Restaurant Review - CiCi's Pizza

I'm not really sure why I'm doing another review of something because basically, whatever I say is good or bad, most people reading this blog feel the exact opposite, see my movie review of the new Indiana Jones movie. So, maybe this blog should just stick to analysis of the New Orleans Saints, maybe cause that's really the only opinions I have that have any kind of credibility. But, I'm sure someone can argue that point as well.

I digress...

So, most people review restaurants that have some credible standing in the community as a restaurant, ie restaurants rated by Zagat or at least have some kind of wait staff associated, and definately not a restaurant that's a "buffet". But, as I normally do here at And the Rest Will Follow... I'm going to buck the trend (see my review of the new Indiana Jones movie).

CiCis pizza is an all you can eat "gourmet" pizza buffet, complete with salad bar and dessert options. It's target customers being middle to low income suburban families who like to eat lots on the cheap. Usually these families have lots of kids. So, I definately fit into their target demographic. Basically, here's an explanation on what CiCi's Pizza has to offer straight from their website and I'll let you know my commentary afterwards:

"Hi, Welcome to CiCi's. Where the first word you hear is "hello" and the last is "thanks." Where the pizza's always ready and always fresh. Where the salads are crisp and the desserts are tempting. Where the high chair or booster seat arrives before you ask for it. Where seconds are okay and thirds are no problem. And where making guests happy is just the first step on the road to making them friends."

Yep, I got the "hello" and "thanks" on the way out. Pizza's definately always ready but I wouldn't say always fresh, sometimes you can't really tell where they've sliced the pizza because the pizzas have been under the nuclear powered heat lamps so long, they have melted the cheese over the slices of the pizze. Very interesting.

High chairs and booster seats have to be scouted out and sometimes I feel my kids need to be deloused after having sat in them. My kids usually can't sit up straight in these high chairs for too long because they've been caked with some kind of built up grime in the chair that keeps their skin from holding onto the plastic in the chairs. Pretty gross. Same thing for the tables, yuk!

The pizzas are not bad but you have to keep a keen eye out there for when they first come out of the oven so you know you're getting a "fresh" pizza. If you can do that, you've got some value there but mostly the pizza is okay for the price, which is really the only reason we go there, as soon as my oldest doesn't get the "kids eat free" discount, I'm outtie.

One other problem with CiCi's is that I really can't walk from my table to the drink station without slipping all over the grease soaked floor. I look like some spastic drunk teenager at 2am when I'm just trying to get some pink lemonade for my daughter. So, it's always an adventure when I walk around that place.

One cool thing that I find interesting about CiCi's is that I believe EVERY time I take my family to the place, we see people we know. Which may actually be a secret weapon of the restaurant. But all in all, it's a decent place to feed the fam quick and literally dirty.

So, let's review the review:
Good: Value; Great price to feed the family; Fresh pizza if you can spot the fresh ones; Friendly staff; Friends constanly showing up there.
Bad: Mediocre pizza; Booster seats & tables need to be pressure washed; The floor is a death trap.
Ugly: Heat lamps gotta be giving off some kind of radioactive elements, not good.

\m/