Cicis Pizza is one of the most famous buffet chains all across the country here in the USA. And just like many others, this has been a favorite spot to visit for me and my family. After all, where else can you get endless pizza, pasta, salad and desserts?
However, as the years passed things started to change and more and more people have started to go elsewhere for their buffet needs. That doesn’t mean Cici’s Pizza has all of a sudden gone downhill, but it definitely does mean somethings have changed.
Which is why, I am very curious as to see what happened throughout the years.
I am going to go back to Cici’s Pizza and dine in just like a regular customer and see just how things are, and if anything is particularly different from before. I want to see if Cici’s Pizza is still worth visiting or not in this day and age.
So lets go to Cici’s Pizza and do a review on the Cici’s Pizza Buffet and see how it goes~
Heading To Cici’s Pizza
Fortunately for me, Cici’s Pizza is actually pretty close to my house. In fact, there is like 3 Cici’s Pizza locations all around me which makes it fairly easy to drive to.
So I got in my car and drove to the nearest location that I could find which was about a 5 minute drive.
And there it was, in all its glory, Cici’s Pizza.
Surprisingly enough, when I parked my car, I saw that the parking lot was actually almost full with cars. Meaning quite a lot of people are actually at Cici’s Pizza enjoying their meal. And I can also see a bunch of people inside eating as their windows are seethrough.
This is a good sign as it still shows that Cici’s Pizza is still getting customers and attracting business.
Anyways, I’m here to enjoy the experience so lets go in and eat!
How Much Does Cici’s Pizza Buffet Cost?
Going into Cici’s Pizza, I saw the menu in front of me hanging on the wall.
Just like before, they offer Carry-out orders where you can order any pizza you want or even make a custom pizza too. But what most people, including me, are here for is the All-You-Can-Eat Pizza Buffet.
And as of the time of this writing, the current prices for a Cici’s Pizza Buffet is being listed as $5.49 for a Kids Buffet and $7.99 for an Adult Buffet.
Now the buffet does not include a drink, so that is going to cost extra at a suggested price of around $2.39 for a Regular Cup, $2.69 for a Large Cup and $1.10 for a Kids Cup.
And if you look at the menu, they also offer a special item that is not included in the buffet which is the chicken wings. You can get the wings in a variety of different flavors at an additional cost of around $6.99 for a 5-Piece Tray, $12.99 for a 12-Piece Tray and $23.99 for a 20-Piece Tray.
Now looking at this price, you might think “WOW, that’s cheap!”.
However, if you were like me and grew up many years ago, you’ll know that Cici’s Pizza used to be even cheaper. I still remember the times of when the commercial came on the TV and they advertised a buffet meal for only $2.99.
Now that was cheap!
Anyways, I paid for my food and lets get started with the Cici’s Pizza Buffet Review.
What Foods Does Cici’s Pizza Buffet Offer?
Cici’s Pizza is one of the biggest pizza buffets in the nation. Because of this, they are known to have a wide variety of foods for people to try. Some of which includes pizza, pasta, salads and desserts!
Being a pizza buffet, you can expect them to have a ton of different pizza options for you to choose from.
List Of Pizzas At Cici’s Pizza Buffet:
Classic Pizzas:
- Beef Pizza
- Cheese Pizza
- Pepperoni Pizza
- Sausage Pizza
- Veggie Pizza
- Classic Chicken Pizza
Specialty Pizzas:
- Spinach Alfredo Pizza
- Zesty Ham & Cheddar Pizza
- Mac & Cheese Pizza
- Buffalo Chicken Pizza
- Meat Eater Pizza
- BBQ Pork Pizza
- Supreme Pizza
- Cheese Stuffed Crust
- Alfredo Pizza
- Hawaiian Pizza
- Pepperoni & Beef Pizza
- Pepperoni & Jalapeno Pizza
- Pepperoni Stuffed Crust
- Giant Pizza
- Chicken Bacon Club Pizza
- Zesty Pepperoni Pizza
- Zesty Veggie Pizza
- BBQ Chicken Pizza
- Ultimate Pepperoni Pizza
Thin Crust Flatbreads:
- Cheese Flatbread
- Chicken Bacon Club Flatbread
- Honey BBQ Chicken Flatbread
- Spinach Alfredo Flatbread
- Pepperoni Flatbread
Deep Dish Pizzas:
- Cheese Deep Dish
- Meat Eater Deep Dish
- Pepperoni Deep Dish
- Supreme Deep Dish
Customers will also be able to make any custom pizza of their choice if they don’t see any that they like.
Asides from the pizzas, Cici’s Pizza also has Salads, Pasta, Sides and more.
