I was given a really neat opportunity along with several other local mom bloggers (#PapaMurphysMoms) to visit Papa Murphy’s Pizza in Blaine for a special Behind the Counter Tour! It was so much fun to go “behind the scenes” to see how freshly Papa Murphy’s pizzas are prepared. We learned a lot and even got to prepare our own pizza!
Here’s a recap of our tour:
First we met Larry, the owner of this Papa Murphy’s store (all Papa Murphy’s are independently owned franchises). He was super nice, gave us some information about the store, said we can take pictures of anything we like and then introduced us to his staff: Darren, Calvin and Lauren. Darren and Calvin are family members so it was great to know this store is a family-owned franchise. Then we headed to the back where we were given freshly baked cinnamon wheels to share! We were so relieved as we had been smelling them since we came in.
Several of the moms had brought their kids, and I had brought Thor, so the kids sat at a table enjoying their treat while we chatted and enjoyed some as well. As we munched we learned that their Cinnamon Wheels are made from freshly made dough in the store! More on the dough in a moment.
Next we watched as Calvin and Lauren chopped up fresh veggies. What’s really neat is that Papa Murphy’s does everything possible to make their pizzas as fresh as possible, including receiving regular shipments of fresh veggies that they chop and prepare themselves. We watched as green onions, green peppers and tomatoes were washed and sliced both by hand and with some slick machines they had.
Cleanliness is number one at Papa Murphy’s. They have a rule that all employees must wash their hands thoroughly for 30 seconds.
Then we watched as the dough was made. Yes – they really make their dough in the store!
First Darren put all the ingredients in a big dough mixer which mixes up the dough in 8 minutes. The kids got to help out with the dough mixer by doing things like pouring in the yeast (and Thor got to press “on!”).
The dough is ready!
Then we watched as the dough was shaped into balls that are all weighed equally.
After that, the dough is flattened into crusts which are sealed right away to keep it fresh until used.
Next we got a tour of the cooler, which is where they keep everything from fresh veggies to sodas to pizza crusts that are ready to be used.
Though we didn’t get to see it being done today, one thing we learned is that they also shred all of their own cheese at the store (and that’s a lot of cheese!).
Last, we all got to make our own pizzas! We washed our hands, put on plastic gloves, and then went down the line to make whatever kind of pizza we wanted. There were instructions that the employees use to make any combination imaginable.
I decided to make my pizza into 3 kinds: Pepperoni (for my husband), Bacon Cheeseburger, and Hawaiian. (We baked it at home for dinner that night and it was SUPER good – I had never tried the Bacon Cheeseburger before but it’s now my new favorite!)
Even the kids each got to bring home their own Mini Murph pizza to assemble and bake at home!
There’s so much more to Papa Murphy’s, too. They are very involved in the community and had a bulletin board full of thank you letters from local groups. The next event at the Blaine location is a Girl Scout food drive on June 7th. Bring in a food donation for a pizza discount!
Our family has enjoyed Papa Murphy’s over the years but now that I’ve been behind the scenes, I appreciate the quality so much more. The employees are so friendly and answered any questions we had. They’re so open about everything they do and it’s great to know so much about all the time and effort that goes into food that many of us don’t realize.
Learn more about Papa Murphy’s and how fresh their pizza is on their website. You can also print out coupons. The next time you decide to pick up pizza for your family or for any event, I highly recommend Papa Murphy’s!