Papa Keno’s Pizzeria

I look upon this place with fondness from my high school and college days. But I recently ate here again and honestly? It’s not that great. I like that they offer truly enormous slices that you can choose toppings for. However, the cook is my problem. The toppings barely adhere to the slice, so they usually fall off or shift off the slice if you’re using a fork. Plus, unless it’s a day where they have a special on slices or you’re a student, it’s pretty expensive. More of a fun concept than a good practice.

The last few times we ordered from this place, they either lost our order, forgot to put it in the order, gave our pizza to someone else, or took 2+ hours to deliver. What’s the takeaway?
1. Only eat at Kenos if you’re dining in. Never EVER order takeout or delivery.

I came in and said «hello», and the pop-​punk emo girl that was working the counter said «wait a minute». I don’t remember saying «hey, will you help me?». So, a simple «hello» would be a better option for new customers walking in the building.
I ordered a slice of veggie pizza, and she made me feel kind of stupid for not noticing the «Works» had meat on it. I waited for my pizza for at least 15 min. Then, the dude shouting in the mic asks me «what did you have?» I said «a veggie». My pizza was started at that point, and nobody acknowledge that a mistake was made. I get it, it happens all of the time in this industry, but generally somebody will at least say «my bad, dude, we had a little mixup». Nobody cared at all. About 15 – 20 mins later I finally got my slice (1) of pizza.
With all of that being said, the pizza was awesome, but definitely not worth a 30 min wait.
Step up your customer service, or hire people that don’t hate humans.
Haha.

Get 3 slices instead of a 14″. More variety, more food, same price. Pizza’s consistently quality, best in Lawrence!

Large pepperoni pizza is $ 5 off on Sunday and is huge. Big pieces. Not oily. Unique spices make the pizza flavorful and different. Fun atmosphere. Helpful staff. We got thin crispy crust and was perfect like name suggests.

Decided to come here yesterday (Saturday) for a late lunch after a KU basketball game. The place looks like a typical college town pizza joint. Has a good vibe. I ordered an Italian sandwich with a snickerdoodle cookie and a diet coke. The sandwich was served on something similar to a flat bread instead of a sub bun. It was toasted and had excellent flavor. My friends ordered single slices of pizza, however, these pizza «slices» are huge and are about the size of a typical small pizza. I would have ordered the pizza, but I just wasn’t craving it that afternoon. For a place that seemed to be ran by college students, this place had great quality food. Would definitely go to Papa Keno’s again if I find myself back in Lawrence.

I LOVE this place, I have been coming here since I was a kid. And I still draw with crayons while I wait for my food, which was a genuis feature. The Tuskeno is one of the best pieces of pizza I’ve ever had. Chicken, basil, garlic, and cream cheese are everything anyone could want on a pizza.

Great pizza! Nice thin crust and generous slice! Great place to take little kids. Laid back friendly atmosphere.

This is my favorite Pizza Place! I LOVE their slices and can’t think of any better Pizza.

Went here with my son and we each had a slice of the Carnivore Pizza. As others have said, the slices are huge! The pizza was great. The Italian sausage was especially flavorful. The sauce was well seasoned and we both like the taste of the herbs. When my son brought the slices, they were cut in squares… Made it much easier to eat and the waiter mentioned that they had honey to dip your crust in! Lastly, we had local made Eileen’s cookies for dessert. They were snicker doodle and sugar cookies. Nice almond flavor. We both ate with drinks for under 20.00. We want to order one of their giant 26 inch pizzas sometimes with a group… yum!

Their slices are great big. Monday and Tuesday is the best day for lunch deals.

This was my first time in Lawrence. Friends came to compete in a Triathlon. The night before we did a little carb-​loading here. Wow! I was impressed. I have never had pizza like this before. I LOVE that you can order it by the slice, AND their speciality pizzas are by the slice as well. These were a little more at 5.99, but definitely worth it, considering how large the piece was!
I am a vegetarian and they had three different vegetarian options for the speciality pizzas. I enjoyed the Mama Keno which had roma tomatoes, spinach, garlic, and feta. It was pretty tasty. I think it could be enhanced with some toasted walnuts. The pizza itself was cooked to perfection! It was soft, yet crispy all over. They really nailed the consistency!
The staff was very friendly. They offer to cut the pizza for you in smaller pizzas. A really nice touch. And they gave us complimentary marinara.
I would definitely recommend this place!

Great food. Authentic vibe. I give it four stars from this self proclaimed east coaster. Give it a try.

Keno’s is back to near top form. The crust is excellent. Their sauce is the best in town. I love the big slices of thin crust. Most of their toppings are also first rate. The calzones are good too.

Great pizza, great price cool vibe and friendly people! The only thing that sucks about them is letting that Darrell dude play some of THE worst cover songs that you will ever hear on Sunday nights… avoid that Noid!!!

Best pizza in town. A local classic.

I gave them 3 due to burnt pizza crust on different visits and a couple employees were rather rude to some of my family. The pizza is OK but has a tendency to give me heartburn. I don’t usually have heartburn. I don’t think I would recommend this place.

My son ordered over the phone because we could find no way to order online as advertised on their Unilocal page but the employee told him «we’ll have it out when we have it out». We live just 3 blocks away, but after 45 minutes there was still no sign of our pizza. It finally arrived nearly an hour after we placed our order, so I guess the guy on the phone was right after all.
Poor customer service aside, the pizza, although not cheap at $ 18 for a one-​topping 18 inch cheese pizza, was not bad. We had the salami pizza and two order of breadsticks and the tab came to a little over $ 31 before tip. Not cheap. As far as I could tell, they do not offer specials online so what you se is what you get.
Decent pizza, not so decent value, and poor customer service means …
CombatCritic Gives Papa Keno’s (Lawrence) Only 4 Bombs Out of 10 … More Bombs Are Better!

Fantastic pizza here and the slices are huge as they are cut from a 26″ round. The crust is the perfect happy medium between thin and thick with a nice crispy edge and healthy bit of chew. Salads are also good here– this visit I had the Greek and added chicken. Haven’t been here in a while, but the KC location is equally good.

I miss the original Papa’s that opened long ago in the space that has now been Bourgeois Pig for years. We lined up around the block to get in, the smell of garlic and red sauce wafting out onto 9^th Street.
We cheered when they moved to the new location with their hip little area in back where you could have a slice and beer outside, and then winced and endured through the painful decline in quality and infamous «tax years» and its closure and eventual sale to a new owner.
Now? Alas, what was originally a marvelous slice of pie has drifted into the territory of just another unexceptional Kansas pizza joint. OK, not particularly great. Still a good place to have a beer outside though. Delivery service has historically been inconsistent and that hasn’t really changed. If you’re ordering and thinking of having it delivered, might reconsider and pick it up. At least you’ll know your pie will arrive.
Good choice of toppings, good tap beers albeit, not a wide range of options, a decent college/​high school kind of place. Not bad, just not great.
I miss the old Papa’s…