List Of Salads, Pastas, Sides That Cici’s Pizza Buffet Has:
Pasta:
- Pasta with Marinara Sauce
- Pasta Salad
- Pasta with Alfredo Sauce
Sides:
- Buffalo Chicken Poppers
- Pepperoni Poppers
- Jalapeno Poppers
- Garlic Cheesy Bread
Salad:
- Mixed Salad
Soup:
- Chicken Soup
Cici’s Pizza also has a few desserts to choose from too which are really delicious!
List Of Cici’s Pizza Buffet Desserts:
Desserts:
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Fudge Brownies
- Bavarian Dessert Pizza
- Apple Dessert Pizza
Asides from the Pizza, Salads, Pasta, Sides and Desserts, Cici’s Pizza also has an additional item for sale which customers can buy for an additional cost. And that is the popular Chicken Wings, because as you know wings and pizza go hand in hand.
Currently, customers can choose from either bone in chicken wings or boneless chicken wings.
Here are the sauces you can choose from:
- Hot Buffalo
- Mild Buffalo
- Honey BBQ
- Garlic Parmesan
- Lemon Pepper
- Naked
My Experience At Cici’s Pizza
After paying for my Adult Buffet, I noticed that a lot of the items on the buffet line was actually empty. I’m not sure if they are just slow at refilling the stations or they only just got empty from the people taking the pizza slices.
Either way, it didn’t matter to me as I know they’ll be making fresh pizza real soon.
So lets get to eating!
Round 1 Of Cici’s Pizza Buffet
For my first round, I decided since a lot of the pizza buffet line was still empty and was waiting to get refilled, I opted for the pasta first.
I grabbed a small bowl and filled it with a bunch of pasta as well as both of the sauces.
I then took it to my seat and began eating.
Pasta
And I had to say, the pasta was actually decent, but it wasn’t anything special per say. After all, the pasta itself was nicely cooked as it was tender and toothsome, and the sauces gave it the flavor that it needs.
Although I will say the sauces are a bit too watery for my liking. I prefer my sauces to be on the thicker side so that when I take a scoop of pasta, it’ll also scoop up a bunch of sauce too. But my favorite had to be the alfredo sauce that coated the pasta like a warm blanket.
The alfredo sauce was cheesy and creamy and paired nicely with the pasta.
But the marinara sauce wasn’t really as good as there wasn’t really much flavor from it. Sure you can get a bit of a tomatoey feel but that’s literally it. I don’t think there was any type of seasoning in the marinara sauce at all.
I think if I were to get pasta again, I would just opt for the alfredo sauce as it has much more flavor than the marinara. Plus, it’s also much thicker too so it’ll actually cling on to the pasta when you take a bite.
Anyways, once I finished the pasta I noticed that the pizza buffet line was actually filled, so lets go try some pizza!
Round 2 Of Cici’s Pizza Buffet
Second round time and I got a plate filled with a few different varieties of pizza.
I saw that the buffet line had a few of my favorites like the Macaroni and Cheese Pizza, the Hawaiian Pizza, Buffalo Chicken Pizza and so much more. So I grabbed a few slices that I wanted to try and went back to my seat.
Macaroni And Cheese Pizza
First up is the Macaroni and Cheese Pizza.
For those of you that know, the Macaroni and Cheese Pizza is one of the most popular and famous pizzas that Cici’s Pizza serves. And this time around, the pizza itself looked just like it did many years ago when I last came here.
The Macaroni and Cheese Pizza had a bunch of macaroni on the slice as well as a good amount of cheese.
I took a bite, and realized that it wasn’t as good as I remembered it to be.
In fact, when your eating it, the crust itself is not really crisp, slightly doughy and the macaroni and cheese had like no flavor at all. It literally felt like I was just eating pasta and crust without any type of cheese or sauce at all.
I’m not sure what type of cheese they used, but they could have used a better cheese as there was no cheddary feel, no creamy sensation, it was just bland.
Wouldn’t recommend this pizza to anyone wanting to try.
Hawaiian Pizza
Next was the Hawaiian Pizza and I had to say it actually tasted a lot better than it looked.
The pizza slice that I grabbed had a good amount of toppings, pineapple, ham, cheese and more. And after the first bite, I immediately could taste the delicious savory sensation mixed with a hint of sweetness.
The crust like before was not really crispy and a bit doughy, but I felt like the toppings gave it a lot of flavor with each bite. The ham itself was tender, slightly crisp on the edges while the pineapple was soft and juicy and filled with a delicious sweet feeling that leaked down into the tangy tomato sauce.
This was actually pretty good.
I also noticed that they were really generous with the toppings too as the slice itself had a good amount of pineapples and ham and cheese altogether.
I would definitely recommend this pizza.
Buffalo Chicken Pizza
Now it was time for the Buffalo Chicken Pizza, and I remembered from my past years when I came, this use to be one of my favorites to try.
