Pizza chains had a surge in popularity during the pandemic, but customers have pulled back on delivery orders since then. Many national pizza chains are feeling the squeeze, including Papa Johns. The company just announced that it plans to close hundreds of locations, and frankly, not many people are surprised. Here’s what we know about the downsizing.
Why Is Papa Johns Closing Locations?
In a corporate call earlier this week, Papa Johns North American President and CFO Ravi Thanawala said that the company is planning to close about 300 locations in an effort to improve finances, which has seen a 5.4% decline in sales recently. “Optimizing our restaurant portfolio and strategically closing underperforming restaurants are among the most impactful actions we can take to improve restaurant profitability,” he said on the call.
He goes on to say that the company has “identified approximately 300 underperforming restaurants across North America that are not meeting brand expectations or lack a clear path to sustainable financial improvement.” In other words: They’re failing.
The chain is also taking other steps to stop the financial bleeding. About 7% of its corporate workforce is going to be laid off. Right now, there are about 700 corporate employees. There’s no word on when those layoffs will occur.
Papa Johns is also going to streamline the menu, getting rid of the Papadia, the calzone-like item, and Papa Bites, a breadstick-adjacent item. Time will tell whether the newest menu item, the pan pizza, will end up sticking around or not. (We vote yes, because it’s pretty good.)
Which Papa Johns Locations Are Closing?
Unfortunately, Papa Johns has not released a list of which locations are closing, though it does seem like they have already determined the list. What we do know is that they plan to close about 200 locations this year, along with another 100 by the end of 2027, so it’s going to be a relatively drawn-out process.
On social media, people are reacting to the news of the closures with little surprise. “Saw this coming,” said one Redditor in a thread about the news. “Papa Johns in my area have declined to the point where they can’t even always fulfill orders anymore. Like they are open, will take your money and just never deliver the pizza.
“I’ve had a lot of papa Johns, some good some bad but if you can’t even perform the basic function of providing a cooked pizza to a paying customer you don’t deserve to be in business,” they continued.
“Congrats on digging your own graves,” said another glib commenter. “DoorDash, low quality ingredients, and all the shortcuts have finally crept on you. Good jobs corporate keep it up.”
Other people lamented what they might not be able to get anymore if their local Papa Johns closed. “It’s sad when the thing that will be missed most is their sauce selection,” someone commented. “Their spicy garlic is legit.”
Honestly? The free garlic sauce and pepperoncini are probably the things we’d miss most, too.
More From Cheapism
- Pizza Hut Is Closing Hundreds of Locations, Taking Our Childhood With It — Remember the red cups, Book It, and the salad bar at Pizza Hut? Those were the glory days. Well, they’re long gone now: The longtime pizza giant confirmed it will close roughly 250 U.S. locations in the first half of 2026.
- I Tried Papa Johns New Pan Pizza, and It Crushed Its Cheaper Competition, Domino’s — I fully expected to hate the Papa’s pizza, but life’s full of surprises, I guess. Here’s how the new Papa Johns pan pizza stacks up to its biggest competition, Domino’s.
- America’s 6 Most Hated Pizza Chains, Ranked by Reviews — The average American eats 180 slices of pizza each year. Some of them are bound to be terrible.
