Papa Johns Pizza — Restaurant in Lake Forest

This is a painful review to write. I have been a customer of the Papa John's Rancho Santa Margarita location for many years. Due to poor handwashing practices, I stopped going to this location and started visiting the Papa John's on El Toro Rd (where this review is posted). Customer Service is fantastic and my pizza is typically made exactly how I order. On one occasion, I saw a live cockroach walk across the floor and crawl up the wall on the right side near the drink refrigerator. I pointed it out to the manager on duty who told me it must have walked in from outside. This caused me to stop going to this location for 4 months or so. During that time, I went to Papa John's in Rancho Santa Margarita again. It looked like much of the staff had changed during my absence and their handwashing practices improved greatly.

The last time I returned to Papa John's on El Toro Rd, I noticed a dead bug on the side of the freezer closest to the door. I did not point it out, however, I permanently stopped going to this location.

I returned to Papa John's in Rancho Santa Margarita up until 1 day prior to their permanent closing. On that visit, the food was cooked perfectly, however, the BBQ sauce they provided was expired - by more than 1 month. I did not realize it until we got home, ate a few poppers, and immediately knew something didn't taste right. I called the store and spoke with the Manager. They were polite and offered to have the General Manager call me back. They never called and the store closed permanently the next day.

I called the Papa John's on El Toro Rd and confirmed the Owner of both locations was the same. I asked the Assistant Manager of this location to have the Owner call me back. I shared my phone number was told I would get a call in a day or two. After two days, I called back and was told they were not authorized to replace the order. I again asked for the Owner to call me back. The Assistant Manager said they would call him immediately. About 20 minutes later, I called the store and was told the Owner would not be calling me back. I looked up recent health inspections and discovered the Owner's name is Sanjeev Agrawal of OC Capital Group, called their cell phone, and left a message. They have not returned my call.

Any Owner who refuses to discuss a legitimate customer complaint doesn't deserve to have...

Editing this review on: 6/12/21. I originally wrote some nice things about this place and put four star but now downgraded to two star. The reason for this is simple. Within the last 6 months or so I have put in an order about an hour before they close on a few occasions and this is what happened. The order went through as normal and it gave me a time when delivery would come. I am waiting and waiting and finally I go check my order and it says it was canceled. It's like the closers don't want to work. It doesn't make me feel good as a customer. If they are going to do this they really need to make sure to call or text or contact number to let us know order has been canceled! I end up sitting here starving and then realized that I have gotten the shaft yet again. This has happened enough times in the last 6 months where I'm pretty mad about it this time. THIS ISSUE WITH THE CLOSERS NEEDS...

The WORST customer service. I placed an order over the phone. I called in shortly after ordering to pay with credit card over the phone. The lady with a strong Spanish accent answered and said she cannot charge me over the phone and I would have to pay cash. I told her I didn’t have cash I needed to pay with card. She said I can just tell the delivery guy to call in with the card. I said okay but the pizza had still not come. We call in again, speak to the same lady with the accent. She said a lady called in to cancel my order. I said no I didn’t cancel my order and she just insisted telling me I cancelled my order! So I reordered online and after another hour, NO PIZZA! I call again and speak to the same lady! She told me that the order was marked for pick up. I told her I’m looking at the receipt and it is delivery! I just cancelled the order. I will never use or recommend this location...