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Papa Murphy’s Take and Bake Pizza in Tyler

March 20th, 2011

Papa Murphy's in Tyler Texas
Papa Murphy’s holds claim to what many consider the best pizza in Tyler. Although it is true you have to bake it yourself they are unmatched in the quality and quantity of ingredients in their pizza. Regardless of a minor requirement such as baking Papa Murphy’s outdoes conventional pizza places with ease, the take N bake business model lowers the over head of the franchise allowing more funding and care to go to the food.

Papa Murphy’s even ventures outside the pizza realm and offers take and bake lasagna, cookie dough or even cinnamon wheels. You can conveniently throw a batch of cookies into your already heated oven while you eat your pizza, giving you a perfectly timed sequence of freshly baked pizza followed by delicious warm cookies.

Papa Murphy’s has a menu that is truly exceptional, pizza is hardly the same once you’ve experience the glory of what its potential in Papa Murphy’s selections. To begin with the signature pizzas such as The Cowboy with olives, mushrooms, sausage and pepperoni will win the heart of any pizza lover, it’s simple and classic ingredients make for a perfect pizza.

But Papa Murphy’s gets a lot better when you consider their many other menus. For instance a common favorite is the Herb Chicken Mediterranean DeLite which in addition to being low calorie has spinach, sun dried tomatoes and feta cheese which in my opinion could possibly make the most delicious thing ever tasted.

But Papa Murphy’s isn’t done yet, not even close, prepare yourself for the ability to create stuffed pizzas, not only can you get any pizza in a stuffed version, you can customize every part of your desired pizza. Change the crust, change the sauce, combine two pizza types or make a completely new one. And if the mood strikes why not put that pizza inside another pizza.

You can hardly imagine a pizza you can’t get made. And when your pizza is made you receive it wrapped and ready to bake with instructions and a menu for future orders which comes with a coupon and occasionally a free item.

And remember just because Papa Murphy’s is a take and bake restaurant  doesn’t mean you can’t call ahead of time to request an order, this way it will be fresh and ready right when you get there avoiding any potential crowd that has resulted from demand for wonderful pizza.

The staff work in an orderly team line, each handling one aspect of the pizza making. The employees are very understanding and polite so feel free to ask a question or make a suggestion for your pizza and they will happily oblige you within their ability.

Papa Murphy’s in Tyler…Again

July 21st, 2010

            I realize that someone has probably already posted something on this site about Papa Murphy’s Pizza in Tyler. When several of us were newly hired to write for Tyler TX Directory, there was a mad rush to write about the Pizza places in town since there are so many of them. As someone once said, “a writer must write of what he knows.” Now I have previously stated that Bruno’s in Tyler is hands down the best in town, and I am still of that opinion. But I consider that to be dinning out pizza. Double Dave’s is also delicious, but that too, is eat out food. When it comes to carry out Papa Murphy’s has to be my first choice (and even by that standard it’s only marginally behind Dave’s). Now when I was a younger better fit man (ok that was a while ago), I ate pretty much whatever I wanted and worried not wit about the consequences, but now that I’m approaching middle age I find that I’m more concerned about my diet. Eating most take out in Tyler tends to leave me feeling… guilty and ashamed. Even the take- out pizza I like, seldom leaves me with a sense of well being. I really don’t need to dip my pizza in creamy garlic butter, or stuff the crust of my pizza with thick runny cheese! As good as cheap pizza may taste at the moment; there may be a physical price to pay in the long run. As my priest warns, sin is often pleasurable for a time.

            Papa Murphy’s food is not like other low quality greasy spoons in town. The ingredients are generally more wholesome and at least potentially healthy (depending on your choices of course). Now I am not going to claim that the Chicago Style stuffed pizzas are exactly good for you but they are delicious and for those of us who are conscious of what we eat; PM offers a great “deLite” menu that will leave the calorie counting customer both satisfied, and largely guilt free.  (I realize that’s a pretty tough call for fitness Nazis and other weight- loss gurus). Be that as it may, Papa Murphy’s seems to me to be the best tasting, and generally the healthiest take- out pizza in town. And I say that as a customer who is even now enjoying a slice. For more information on Papa Murphy’s see their website at www.papamurphys.com. To see a menu, go to http://www.papamurphys.com/pdf/PapaMurphysMenu.pdf. For more on Tyler’s various pizza parlors and or buffets look for the following titles or articles on this site: A Pizza a Beer and a Ball Game, The Best of the Buffets, The Worst of the Buffets and Bruno’s, the Best Pizza in Town.

