Place: Happy Joe's
Lunch: Pizza buffet (a whole lot of pizza, macaroni and cheese, cottage cheese, potato salad, Pepsi)
WOW it's cold today. What happened? I actually turned on my A/C last night to clear out the humidity.
On Tuesday, I realized I'd eaten at two different pizza buffets already this week, so I decided to go for it and eat at pizza buffets the rest of the week so I could compare them.
Most pizza chains with dine-in seating offer lunch buffets. The only chain around here that doesn't have them is Godfather's, which is odd because some outlying communities have Godfather's that DO have lunch buffets. Most pizza buffets are a pretty good value...you'll rarely spend over $10 even if tipping is expected...and it's pizza for pete's sake! Go nuts.
I'm sort of a grazer. I might pile up a plate the first time around, but otherwise I'll take a couple of slices and kind of watch out to see what gets rotated in. Unless they have all my favorites up at once, which is rare.
MONDAY: Old Chicago
The "Rush Street" pizza bar, which I'm pretty sure I covered in a recent blog post, comes with a salad or soup and a cookie at the end, all brought to you by your server. In between, you have about a half dozen pizzas and/or strombolis to graze from, as well as breadsticks and pasta with your choice of alfredo or marinara sauce. Easily the best quality food of any of this week's buffets. This is the same stuff they serve at dinner.
Neato.
Old Chicago actually has a complete lunch menu aside from the pizza bar too in case you'd rather have a lunch-sized serving of lasanga or something.
TUESDAY: Pizza Ranch
I arrive and there's three cars in the lot with people sitting in them, even though the store should have opened several minutes ago. Sure enough, the door is locked. I walk down to where I can see employees standing at the counter looking lonely, wondering why nobody's coming in for lunch. One sees me, takes the hint, and comes up to try the door. He unlocks it immediately, and the entire management team gets a look of "Oh, that's why." Everybody gets out of their cars and the stampede is on (pun intended, if you've ever been here.)
Same Guy who unlocked the door rings me up but somehow locks the cash register. A manager assists him while the others waiting in cars get checked out by Some Girl who knows what she's doing on another register. Eventually, I have a plate and drink cup and am on my way. The buffet is already fully stocked and waiting.
This store opened one week and one day ago, and I was here for opening day. The manager who helped the cashier said to me "Well, we must have done something right the FIRST time, because you came back!"
The Pizza Ranch is as known for their excellent chicken as they are for their pizza, and the representation of both at the "Mile-Long Buffet" (no, not even close) gives them the biggest non-pizza hot food variety of any of this week's buffets, with chicken (crispy or barbecue), mashed potatoes (yes, there's gravy) fried potato wedges, fried in-house potato chips, a salad bar, corn, soup (chicken noodle today...it's always chicken something here), and dessert pizzas available. Plus there's about eight pizzas. if you want a pizza that's not out, ask and they'll make it. This place was an instant hit on opening day, even though the road it's on is closed.
The Pizza Ranch is decked out in an extreme Western cowboy motif, almost to the point of ridiculous. Most food items are named to fit the theme. There's "ranch chips", "ranch wedges", and pizza combos named "Prairie", "Trailblazer", "Bronco", etc...) The staff is easily the friendliest of this week's pizza buffets. The staff is much more genuine in their concern that you enjoy the experience.
You know what's weird? The soda fountain has two taps for Pibb. One is labeled "Pibb Xtra", the tangier stuff that replaced the original Mr. Pibb, and one is labeled "Mr. Pibb". Could they actually have BOTH? So I have a glass of each. I'll be darned...they really DO have both. They're two distinctly different tastes. I didn't think Mr. Pibb existed anymore.
WEDNESDAY: Pizza Hut
It's been so long since I've been a dine-in customer at a Pizza Hut that I'd completely forgotten they have a table service format.
Server seats me, gets my Pepsi, and I head to the buffet. They have two lines of food...the hot line, and the salad bar. The hot bar has a couple of pastas, six pizzas including one dessert pizza, and breadsticks. The salad bar has all the usual salad fixings, plus potato salad, macaroni salad, pears, cottage cheese, a couple of puddings...it's easily the most decked out salad bar of the week.
