Papa's Pizza — Restaurant in Salem

I thought I knew what good pizza and tiramisu were, but then I had Papa's. This is far and away better than any pizza and Tiramisu I've had- better than in New York, Chicago, or even from when I was fortunate enough to visit Italy. It's been a couple of days, but I can still remember how it tasted.

We had the margarita pizza- a simple sauce, basil, and cheese. The sauce had a subtly spiced deep tomato flavor that tasted somehow both fresh and concentrated without coming across like a tomato paste. Its bread base was moist but not soggy, just the right amount of chewy, and had a subtle fermented quality that helped it go down easy. As for the Mozzarella, it was simple, clean, and had the subtle sweetness of fresh dairy. Everything was in perfect balance and left my stomach full but not too full. I was sated, but still hungry for more after half a medium pizza.

We finished with the tiramisu. The creamy top layer was light and sweet, with a healthy dusting of good cocoa. Beneath that were lady fingers soaked in cream that was reminiscent of tres leches cake and maintained a perfect body. The bottom layer absorbed an excellent espresso that offered just the right amount of bitterness as well as a deep, complex coffee flavor that complemented the cacao as well.

It was absolute bliss, and if you're in the area you owe it to yourself to...

8:00PM Friday May 31, 2024. Used "Slice" (Win10 app) to order. Ordering was super easy & fast. Prices were competitive. I drove 7 miles across Salem to pick up the pizzas (2: Supreme and an Hawaiian, both Med Size). Pizzas were still toasty warm when I got back home! Both pizzas were very good except our guests all noticed that both were bit too salty. The Hawaiian had bacon which was so salty you could barely taste the pineapple! Most of us picked off the bacon to leave ham and pineapple toppings. The Supreme was likewise too salty, which almost overpowered the topping flavors. We all joked that the pizza chef was probably a smoker, so his/her tastebuds were long gone. Finally, we noticed that the toppings were not spread on evenly at all, some pieces had lots of ham, other had lots of green pepper, some pieces were only 1/2 covered with toppings. This is the 3rd time I have ordered pizza from Papa's Pizza in 2 months, and all of the other pizzas had this same very uneven distribution of the toppings and a bit too salty. So this is now a pattern for this business when making "to go" pizzas in the 6:30PM to...

First time eating here but had been wanting to try for awhile because it always smells so good when I’ve been at other businesses close by. Upon entering we were created with a friendly smile and hello and told about specials. Decided to order the smothered chicken with broccoli and a salad with Italian dressing as well as a BBQ chicken pizza to take home to our son. We sat down and were brought our salads very quickly by a super sweet young lady, I believe she said her name was Emily. Our food was ready just as we were finishing up our salads. I was pleasantly surprised by the portion sizes. I actually ended up needing to ask for a box to take what I couldn’t eat home with me. The food was delicious. Loved the decor and friendly atmosphere. Will definitely be...