Fire Mountain Amusements in Tyler Texas

February 5th, 2010

FIRE MOUNTAIN AMUSEMENTS

14722 Highway 155 S
Tyler 75703
903 561 2670

Open at weekends – opening times vary according to season – see www.firemountainamusements.com for details.

Located 3 1/2 miles south of Tyler on Highway 155 is Tyler’s amusement park – Fire Mountain – you can’t miss the volcano shape!

This is a children’s amusement park – not the best in the world, but still a lot of fun for small kids. They have mini golf, bumper boats, scrambler bikes, go-karts and minikarts and inside arcade-style amusement games. We have been there twice with our kids for parties and each time they have come home desperate to go back!

One advantage to Fire Mountain is that there is no charge for entry to the facility (or for parking). This means that parents can supervise their own kids if needed at no extra cost. I loved watching my kids playing golf and bumping on the boats and it was good to see them playing the video games so enthusiastically. My son loved winning tokens and exchanging them for tiny treats at the end of the day.

The party package at Fire Mountain includes the use of a room which you can decorate however you like and a drink and plate and napkin are provided plus room clean up. You are responsible for bringing in your food and cake though there are 3 -4 pizza places who make regular deliveries to Fire Mountain. They supply the invitations and each child is given a wristband which allows one ride on each attraction plus 20 tokens for use in the arcade. You have to have 10 or more party goers to use the party room.

Fire mountain is not a cheap day out for the kids. Tickets are $1 each and you need 5 tickets for the go-karts and bumper boats and 4 for the scrambler cars and mini-golf. If you buy $50 of tickets you save 10%. The best way to do it is to buy a wristband which lets you do everything once. The cost for wristbands is $18 for under 9s and $20 for over 9s.

There is little variety at Fire mountain. Unless you are a big fan of places like Chuck-E-Cheese, it is not somewhere you would want to go regularly. Also there is no food on site (as yet) which is definitely a negative point. But once or twice a year or with a party, Fire Mountain is great fun.

The owners are quick to admit that they are still developing this amusement park. Watch this space because Fire Mountain could get much bigger in years to come.

Cici’s Pizza Store in Tyler, TX over by Wal-Mart on 64

February 1st, 2010

211 Texas 323 Loop
Tyler, TX 75702-8727
(903) 526-9494‎
Hours 11AM-11PM

Cici’s Pizza is located on the West side of Loop 323 near the Brookshire’s and Starbucks. It is easy to get to and turn into the parking lot. Leaving can be a real challenge if you need to turn left as there is only one exit, and it is sitting directly on Loop 323 which is very busy at all hours of the day. I often have to turn right and do a u-turn to get home.

The most important part of a pizza restaurant is how the pizza tastes and compares to other pizza places. Cici’s is wonderful pizza. It is not on par with expensive pizza restaurants, but for its price range it does really well. You can pay five dollars for a large one topping pizza. I do this often for dinner for my family and when we have friends over last minute. I call ahead and order my pizzas then drive up right to the window. It’s the only pizza place I’ve ever known to have a drive up take out window. When these five dollar pizzas are hot, they are very impressive in taste and texture. When we get Cici’s takeout we usually order either a large with just pepperoni or a large with just green peppers. If you’ve never had a green peppers pizza, try it at Cici’s. You’ll have to order it special since it isn’t a standard pizza on the buffet.

As for the buffet, I think you’ll be impressed. I’ve heard people joke about how horrible Cici’s pizza buffet is, but I think they are just making it up. It is very affordable. The buffet is about five dollars per person, and then drinks are a little over a dollar for a fountain drink or tea. Maybe the price makes Cici’s seem too good to be true. But I think that is just it. I don’t know how it’s possible to offer such great food for so cheap and make it all you can eat to boot.

