Papa Murphy

OUT AND ABOUT
Papa Murphy’s
4070 Nelson Road
Nelson Road Plaza
Lake Charles, LA
337-477-1977
www.papamurphys.com

11:00 AM to 9:00 PM Seven days a week $2 to $16

Set next to the Wine Store in the shopping center housing Que Pasa, this is a new concept for the lake area. You come into the shop and order a pizza. They put together your pizza in front of you with freshly made dough and freshly cut meats and vegetables. No pre-made pizzas hanging around. They wrap it in plastic and you take it home and bake. It comes on an ovenproof paper tray. Baking is as easy as pie. Instructions included and they tell you the procedure if you are a new customer. Now you can have piping hot pizza from your oven with fresh ingredients not a frozen thing

First time in I went with a custom pizza. Special orders do not upset them. I asked for beef, bacon, onion, and garlic white sauce. It came with a layer of mozzarella and some cheddar cheese on top. Fifteen minutes after preheating the oven. It came out with a crisp crust and bubbly top. The crust had a nice bready texture. It tasted just like a bacon cheeseburger, which was my intent. I also got a Cinnamon Wheel. It is raw dough topped with cinnamon spread, streusel and a tub of cream cheese frosting. Take the tub out of the center and bake. It was OK but the streusel was oatmeal based and not my favorite. Also the ratio of the bread to sweetness seemed off to me.

Next time I went away with a Gourmet Vegetarian. Heaped high with spinach, zucchini, mushroom, marinated artichoke hearts, roma tomatoes, onion, cheese and the white garlic sauce. It weighted a tone. However the amount of vegetables and the moisture from them did not treat the dough well. The curst was not as nice as the other one. While it was edible I kept thinking a double amount of dough would make it perfect. I also got the cookie dough. It made a decent cookie. However the four-dollar price tag for a pound seemed a bit steep to me.

Last time I ordered a Combination Calzone. It contained ricotta, mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, mushrooms and green onion with pizza sauce on the side. It baked up beautifully taking an extra ten minutes than the pizza. Not putting the sauce in the calzone proved a good thing. I have a problem with calzones and this solved it. Most have so much moisture in the interior that the dough turns gummy inside when baked. This one was almost perfect. The pizza sauce obtained a perfect balance: chunks of tomato with good flavor, a slightly sweet undertone, and a nice spice kick.

Really the only problem was it was too large. I am a single person and most pizzas come in family sizes. Here I can get a medium pizza (good for two meals for me) however I cannot get a medium stuffed pizza of calzone. The stuffed is a dough circle piled with stuff topped with another dough circle. A calzone is a dough circle with the filling on one half and the other half brought across the stuffing. My poser is that if you have medium dough circles why cant you do the above with them?



Despite all my minor quibbles this is an excellent operation and a good choice for families. The ingredients are fresh. The service is friendly and helpful. The final product is tasty. I am not a pizza fanatic. I will be back but not too often. I occasionally work on Sunday morning. I see this as a convent meal for those days. If you are into pizza this might be the ticket for you. I hear they are planning other locations.


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