Papa John’s Pizza Opens in Medellín

Papa John’s Pizza opened its first restaurant in Medellín on September 22, which is located on the ground floor in the La Strada mall in El Poblado.

I happened to be nearby the second day the new restaurant was open so I stopped in to check it out for lunch.

Papa Johns Pizza has been in Bogotá for a while and they opened restaurants in Barranquilla and Villavicencio before they opened a restaurant in Medellín.

Most Papa John’s locations primarily take carryout and delivery orders but the new store in Medellín also has a number of tables inside and outside.

When I went during lunchtime in Medellín on the second day it was open the tables were full and there was a line to order.

I suspect the new Papa John’s restaurant in Medellín will have a good lunch business as it is in a good location with several nearby office buildings and I saw many office workers eating lunch there.  There are also many apartment buildings nearby for delivery.

More About Papa Johns Pizza

Kentucky-headquartered Papa John’s Pizza is the third largest take-out and pizza delivery restaurant chain in the world after Pizza Hut and Domino’s. Papa John’s Pizza restaurant franchise was founded in 1983.

Papa John’s has over 4,600 restaurants in 34 countries. In Latin America the chain has restaurants in 13 countries: Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Trinidad & Tobago and Venezuela.

Pizza in Medellín

The big pizza chains in Medellín such as Jeno’s and PizzaDoblePizza don’t have very good pizza in my opinion. I have found that Domino’s is a step above.

There are also a handful of individual restaurants in the city with really good pizza that have been covered on this site.

Unfortunately none of the best pizza places in the city are near where I live, so I sometimes order Domino’s delivery (domicilio) when I have a craving for pizza.

How does the new Papa Johns Pizza rank? I would personally rank Papa John’s a step above Domino’s.

I ordered a medium Italiana, which comes with Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, black olives and mushrooms and the price was 26,900 pesos ($8.62). It came out perfectly cooked and I liked it better than the last couple Domino’s pizzas I have eaten in Medellín.

I also happen to like Chicago-style pizza but I haven’t yet found any good deep-dish pizza in Colombia.

Papa John’s Menu

The menu for Papa John’s Pizza in Colombia can be found online here.  Prices in the Medellín restaurant match what is found online.

The pizzas at Papa John’s come in three sizes: personal for 1 person, mediana for 2, familiar for 3 and mega familiar for 4+.

For example, for the Italiana that I ordered the personal size cost is 14,900 pesos, the mediana size cost is 26,900 pesos, the familiar size cost is 40,500 pesos and the mega familiar size cost is 48,500 pesos. For thinner crust add 1,000 pesos.

Which U.S.-based Chain is Next for Medellín?

Medellín has several U.S.-based chain restaurants and fast food places including Hard Rock Café, Hooters, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, KFC, Domino’s and now Papa John’s.

Bogotá has many more U.S.-based chain restaurants that aren’t available yet in Medellín, including Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Chili’s, TGI Fridays, P.F. Changs, Krispy Kreme, Taco Bell and Wing Zone.

Starbucks disclosed they were planning to open 50 stores in Colombia within five years at the time they opened their first store in Bogotá but they didn’t provide a timeline for opening one in Medellín (they now have 10 stores in Bogotá).

I suspect we may see at least a couple more U.S.-based chains open locations in Medellín over the next year or two, with these most likely being chains that already have a presence in Bogotá.