The buffet starts with a very nice but small salad bar. You have the choice of Caesar salad or a standard tossed salad with about eight different extra toppings and about four different salad dressings. We always get a Caesar with Caesar dressing, and we’ve never been disappointed. Then there is a pasta section. Here you can get pasta with either red sauce or a creamy alfredo sauce. There are also cheese covered bread sticks here. A little tip: fill a bowl with red sauce from this section and dip your crust or bread sticks into it.

Then comes the pizza. This is when I begin to really smile. They have all of the standard pizzas: pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, mushroom, cheese, Hawaiian pineapple and ham. I especially love their sausage pizza. But the cool thing about Cici’s is that they have way more than the traditional pizzas. They have at least four or five specialty pizzas that you can only get at Cici’s. My favorite is a buffalo wing pizza. It uses buffalo hot wing sauce instead of pizza sauce, bits of chicken and mozzarella cheese. It is incredible if you like the hot wing flavor. Then they have their popular creamy spinach pizza. This one uses alfredo sauce instead of red sauce. They also have a barbeque pizza, a taco pizza, and a cheese steak pizza. I usually get lots of the spinach and buffalo pizza. It seems like each of my friends and family has a different favorite of these specialty pizzas.

Next at the bar comes the dessert section. These desserts are amazing. I’ve never heard people complain about the dessert at Cici’s Pizza. They have something for everyone. There are basic chewy brownies covered in powdered sugar. There is usually some kind of super sweet apple crumble coffee cake, and then there is this thing that I am not sure what to call it. It is shaped like the cheesy bread sticks, but the consistency is like a donut or a beignet. Then it is smothered in some kind of caramel or butterscotch sauce. It is beyond good. I am not sure what it is at all, but you’ll know when you see it. You won’t be disappointed.

A really cool feature of this Cici’s is that if you don’t see what you like at the bar, you just ask an employee to make it. They don’t care how weird the toppings you ask for are. They will make it and bring it directly to your table. The customer service is incredible for such a low cost dining restaurant. Often it will be the actual manager who brings it out with a smile and makes sure you don’t need anything else.

The restaurant stays very clean. I’ve seen pizza buffets where the employees don’t seem to care. Pizza can be very messy, and pizza attracts small kids. Small kids can be very messy. But you will not find a mess at this Cici’s that isn’t currently being cleaned up. The busboys are apparently very fast and efficient. There are plenty of booths and even two televisions playing non-offensive shows.

All in all, for five or six dollars per person, you can’t do better for dine in food in Tyler, unless you don’t like pizza. But only a true pizza lover like you and me would have read this whole review. So, try out Cici’s. I promise you’ll be impressed.

Bruno’s, the Best Pizza in Town

October 15th, 2009
Tyler Texas Pizza

Best Pizza in Tyler TX

Until recently if someone had asked me about a restaurant in Tyler called Bruno’s, I would have responded rather indifferently, “Yeah; that sounds familiar.” After trying their food recently however I’m now anything but indifferent. With as long as I’ve lived in Tyler Texas, I find that I’m sort of annoyed with myself for never having tried Bruno’s until now.

Even with all the other pizza places in Tyler, I can say with some confidence that Bruno’s is easily the best in town. While Double Dave’s makes a great pie, even they cannot measure up to Bruno’s work. And Cici’s, my least favorite pizza of all time, (this includes Totino’s by the way), hardly seems like the same food. But Bruno’s serves more than just great pizza. They have all sorts of Italian dishes, including salads and sandwiches. But their signature dish may well be their legendary lasagna.

If you go to Bruno’s however, don’t go for the atmosphere. It’s not the sort of place lovers go to meet in the middle of a spaghetti noodle. The space is limited, so a lot of customers opt for take out. Where the food is eaten matters little though; carry their food across state lines and it’s the best Italian in Arkansas. So for authentic Mediterranean cuisine try a visit to Bruno’s. Business hours are from 11:00am to 9:00pm weekdays and Saturdays, and the store is closed on Sudays. Located at 1400 South Vine in Tyler. For pick-up call (903) 595-1676‎.

For more information on Tyler area Italian food see the Tyler Blog section of this website and look for the titles “Local Italian relaxed atmosphere,” or “A pizza, a beer and a ball game.” Also, see “The best of the Buffets” under the Articles section.