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| - I recently viewed the Cici's commercial on TV advertising their $3.99 all-u-can eat pizza special. $3.99 for all the soup, salad, pizza, and dessert I wanted? I had to check it out. I purposely skipped breakfast, and showed up on a Sunday around 1pm. After waiting about 15 minutes in line to pay, I paid about $6.25 for the buffet with a to-go cup for soda. The family of 7 in front of me paid less than $20 for all of 'em. What a deal!
First stop, the big premade salad bowls. The ranch salad consisted of lettuce, bacon bits, and ranch dressing, and the latter was lettuce, red onions, black olives, and grape tomatoes with Italian dressing. Lot's of lettuce and dressing, with a little bit of the rest.
Next was the chicken noodle soup, which I passed on. Next to it was a big troth of pasta sauce, with a couple corkscrew pasta noodles in it. I took a bowl of the bland, flavorless sauce with some bread sticks. On to the pizza!
I took the baby plate, and started to load up on the minuscule slices of pizza. Macaroni and cheese pizza, BBQ chicken pizza, buffalo chicken pizza, pepperoni, there was a good selection to choose from. After swerving my way through about 200 kids and screaming parents, I finally got a soda and attempted to locate a table. I guess everyone in Phoenix saw the same commercial, because they were all there. I found a table near the exit and started to sample the goods. The macaroni and cheese pizza was disgusting. The corkscrew pasta I left for someone else was on top of a cold crust with some old cold cheese sauce. Next the BBQ pork pizza. Surprisingly, this was the best of the bunch. The sauce was sweet and tangy, and there was actually a good amount of cheese. The bread sticks were also great, along with the alfredo pizza. The buffalo chicken pizza was also nothing to write home about...a piece of bread with buffalo wing sauce on top, and tiny chicken cubes. Yuck.
All of a sudden I heard some singing...something about "yippee yipee Mexican pizza" or something like that. I excitedly ran up surrounded by a bunch of rug rats to grab a a piece with some other cardboard samples. Returning to my table less than a minute later, everything was gone. My pizza, my plates, my to-go cup I paid extra for, even my Sunday paper. I looked behind me to see a girl with the dirty dish bin on wheels patrolling around, clearing off tables in the madness of people. She looked at me like a deer in headlights, and ran. I laughed, got another cup for my soda, and continued to grub.
The Mexican pizza....bread with sauce, lettuce and 2 shreds (yes, cold not even melted small individual straight from the bag) of cheddar cheese. Great, I now have the recipe on how to make Mexican food at home. Want some Mexican ice cream or Mexican egss? Just throw just shredded lettuce on top and voila! The only thing Mexican about the pizza was the name of it and the nationality of the lady who put it on the hot plate. The rest of the other pizza was the same, little cheese, sparse toppings, little sauce, cold...off to dessert.
I stood up and saw the bus lady lurking, she was everywhere I turned. I told her "I'm not done yet, I'm still eating" and went back to the buffet line. I decided to try the dessert, so I got a plate of cinnamon buns and brownies. I headed back to my table just as the bus woman started to clear my table. As soon as she noticed me, her eyes got big again and poof! She was gone . The dessert was an excellent surprise! The buns had delicious icing, were gooey, and warm. The brownies were also warm, chocolaty, and melt in your mouth.
All in all, Cici's was like a bad acid trip. Every time the door opened, either by a person or the wind, the crew "enthusiastically" screamed "Welcome to Cici's!" or "Thanks for coming in! See you next time!". By the hundredth time hearing that over the first 10 minutes, and listening to the screaming kids and parents who could care less if their kids were rude, loud, and obnoxious, I was ready to claw my ears off. On a good note, the staff aimed to please. I saw an elderly couple come in, go to the counter, and ask for a spinach pizza. 10 minutes later, they had a whole spinach pizza delivered to their table, all for themselves, at no extra charge. For that, the dessert, the barbecue pizza, and the bread sticks, I give Cici's 2 stars. Also, where else can you feed a family of seven an all-you-can eat meal with free balloons as toys for less than $20???
Will I go to Cici's again? If I lose my job and life savings, become homeless, don't eat for a week, and find $5. on the side of the road, I would possibly consider spending my day at Cici's. Or if I have a burning desire to eat all the BBQ pizza, cinnamon buns, and brownies in an attempt to gain a ton of weight. However, I don't for"Cici" that happening anytime in the near future.
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