Cici's closed

[General Mike]

I've never been to CiCi's or Golden Corral.

I did enjoy the occasional trip to Ponderosa back in the day (20 years ago).

[cuervo72]

CiCi's is good when you want to try a little of everything, and you don't want to coordinate toppings with the whole family (my daughter is seriously picky). And I think their thin crust (flatbread?) is pretty darned tasty. And it's casual, pick your own seat, wander around/take your time. Sometimes you're just in the mood for that.

I unfortunately have to agree on the price for M&P places. I love the pizza, but man - you get three toppings and you're talking $20 for one pie. I jump on the place around the corner when they have their $7.99 1-topping large special on Mondays, but outside of that, it's tough (especially when my wife prefers Pan to a NY style pizza).

Papa Murphy's is a decent option now and then (I know I've trumpeted them before and have heard a big "fuck that" on cooking it yourself). Good variety on sauces/toppings/crusts, and they run tons of specials.

[Marc Vaughan]

We've got a Cici's just down the road - its next to my favourite Chinese takeaway ....

My youngest son (11) is the only one who ever wants to eat there - they're not 'bad', but frankly any frozen pizza is on a par with their pizza in my experience ... although my wife does like their desert items (which is also one of the reasons she never wants to go there ).

[Abe Sargent]

Cici's literally made me vomit the first time there after eating their crappy ass food Never again.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

I unfortunately have to agree on the price for M&P places. I love the pizza, but man - you get three toppings and you're talking $20 for one pie.

I think the most I have seen a large pizza go for is around $18 and that's a deluxe.

[B & B]

Just looked online for the mom-n-pop pizza place closest here.

The only large pies they have for LESS than 18 bucks are cheese, 3 cheese and Hawaiian. Most others are 18-20.

They don't deliver.

There are some Mellow Mushrooms around here, but Id bet from experience , those pies are 22-26 bucks for a large and they also don't deliver.

Its a nice racket. Food costs on pies are like 2-3 bucks using good ingredients, but that's another story.

[ISiddiqui]

Price for mom & pop's are so, so, so worth it. I have eaten at CiCi's and I'd literally pay 5 times their prices for decent pizza pie. Thankfully the Atlanta metro does have decent pizza (just not "good" pizza, according to NY/NJ standards - they have a hard time getting the crust right and the sauce the proper level of tanginess. Oh, and they usually put way too much sauce and cheese on the damned thing - it sounds counter-intuitive because the sauce and cheese are delicious, but a thin layer of each makes it so ridiculously good)

[JonInMiddleGA]

On a kinda random note, here's one online blogger guy ("The Pizza Snob") with a review of the Mom & Pop mini-chain I mentioned earlier. I'm kinda surprised he was so gracious, I mean, I like it and all but it's what my wife & I call "college pizza".

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh, just cause I hate to be dead wrong, I did find at least one other M&P place here. I'd forgotten about it entirely because, well, it's awful. The price of awful is $12.99 + about $2 per topping. Ends up right around $18-$20

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by B & B

There are some Mellow Mushrooms around here, but Id bet from experience , those pies are 22-26 bucks for a large and they also don't deliver.

Well, if you get their special pies, yeah. My local Mellow Mushroom costs $13.50 for a large cheese pie. Toppings are, IIRC, $1-2 per.

[cuervo72]

Ok, maybe $20 was a bit high - ours is $10.50 for the pie (though I wonder if that has actually come down), $2 per topping. $18 for "Mediterranean", $18 for meat lovers, $17 for veggie. $15 for white or pesto though.

Menu - Pizza Blitz - Frederick, MD

[Ragone]

Oddly enough... best pizza in kc is probably Casey's Pizza..(gas station)

[stevew]

There's this gas station place we hit up in Youngstown NY every summer that is the bomb. I don't see a comparable pizza to that in any of our mom and pops so I don't mind spending 45$ for a couple sheets.

[Izulde]

Good pizza in Las Vegas is a complete mirage.

[RainMaker]

M&P is more expensive but worth it. I understand in some parts of the country you don't have a ton of options, but how anyone can regularly eat Dominos, Pizza Hut and other chains is beyond me. It's just bad pizza.

Now there are bad M&P places, but at some point you'll find a good one. And they care much more about their product than the big chains.

[PilotMan]

I've yet to really find a M&P that I liked better than a chain, especially considering the price.

Cici's is great with kids. They love it.

[Matthean]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

I've yet to really find a M&P that I liked better than a chain, especially considering the price.

This. I did look up the price of the local place that keeps winning the best pizza in the area and yeah, their prices can go into $20-$26 range. Other people like my parents or work were always the ones paying so I guess I ignored it. It's just chains can cost half that and are a shorter drive. I accept Domino's isn't the greatest, but I can get twice the amount of food for the cost in 1/3 of the drive. If I'm willing to spend high end money for a pizza, I'll just make it myself.

[JetsIn06]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Threads like this make this Jersey boy twitch .

This

[PilotMan]

There are 3 M&P pizza places within walking distance of my crash pad in Jersey. They all suck.

[Izulde]

Since my original post in this thread, I've eaten at CiCi's a few times. It's perfectly acceptable for pizza buffet pizza and at a decent price. A good filler-up when you're an impoverished graduate student and/or adjunct and just want bang for your buck.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

There are 3 M&P pizza places within walking distance of my crash pad in Jersey. They all suck.

Shrug, dunno what to tell you. Everytime I visit Jersey the FIRST thing I want is pizza. My Montana-raised girlfriend tried some for the first time last summer and nearly feel on the floor due to how amazing it was. Most of time I don't get toppings on it, because they take away from the perfection of the cheese pizza.

No chain can touch it and I'd even pay $30 for a large pizza (even though its more like $15 in real cost) for that stuff over any $10 pie from Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Little Caesar, Papa John's, etc.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Shrug, dunno what to tell you. Everytime I visit Jersey the FIRST thing I want is pizza. My Montana-raised girlfriend tried some for the first time last summer and nearly feel on the floor due to how amazing it was. Most of time I don't get toppings on it, because they take away from the perfection of the cheese pizza.

No chain can touch it and I'd even pay $30 for a large pizza (even though its more like $15 in real cost) for that stuff over any $10 pie from Pizza Hut, Dominoes, Little Caesar, Papa John's, etc.

We lived in south Jersey for about a year right out of college.

Absolutely the only thing I miss are the amazing Italian Pizza/Sub joints that were EVERYwhere...

We literally had 6-7 within walking distance of our apartment. They were all different but all tasty as heck. Pizza or meatball subs that would make you fight someone over.

Coming from someone who spent much of his youth with a grandma who was born in Sicily and LOVED to cook...it was as close to Grams cooking as Ive found.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Izulde

Since my original post in this thread, I've eaten at CiCi's a few times. It's perfectly acceptable for pizza buffet pizza and at a decent price. A good filler-up when you're an impoverished graduate student and/or adjunct and just want bang for your buck.

I agree and I don't think anyone was arguing its better than higher end handmade pizza.