Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Dave Gibson co-owns (with his twin brother, Chris) Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza in Downing Center, Los Gatos.
Papa Murphy's lets diners take, bake pizzas at home
Twins start popular franchise in Los Gatos
By Suzanne Cristallo
Pizza in five minutes? You bet. That's how long it takes from ordering to pick up at the new Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza in Los Gatos. Of course, one does have to bake it at home. Once in the oven, the big rounds are about 15 minutes away from eating.
Los Gatos students at Lexington, Daves Avenue and Van Meter elementary and Fisher middle schools probably know all about Papa Murphy's. They voted for that particular pizza over two competitors. As a result, the elementary kids get it once a month for lunch, and the middle schoolers can choose it every day. The owners of Papa Murphy's won the lunch program account after familiarizing the students and parents with their product by giving away lots of pizzas and participating in school fundraisers.
"We provide a fresh product," boasts Chris Gibson, who with his fraternal twin, Dave, opened the Downing Center shop on Union Avenue in November. "The dough is made on site each morning, and we grate our own cheese daily."
The 24-year-old San Francisco-born brothers own another Papa Murphy's franchise at Union and Foxworthy avenues in San Jose, which they bought as a first venture in 1997. Dave runs the Los Gatos store that previously housed a video shop and before that, the Los Gatos Pizza Co., which is now on Blossom Hill Road. Chris manages the San Jose store.
They don't serve any ready-to-eat pizzas on site. Papa Murphy's is strictly "take and bake," a concept the brothers are introducing through advertisements and Val-Pak, a coupon package mailed to local residents.
Their signature dish is the Chicago-style stuffed pizza, a whopping five-pound, double-crusted pie that includes a pound of cheese topped with pepperoni, sausage, beef, salami, sauce, tomatoes and yellow and green onions. It serves five or six adults for $9.99 and is on special through January, along with the large gourmet chicken garlic pizza and any large combination, each at the same price. Regular menu two-topping large pizzas run $6.99.
"Our menu prices are really reasonable," says Chris, who gets weekend help from his fiancée, San Francisco State University senior Christy Ivy.
The two met in Mazatlan, Mexico, during a senior trip arranged by their Novato high school. Chris went on to SFSU and studied drama and film, which remain his avocation, even though he left school in his junior year to open the first Papa Murphy's. His head shot and résumé remain with a casting company that calls him regularly to serve as a unpaid extra. Most recently, he appeared in the wedding scene in the film Bicentennial Man and in a walk-through in one of TV's Nash Bridges episodes. He and Christy plan a June wedding.
Not to be outdone, Dave and his fiancée, Heather Damiano, also a SFSU student, plan an August wedding. The couple met while both were attending Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo.
Papa Murphy's Take and Bake Pizza, 15563 Union Ave. at Los Gatos-Almaden Road, Los Gatos. Hours: Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.- 9 p.m.; Sun. and Mon., 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Phone orders welcome. 408.879.9111.
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