The pizzas include a couple of original crust, a thin, and a couple of pan pizzas, including a taco pizza. Some Old Guy who works here brings out a thin crust Pepperoni Lovers and heads for a table of random old folks. "This goes pretty quick when they put it out, so I figured I'd better get you some now." He gives them each a slice or two. They are elated. Then he takes the rest back with him TO THE KITCHEN. I am denied Pepperoni Lovers until my second trip up, when the rest of that pizza is FINALLY added to the buffet.
The macaroni and cheese, which was one of the available pastas, was industrial and awesome all at the same time. The salad bar was great. The pizza variety rotated frequently as pies ran out throughout lunch. The pizza itself? As boring as ever.
I can't believe Pizza Hut has lasted this long. I really can't.
THURSDAY: Cici's Pizza
Cici's is the motherlode of pizza buffet value. It's the cheapest option, yet has the most pizza variety...a dozen pies at any given time...on a well maintained buffet line. Cici's makes a number of specialty pizzas that make them stand out from the crowd, including Buffalo Chicken, Zesty Pepperoni (a zesty white garlic sauce), Macaroni and Cheese, and more. They'll make any pizza you don't already see if you just ask (somebody today actually ordered a "green olive with garlic sauce". I didn't know they HAD green olives). The salad bar is simple but adequate, and the dessert choices (brownies, AWESOME cinnamon rolls, and an apple pizza) are very popular.
Cici's staff is trained to be friendly and fun. "Hi! Welcome to Cici's!" is heard from the cashier when you walk in the door. It's SUPPOSED to be repeated by the rest of the staff, but the staff at this store is pretty jaded, and you're lucky if one or two bother to mumble anything at all. They have other chants in their arsenal too, but all of them have disappeared here. They do announce when a new pizza is added to the buffet ("Pepperoni on the buffet!" "Garlic Chicken on the buffet!" "Lance, you idiot, get off the buffet!") The staff will often ask you if everything is okay, then give your their name and advise you to ask if you need anything. It's very scripted, which is what makes Cici's (slightly) less friendly than the Pizza Ranch.
Cici's staffs somebody (usually a supervisor) full-time in front of the pizza line. Stacy is the Master of Pizza Ceremonies most of the time when I come in for lunch. Stacy is a tall skinny long-legged blonde who keeps her hair in a pony tail. Once when I was here, she came in on her day off in hippie street clothes, glasses, and with her hair down. On that day, Stacy's status in my mind went from "Master of Pizza Ceremonies" to "One of the most beautiful women I have ever seen in my entire life".
I once in awhile make a special request for a pepperoni-mushroom. I didn't today, but one of the other regular supervisors saw me and had one made anyway, then brought me some.
THERE'S service for ya!
FRIDAY: Happy Joe's
Cici's pretty much ran all of the local Happy Joe's out of business this year. But two of them reopened under new management. This one seemed to be doing a decent business today.
I walk up to the door and the store hours indicate they open at 8am. WHAT??! Since when? Inside, I see a poster promoting the new Happy Joe's breakfast! Freaky Old Cashier: "It's pretty good." The menu includes some specialty breakfast pizzas and bowls. You can have a breakfast pizza made with whatever pizza ingredient you want on it. So if you want an egg, cheese, and pepperoni breakfast pizza, they'll apparently do it.
Happy Joe's has the smallest of the buffets, but they make use of the space. Six or seven pizzas are crammed into one half of the bar, with a couple of pastas, potato salad, cottage cheese, and a minimalist salad offering (I don't even recall seeing salad dressing) making up the rest. But the pizzas are rotated in at a pretty good rate, and if you plan to hang out for a half hour or so, you can try a wide variety of Happy Joe's combo pizzas.
Happy Joe's original "thin" crust will be familiar to those familiar with Shakey's or Round Table. It's not as doughy as Round Table's though. Their most popular pizza is the Taco Joe, probably the most popular taco pizza in existence. That's what everybody talks about when discussing Happy Joe's. But they have some other tasty unique creations. The B. L. T. pizza, a bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise pizza, is my personal favorite. And I got to eat both today, so I'm a happy smurf.
The one problem with this buffet is that you have to go to the cashier for drink refills, which means waiting in line behind people ordering lunch. That can be annoying. I plan to suggest a self-service soda bar on the comment card.
Well, there you have it. You'd think I'd be sick of pizza about now, wouldn't you?
No. I could totally do it all over again next week.
But I won't.
At least not every day.