Looking at the pizza slice, I felt like this was an old piece of pizza. The sauce looked a little dried up and there was barely any chicken pieces on the slice. In my mind, I think this was one of the old slices that’s been sitting for quite a while.
Anyways, I took a bite and honestly it was just okay.
Nothing too special about the crust, but the buffalo sauce was actually pretty decent. It was a good buffalo sauce where it was thick, tangy, and had a slight vinegar type of hint that paired nicely with the pizza. Cheese wasn’t really gooey but it did its job providing a slight cheesy feel.
However, I felt like the chicken was a bit dry.
I’m not sure how long this slice of pizza has been sitting out, but I was expecting the chicken to be a lot better. Didn’t really have much flavor and there was like no moisture in the chicken at all. Plus, looking at the slice of pizza, they only gave me like 3 small cubes of chicken so it felt like I was just eating a buffalo sauce pizza instead of a buffalo chicken pizza.
Flavor was okay though so I could probably see myself coming back for another slice if it was made fresh.
Round 3 Of Cici’s Pizza Buffet
Finishing round 2, I decided to get up and get another plate of pizza.
This time around, I saw there was a bit more variety on the buffet line for people to choose from so I was pretty excited.
I saw that they had a supreme pizza, pepperoni and jalapeno pizza and also a zesty ham and cheddar pizza so I grabbed slices from all three of those and went back to my seat to enjoy.
Zesty Ham and Cheddar Pizza
The Zesty Ham and Cheddar Pizza I had to say looked a bit sad.
Their was barely any ham on the slice and one of the ham slices looked like it was about to fall off the pizza. But anyways, it’s the taste that counts so I grabbed it and took a bite.
Flavor wise, it was not bad.
It’s basically the same thing as the Hawaiian Pizza but without the sweetness.
Just like before, the ham itself was tender and crisp on the edges while the cheese was nicely melted. I could tell this was a fresh pizza as there was still steam coming from the slice. Plus when you ate it, you could definitely taste the zesty feel.
It was a bit garlicy with slight nutty sensations flowing all throughout.
It was decent.
I would definitely get this slice of pizza again.
Pepperoni & Jalapeno Pizza
Next up was the Pepperoni & Jalapeno Pizza which is actually one of my favorites.
I don’t know about you, but just the concept of having jalapenos mixed with your pepperoni is such a flavorful sound to me. Anyways, I hoped it tasted as good as I remembered so I took a bite.
And just like before, this was delicious, and it tasted just like I remembered.
It’s basically your ordinary pepperoni pizza but with jalapenos that give it a nice spicy kick.
Not overpowering in spice, but just slight enough where it kind of tickles your tongue. Plus, the pepperonis were nice as they were crisp all around and had a slight spice to them. It paired well with the cheese and sauce and overall tasted pretty decent.
It’s not your overall 5 star pizza that you could find at a Michelin restaurant, but for the low cost of this buffet, this slice of pizza wasn’t bad.
I just wish the crust was a lot better as its pretty doughy, but other than that its good.
Supreme Pizza
Lo and Behold the Supreme Pizza, which is one of the most iconic pizzas in the entire world.
Everyone should know what a Supreme Pizza is as its basically a pizza with many different toppings on top of it like vegetables, meats and more.
And the Cici’s Pizza version of the Supreme Pizza actually looked pretty decent as the slice of pizza is filled with so many different things, you could barely even see the cheese or sauce.
I took a bite, and it was pretty good for Cici’s Pizza standards.
It’s not going to beat your Pizza Hut, Dominos, Little Caesars or anything like that, but it does its job of providing flavor with a bunch of ingredients.
The vegetables themselves were plenty and cooked well as some gave a nice crunch, some were tender, some had a hint of sweetness and more. The pepperoni and sausage gave it a savory feel with a meaty bite. Cheese and sauce were just okay.
Overall, it wasn’t bad and I would totally get it again.
Spinach Alfredo Pizza
Last one on this plate is the Spinach Alfredo Pizza which is one of Cici’s Pizzas unique creations.
It’s basically an alfredo pizza but with a bunch of spinach added on top of it. And it’s actually one of my favorite pizzas to try as I love spinach.
Taking a bite, It brought me back to my childhood where I would come here with my parents and eat this pizza non stop.
The spinach itself was cooked tender and soft, it was a bit mild and also has a slight sweetness to it. Pair that up with the alfredo sauce that was nice and creamy with a cheesy feel, this was delicious.
Honestly, I could probably go back and eat like 5 more slices as this tasted just that good.
If you love spinach or vegetables, I would definitely recommend the Spinach Alfredo Pizza.
Round 4 Of Cici’s Pizza Buffet
Round 4 of Cici’s Pizza I decided to try the Wings.
As you know, the wings are actually not part of the buffet and it actually costs extra to get them. I opted for the 5 wings tray and it costed an additional $6.99.
