East Idaho Eats: Papa Tom’s knows good pizza
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IDAHO FALLS — Papa Tom’s has been serving handcrafted pizzas on Woodruff Ave. for 33 years, but founder Tom Mueller’s pizza genius started way before the parlor came about.
“He’s been in the pizza business since ’64, and a lot of people will know him from the Gaslamp and The Gay 90s,” Grandson and manager Kristopher Mueller said.
The Gaslamp and The Gay 90s was an Idaho pizza chain that eventually went out of business. Tom Mueller took his experience and Papa Tom’s opened in 1983. Now the restaurant is run by members of his family that grew up watching him work.
“It’s pretty neat, we’re three generations now. My grandfather started it and (now) his kids and grandkids are now running it, so it’s a pretty cool thing,” Kristopher Mueller said.
Pizza makers at Papa Tom’s know an excellent pizza needs really good dough, really good sauce, and really good cheese, then everything else can fall into place. Mueller says they take pride in signature sauces. The dough is hand made and rolled each day, and meats are fresh and made in house.
“We don’t skimp on the toppings, we really load up a pizza, our sauce is second to none, it’s a homemade recipe that’s been in the family forever, our dough we roll and make fresh every single day,” Mueller said.
The ovens the pizzas are made in are slate lined or stone, which helps draw the moisture out of the crust giving it a cracker crips finish.
Papa Tom’s let EastIdahoNews.com make a hybrid pizza combining two specialty orders into one. The Red Baron, and the Chicken Bacon Ranch. The Red Baron is probably the more unusual of the two with sauerkraut as one of the toppings.
Customers say Papa Tom’s is known for their tasty Pizza and fun environment.
“They have the best pizza in town, they have great service. They treat you like family when you come here,” customer Amy Briggs said. “It’s a great atmosphere.”
And if you’re not partial to pizza, Papa Tom’s also serves sandwiches and offers a full salad bar.
Address: 1830 South Woodruff Ave, Idaho Falls
Phone: 208-523-6800
Hours:
- Mon to Thu:11:00 am – 10:00 pm
- Fri-Sat:11:00 am – 11:00 pm
- Sun:12:00 pm – 10:00 pm
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