Why Papa John's Includes Pepperoncinis With Your Pizza

We have a sneaking suspicion that if someone acts like they don't care about thoughtful little gestures, they simply aren't being honest with themselves. How else could one say they aren't tickled by a handwritten note tucked in their lunch box or a single flower placed on the hood of the car for them to find? It's those sort of warm and fuzzy feelings that Papa John's founder John Schnatter knew he would evoke by placing a sort-of-spicy little pepperoncino in every Papa John's pizza box.

Perhaps you've always found the inclusion of the pepper mysterious. Or maybe you're the type who would prefer to take the gift without asking any questions — but we found answers nonetheless. Papa John's Chief Ingredient Officer Sean Muldoon told Thrillist that while the pepper is now recognized as Schnatter's signature, the Papa John's founder wasn't the father of that idea. He got it from whomever ran Rocky's Sub Pub in Jeffersonville, Indiana, where Schnatter washed dishes as a student.

"John always acknowledged how much people loved that inclusion of the pepper, and since day one, he made sure there was a pepper in every one of his pizza boxes, too," Muldoon explained. That wasn't the only freebie either! Papa John's garlic dipping sauce — which is also included in every box — practically spearheaded the tradition of dipping sauces for pizza. (If you want to imitate the chain, too, you can try our copycat recipe for Papa John's garlic dipping sauce.)

In 1984, John Shnatter transformed the broom closet in his father's bar into a working pizza kitchen that he called Papa John's Pizza. He started slinging 'Za to his dad's patrons, and as a nod his former place of employmentand a gesture of good will to his new customers in the form of free food, he popped a pickled pepper in each and every box. Although Papa John's staff say they don't want to eat them, the addition remains a fan favorite amongst customers.

While it started out as a little bit of local fair from a hometown pizza shop, when Papa John's blew up, so too did the visibility of pepperoncini, and with it, the expectation that you would be getting one with your take-out pizza. Sean Muldoon actually credited Papa John's with causing a worldwide shortage of the peppers in the '90s when the pizza chain's popularity reached its peak. The peppers we get now hail from the Mediterranean region. Try tearing up one of those tangy accouterments and littering some pizza slices with a few shreds, ripping it open and squirting the spicy pickle juice over it, or saving the whole pepper for one extra spicy slice. Better yet, tuck your pepper in the fridge and put it toward your next Mississippi pot roast recipe.