Brian Carroll was ready to leave the pizza business. After 17 years in the industry – making pizza to sell on lunchtime food trucks and opening but then closing two pizzerias – he was resigned to the fact that he couldn’t compete in a saturated pizza city with what he calls the “best pizza in the world.” The cheese and pepperoni pizza at the four Papa's Pizza locations is made with hand-cut Margherita pepperoni and your choice of a tomato paste-based sauce that is regular, sweet or a 50/50 combo of the two recipes.
But he gave it one more try and took over the former Bozzy's Pizzeria near his Lancaster home to open Papa’s Pizza Oven in December 2023. Based on his past experiences, he didn’t expect to be in business for long. Then he started reading positive customer posts on Facebook.
Papa's was a hit right off the bat and that success has led Carroll to open three additional pizzerias in less than nine months with more on the way. Carroll credits social media, especially Facebook groups such as Pizzaholics and Buffalo pizza and wings for helping his pizza go viral by sharing photos and reviews. “I didn’t think they were going to like it that much,” Carroll said.
“Now I’m all proud and I think I’m this big connoisseur, but at that point I just thought I was a guy that liked something that nobody else liked.” The demand was so high that he was running the pizza ovens from 11 a.m.
to 11 p.m. every day when he opened the Lancaster location.
"Then I wo.
