guess one really has to eat the middle portion where the concentration of cheese and mushroom are to actually taste the umaminess of the food. Suggest you dip it in tomato sauce – it gives that extra “oomph” to the taste. But you can also try dipping it in tomato sauce and then the garlic butter. We did and we were surprised that the taste was absolutely delicious. I personally loved the tomato sauce. See, I find that most pizza places’ tomato sauce is too sour but Papa John’s? It  tasted just right.
Baked Italian Meatballs
Chicken and Mushroom
Normally, pizza joints offer you the usual beverages like Coke or Pepsi and Iced Tea. And I had every intention of ordering the Iced Tea but we ordered the Italian sodas: Pink Grapefruit, Green Apple and Passion Fruit (P69 each) since these were pretty new to us. Oh-so-sweet, it was sheer bliss for us sweet toothed folks to drink!
We were so stuffed and satisfied with the meal we had. We had a great time there too. Will we come back at Papa John’s? You bet we will. Luckily, there’s already a branch at the south side of town where we’re from (Papa John’s at University Mall, Vito Cruz). If you haven’t eaten at Papa John‘s yet, we highly recommend you go to the branch nearest you today. It’ll be worth your money, trust me.
When in Manila and craving to a true blue ma-umami pizza, Papa John’s Pizza should be on top of your list. Currently, Papa John‘s has three other branches in the Metro: Level 2 Robinson’s Galleria, University Mall, Vito Cruz Taft Avenue and Bldg. A Megamall.
Papa  John’s Philippines Website: www.papajohns.com.ph
*Papa John’s Pizza and their Garlic Butter Sauce LOVE: Greenhills Branch Photos taken by Ryan Torrejos
