Let me start by prefacing this article by letting you know I have nothing solid about the return of Papa John's Pizza to Forest Avenue in Portland after it closed in the late 2010s. I'm only going by something I observed driving home Wednesday, so take this for what it's worth.

Papa John's is the fourth largest pizza delivery restaurant chain in the United States. The company made a move into Maine in the 2000s and one of the many franchises that opened was on Forest Avenue in Portland.

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I ordered a lot of pizza from here until one day in the late 2010s, it was gone. Today the space has been taken by Falafel Time.

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I'm not sure what caused Papa John's to close back then, but I did see something that clued me in that it could be returning, although it obviously won't be at the same location.

As I drove past the building formerly home to Ernie's Pool and Darts at 815 Forest Avenue, I saw two men installing a sign over the door.

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It was small but read "Better Ingredients. Better Pizza." I didn't think much of it as I was driving, thinking it was another local pizza place, but then it dawned on me that I'd heard that slogan before.

I asked Google with my hands firmly on the wheel, "Who uses the slogan 'Better Ingredients. Better Pizza?'" Google Lady quickly told me it belonged to Papa John's. Check it out. It's right on the pizza box on their website.

So if I read that sign correctly, and I'm pretty sure I did, Papa John's could be going into the old Ernie's Pool location. Either that or someone else is starting a pizza place and if that's the slogan they're going to use, they'll be hearing from some lawyers pretty quickly. We'll wait and see.

UPDATE: We've confirmed that Papa John's is indeed opening a new store on Forest Avenue. Get the details here.

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