What’s meatier than a Shaq-a-Roni, more novel than a Papadia, and able to clog three times as many arteries in a single bound? Papa John’s new Triple Bacon Pizza! Its claim to fame is containing three types of bacon: crumbles, julienne-cut pieces of Canadian bacon, and good old-fashioned strips.
At first glance, the strips were the most noticeable part of my pie. The chunky juliennes stood out as well, but were more prone to being submerged under cheese (this often made for a nice mid-bite surprise). The crumbles were the shrinking violets of the trio, with their smaller size, denser texture, and deeper color, making them surprisingly hard to tell apart from the dark dots of cheese. The lattice of varying shapes, textures, and shades of red made the pie look almost like a piece of avant-garde art—so like any good art connoisseur would, I immediately ripped it apart with my teeth.
The strips were, well, typical bacon strips, though I particularly enjoyed the variations in texture, with some bites lean and burnt and others fatty and chewy. On the other hand, the juliennes were consistently thick and tender, and since they were Canadian bacon, they had a slightly sweeter, meatier taste. I’m finding it harder to sum up the crumbles, whose standout feature seemed to be that they were just the strips, only torn into pieces. Papa John’s website specifically describes the crumbles as “smokey,” but for me the bulk of the smokey flavor came from the sheer surface area covered by the strips. While the strips were large enough that each one tended to have representation of both crispness and meatiness (even if they weren’t evenly distributed), each crumble typically only captured one of those flavors, which meant they didn’t contribute distinctly to the overall taste.
While I deeply appreciated the audacity of laying down full bacon strips across the entire pie, the flavorful juliennes with their perfectly pluckable shape were my favorite of the three types. Hearty enough to stand alongside the slice instead of just blending in, they had a similar appeal to the classic meatball or sausage pizza toppings, while the thin strips meshed with the cheese and sauce as smoothly as pepperoni. I’m not sure exactly what the advantage of the crumbles was. They felt like they were just tacked on as a cheap way to get a third selling point for this new menu item, and I suspect the two star students would shine better without them.
All in all, the savory saltiness of these three breeds of bacon was a great, if not exactly world-shattering, pairing for Papa John’s dense cheese and sweet sauce. It made me wonder how this classic breakfast topping would hold up on a slice eaten cold the next morning, but my household demolished our box too quickly to tell. Fortunately, this meaty marvel is good enough that I don’t mind having an excuse to get it again some time and find out.
Purchased Price: $13 (that’s for the basic Triple Bacon pie, though I splurged an additional $3 to add stuffed crust)
Size: Large
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: Information not available on website.
I find those big strips of bacon across the top rather disconcerting and unpleasant, due to the fact that they look so visibly fatty and chewy. [shudders] I need my bacon extra crispy, at all times. Otherwise, hard pass.
Whoops, accidentally posted this below, so reposting in the right spot–
That makes sense, I do like a chewier bacon so I didn’t mind but I def see how that wouldn’t be appealing to everyone!
I’d avoid this thing for the exact same reasons, it looks like that precooked bacon that never really gets crisp unless you burn it. Just think about eating it the next day *gag*
Totally fair! I’m just a cold pizza fan in general haha so I’d be willing to try but def see why you wouldn’t.
They could have gone for a quadruple bypass and had bacon jam in place of red sauce. All in all though, this seems like a rather lazy LTO.
Oh gosh, I would have loved to see that just for the sheer wildness of it haha! But yeah, definitely not the most revolutionary, it may have just gotten a few extra points from me cause I have a soft spot for fast food pizza…
That makes sense, I do like a chewier bacon so I didn’t mind but I def see how that wouldn’t be appealing to everyone!
This was NOTHING like mine. Mine had only Canadian “Bacon” (ham) on it. No regular bacon, and certainly no strips. Plus it was somehow cold even though I picked it up as soon as it was ready.
They sent me a survey about my experience, and I told them how awful the pizza was. Some region manager contacted me, said he wanted to make it right. I replied… and it’s been eight days since then, no reply from him.
I’ll go back to PH and LC.
Lol, wow. They definitely screwed that one up! I bet your reply is being worked on…it just might be a little cold when you receive it 😉
Wow, that’s so disappointing! I’m glad that you gave them a rightful calling out, but that stinks you haven’t heard back from them. Unfortunately doesn’t surprise me since I have had a similar experience with Papa John’s in the past (made me a bit nervous with this pizza), but I think both Pizza Hut and Little Caesar’s are better anyway so maybe being encouraged to go to those more is a net win for you!? :p
I tried the Papa Johns triple bacon pizza, and I wasn’t super impressed…buuuut I also tried their Smoky Bacon Papadia, and all I can say is this:
TRY. THE. PAPADIA.
I think mine got screwed up too. Tasted no regular bacon, only had Canadian and a few bacon strips (not like what’s shown on the commercial or I’ve seen in reviews). I was underwhelmed. I think this location skimps on the topping.