CiCi's - pizza for the masochist in you
Written: May 15 '05
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap
Cons: Bad food, screaming kids, did I mention the bad food?
The Bottom Line: -
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| carnut2k4's Full Review: CiCi's Pizza |
You dont tug on Supermans cape
You dont spit into the wind
You dont pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger
And You dont mess around with Pizza!
When Joe Croce (no relation as far as I know) started the CiCis Pizza chain twenty years ago, it was a dark day in culinary history. Granted its target market is not me, but in the past several years I have found myself dining at CiCis about once a year nonetheless.
Setting the stage
The two (of hundreds of) locations I have been to are run the same. As you enter this strip mall store all the pubescent employees scream Welcome to CiCis! at you in an incongruous vocal assault. You approach the register where you pay up front (well played Mr. Croce) and are issued a plastic tray. You place your tray on the track (think school cafeteria) and proceed down the line. Stacks of plates are there for you and the first station you pass is the salad bar. All the standard produce and a few dressings are available. Theres nothing fancy here but if there was, it would be out of place anyway. The salad just may be the best part of your dining experience at CiCis. After the salad there is a large steam tray filled with Ziti. The Ziti is best described as institutional food. Army, public school, prison take your pick. Any would be proud to serve you this Ziti. After the pasta you come to the staple of CiCis, the pizza.
First things first
On behalf of New York, this is not pizza. Now that we have that out of the way
lets get down to brass tacks. CiCis offers quite a few varieties of their pizza. Its a smallish round pie (about the size of Dominos or Pizza Hut) made with a thin crust. Therere the standards like cheese and pepperoni and also many others like Hawaiian, etc. Ive never seen less than a dozen different pies out and this is an all you can eat place so feel free to try em all. I find the crust to be completely lacking in flavor and too chewy to be considered a pizza crust. The sauce, cheese and various toppings are worth every bit of the $3.99 you spent to gain entry to this feast. This is low quality, mass produced food for families with screaming children which is a lovely segue into the ambiance of the restaurant.
Bring the earplugs
Ive never had the pleasure of a meal at Chuck E Cheese but I imagine it is quite similar to CiCis. The locations I have dined at both had wall mounted TVs blaring cartoons and several video games providing the perfect din over which to choke down your four bucks worth of pizza. Formica topped booths with low slung, connected benches provide no buffer for you. Most things you touch will be sticky. The bathrooms are reasonably clean though, which I must applaud the staff for. The legions of screaming kids running amok in the dining area are some how held at bay and do not manage to render the restrooms completely unusable.
Please send me to bed without dessert
The desserts at CiCis are Mr. Croces final insult. The same pizza crust is covered with dessert stuff and cut into slices like a regular pizza pie. Theres one with a chocolate sauce that Im reasonably sure contains no actual chocolate, another one has cinnamon apples and there are one or two others as well. These are cost effective menu items for the chain but they are truly awful desserts.
Washing it all down
Refillable sodas are available for purchase or for those who really want to dine for only $3.99 you can request a water glass. The water can also be refilled by the customer next to the soda station but they give you a different color glass to make it obvious if you requested a (free) water glass and are using it to drink soda.
In fairness
This is a restaurant for folks who have different requirements of a restaurant than I do. If, indeed, you are looking to feed a family of five for twenty dollars and the kiddies dont know from good food anyway, then this place will certainly fill that niche for you quite nicely. Given that this scenario is the actual marketing intent of the chain, I will end by recommending CiCis to families who fit the mold, all others turn around and run as fast as you can when you see this place.
My first time eating at CiCis the cost of a meal was $2.99. A couple of years ago the price was raised to $3.99. If they raise the price to five bucks they would find themselves swimming the same waters as McDonalds and would probably be in trouble. Price point is the only advantage to eating here and even at $2.99 I felt I over paid.
www.cicispizza.com
Reservations..............not taken / needed
Vegetarians...............salad, pasta, pizza
Bathrooms.................clean
Kid Friendly...............to a fault
Hours.........................by location
Dress Code................no shoes / no shirt no service
Parking......................parking lot / free
Wheelchair Access....yes
Credit Cards...............visa, mastercard
Recommended:
Yes
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Member: Jason
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