Papa Murphy's

When Papa Murphy's was installed in a nearby shopping complex I actually thought they were some type of Papa John's rip-off. It wasn't until weeks later that I heard from some other moms that they sell a different type of commodity. They've been around since 1981 and I'd never heard of them until a franchise came to Durham.

Papa Murphy's sells pizza -- that much is true -- but what sets them apart from the typical pizza franchise is that the pizzas are uncooked. You order what you want from their menu or customize your own pie. They build it right in front of you on a special baking tray, and you take it home to cook. You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours before it has to be cooked.


Papa Murphy's Review on Vimeo.
(How nice. A still image of me looking stoned which I'm NOT.)

With the coupon I clipped I paid $9.69 including tax ($9.50 plus 2% Durham grocery tax -- it's not prepared, so there's no retail tax). The usual price for a family-size pie would have been $11.99 plus tax.

So, for $9.69 I got a much larger pizza than I would have gotten from the grocery store freezer (our usual pizza of choice is Freschetta pepperoni) and it was fresh with real ingredients.

You don't have to be an expert at math to know that's a great deal. Even at $11.99 it's a bargain because you don't have to tip the pizza delivery guy.

Oh! What's interesting about this type of system? They accept EBT so customers who receive SNAP benefits can enjoy a treat. (You can't get Pizza Hut with a food stamp card because you can't use benefits to buy prepared foods. See--I learned something doing food stamp casework, huh?)

Papa Murphy's has hit on a great idea. I can see myself picking up a pie when I'm out running errands and having it ready to pop into the oven whenever Scott finally calls home and says "I'm walking to my car." With the family-sized pie we had about half left over for the next day's lunch. Scott insists that had it been any other day he could have eaten more, but he had a big lunch. We'll see. (I think the large would have been sufficient.)

Because good customer service gives me the warm-fuzzies, I've got to give a shout-out to the staff at the Hope Valley Commons (Durham) franchise. I was the only customer in there at the time and they made me feel like a rock star with the attention. They even carried my pie out to the car for me since my arms were full of baby. The entire staff was pleasant, and not in the "I'm trained to be nice to you" way, but the "I'm a nice person" way. (Walk into $tarbuck$ and you'll experience the former.)

Give it a try on your next busy day or pick up a meal (they have side dishes and desserts like cookie dough!) for a mom who's recently given birth or adopted a baby. If you go to their website and stick in your zip code you'll get local coupons.