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What Happened To Cici’s?
By Max | April 7, 2007
The other day I went to Cici’s Pizza since I finally found one in my area. I have to say that a lot has changed since I was last there about 4 years ago.
The first thing I noticed when I walked in the door was 3 or 4 people shouting in a fake happy shout, “Welcome to Cici’s!” I had forgotten about that. They also shout “Thanks for coming.” as you leave. This must be part of the training manual or something. I think its kind of annoying. Am I wrong in thinking the type of person going to a place like Cici’s is interested in anything more than the excellent value they receive from an all-u-can eat crappy pizza buffet? Maybe one person in the entire history of Cici’s filled out some kind of customer comment card suggesting that the staff be more friendly. Now its a corporate directive to shout unconvincingly at everyone who walks through the door.
Cici’s in Mesa is charging $4.99 for the buffet. The last time I visited a Cici’s was 2004 in Cary, NC. I think at the time the buffett was a buck cheaper, maybe even more. I guess inflation is starting to kick in after all. So with my drink added on plus tax, the whole thing was $6.99. That’s fair I think for this sort of place.
I was pleasantly surprised by the food. There was more variety in the pizza than I remember and it tasted a lot better. I really liked the Buffalo Chicken Pizza and the Macaroni and Cheese Pizza. I know Mac and Cheese Pizza sounds odd, but its good. There was also the standard pepperoni, meatball, and a couple others I didn’t try.
One disappointment was the salad bar. When I used to go to Cici’s in the past, they had a normal salad bar with pretty much the standard stuff. My favorite trick was to get a cup of the ranch dressing and use it on my pizza. If theres one thing pizza needs, its a rich fat laden sauce to dip it in. Well now Cici’s (at least the one in Mesa) just has three pre-prepared salads to scoop out. Because of this there is no more vat of Ranch to plunder and use on the pizza. I tried the BLT Ranch salad and it was good, but I miss fixing my own.
Since this was their grand opening, I expect that the food was top notch since the owners seemed to be running the show that day. Maybe once they feel everything is under control, the normal crew will take over and lower the quality. I hope not, but Cici’s has never been known for quality.
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April 7th, 2007 at 7:53 am
I hope you don’t get sick. I warned you.
April 8th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Yeah, I have mixed emotions about this place, sometimes its good, sometimes not. Pizza generally is thin with minimal ingredients. I get my pizza buffett on at Double Daves now, couple more bucks but wow, nice salad bar with much better pizza. Even have a thing called Tremboli? Dont know how to spell it, but they are good. The best thing is the all you can crap crappers with unlimited TP.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:22 pm
Do they have Double Daves in Arizona? It sounds good.
When I lived in Portland, OR a local place called Pizza Caboose was pretty good with fried chicken on the buffet. I haven’t found the ideal place here in AZ yet though.
April 15th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
I’m not sure, they may be local to Texas, we moved from Illinois and they didnt have any there.
April 18th, 2007 at 11:13 pm
is a salad bar necessary at a pizza place. is that not the equivalent of vegan eating at an outback.
April 19th, 2007 at 2:58 am
Joe,
The best part about the old Cici’s salad bar was the fact that you could snag a side of ranch dressing and dip your pizza in it. If you’ve never tried that, you should. What else could go better with a greasy piece of pizza?