I decided to try the Buffalo flavor for these wings as that’s what I heard was most popular.
So lets try them~
Buffalo Wings
When they handed me my tray of wings, I noticed that they literally drowned it in sauce. There was so much sauce all over the place, which isn’t a bad thing, but just something funny to see.
The wings themselves aren’t too big but they aren’t to small either. They looked like they had a good meat ratio to bone so it did look quite appealing.
Anyways, I took a bite and immediately I realized why nobody around me was buying these wings.
These wings were some of the worst wings I have ever tried.
I don’t know how Cici’s Pizza cooked them, but when I took a bite, it literally felt like these were microwaved wings. It’s like the meat itself wasn’t even meaty but had somewhat of a mushy consistency which was just weird.
There was no crisp on the wings and it felt like I was just drinking sauce from how much sauce they added to the wings. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem if the wings actually had a meaty tender texture, but the texture here was just completely off.
If you ever microwaved some wings before, then you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s that unpleasant mushy feel that just turns you off completely. The sauce was okay as it had a strong tangy taste with a bit of kick.
But I would definitely not recommend these wings to anybody and would never get them again.
I couldn’t even finish one wing~ It was just that bad!
Salad Time
After trying those atrocious wings, I decided to cleanse my mouth with some salad.
The salad bar actually looked really nice as it was completely stocked with so many different ingredients. There was lettuce, onions, mushrooms, olives, pasta and more. With also a variety of different sauces for you to choose from.
I got a bit of everything and then went back to my seat.
Honestly, I’m actually surprised that Cici’s Pizza still has a salad bar in their buffet since the price of vegetables has gone up quite a bit. Either way, I was happy to still see it around.
I took a bite and it was pretty good.
I mean, it’s your typical buffet salad that you build yourself. You can’t really go wrong with it.
The lettuce tasted fresh, onions still had a crisp to them with a hint of sweetness, mushrooms were soft, and the macaroni had a good bouncy and firm texture. But whatever that thousand island sauce was made from, I need the recipe.
I don’t know about you, but that thousand island sauce actually had so much flavor.
It was thick, creamy and had a good tangy sensation with a good amount of sweetness. It coated the salad really well and gave it the much needed flavor that it deserves. Honestly, I would come back just for the salad bar as the price isn’t bad and for unlimited salad, why not?
I would definitely recommend the salad bar to anyone who comes!
Round 5 Of Cici’s Pizza Buffet
Once I finished the salad, I was almost completely full.
However, I still had room for some dessert so that’s what I opted for.
I noticed that the dessert section had quite a few selections. They had the usual brownie and cinnamon rolls, but they also had this Bavarian Dessert Pizza, I decided to grab all three just to try and went back to my seat.
Bavarian Dessert Pizza
First up was the Bavarian Dessert Pizza as this was also one of Cici’s Pizza unique creations. It was basically a pizza that had a bunch of Bavarian cream on top that is topped with cinnamon sugar and a drizzle of icing. It looked amazing.
I took one bite and thought it was actually pretty good.
It was very thick though like that Bavarian cream took a bit to chew but the flavor was good.
It was nice and creamy while the having a good amount of sweetness to the whole thing. Plus, the crust was actually cooked pretty well where it was crispy all around.
This was good and I would definitely recommend it.
It is pretty sweet though~
Brownie and Cinnamon Roll
Lastly, it was time to try the Brownie and Cinnamon Roll.
Both of which just looked like your typical buffet dessert items so I didn’t really expect anything to special from them.
Starting with the brownie, when I took a bite, I realized that it was thick and super gooey. Gooey to the point where it kind of stuck everywhere in your mouth. Wasn’t really a fan of that feeling, but the flavor was good as it had a strong chocolatey flavor with a subtle amount of sweetness.
Next was the Cinnamon Roll and honestly I felt like they didn’t really add as much icing on top. I took a bite, and it just felt like I was biting into a plain roll with barely any cinnamon or cream cheese icing. It was soft and fluffy though, but definitely needed the extra icing and sugar for that flavor.
Wasn’t really a fan of the Brownie or Cinnamon Roll, but maybe I just got a bad batch?
Is The Cici’s Pizza Buffet Worth It?
At the end of the day, Cici’s Pizza Buffet is still regarded as being one of the cheapest buffets you can ever visit. Unlimited pizza, pasta, salad and desserts for only around $7.99 per adult, that is like a dream come true.
Although it’s true that the quality is not the same as before and it’s probably mediocre pizza that you are getting, but for paying such a low price, it’s actually not a bad deal. If you’re wanting a cheap and affordable place to eat as much pizza, pasta, salad and more that you want, then I think Cici’s Pizza is still the place to go.
I know for sure I will definitely be back.
