Sunday Funday: Round Table Pizza brings a taste of California to Fort Bliss

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- For one California transplant, Round Table Pizza’s arrival in El Paso is serving up more than just a meal—it’s bringing back memories of home.

“If you've grown up in California or if you've lived in California, you know, Round Table Pizza,” Papool said.

Papool said the restaurant was a familiar gathering place during his childhood.

“It's the local pizza joint. It's the joint where you go after a Little League baseball games. It's the joint where you go for, birthday parties, that sort of thing,” Papool said.

Round Table Pizza has more than 350 locations, most of them in California. Before the Fort Bliss location opened, the closest restaurants were hundreds of miles away.

“Ever since I moved here, I've really been wanting a round table pizza, in El Paso,” Papool said.

“I've contacted corporate many times to ask them to bring us one, and they never did until they brought one unexpectedly at Fort Bliss back in June,” Papool said.

Papool and his wife applied for Community Access Passes so they could visit the first Round Table Pizza location on a military base.

The restaurant is located at the Global Reach Express Shopette on Fort Bliss.

“Eating the pizza tastes like home, if that makes sense. You know, it reminds me of the pizza that I had growing up. And it's just bringing a little piece of California to the Borderland,” Papool said.