Thankful for Good Pizza & Good Friends

 

Happy Thanksgiving! While pizza may not be on the menu today, I wanted to give you the rundown on the places I checked off the list this month. These stops were extra special because I had guests at both stops! For those of you keeping track, we are down to one more spot on the original list that I'm saving for the month of December to celebrate the end of this self-established and self-guided pizza tour. 

Cici's Pizza

I've been keeping my eye out on CiCi's because I felt it was one that COVID could have scratched off of the list for me. Some buffets have open back up here and some haven't. All of the ones that have opened up have different rules. CiCi's website told me that either someone would be fixing my plate from the buffet for me, or there would be disposable spatulas. (I was really hoping for the latter.) 

Hungry Eyes Jr joined me for this trip, and to my disappointment, someone was fixing our plates for us. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that they were open, but I sometimes sense the judgment from the employee having to fix plates when I ask "can I have more than one of those?" But I sucked up my pride and did say "I would like more than the one slice" and we both left happy and full. 

California Pizza Kitchen

I'll admit, I was not excited about checking this one off the list. Granted, I've only had their BBQ chicken pizza because the people I have been here with before said I HAD to try it. I didn't like it. Just a heads up, I have tried multiple BBQ chicken pizzas in my life and I have not liked any of them. So I shouldn't have held that against CPK. 

Since I wasn't overly excited about this one, I asked my crew to join me. It ended up being the 3 musketeers and the entire night was a blast. It was great to catch up and chill, with some good food to boot. We started with the street corn (not pictured because of the hunger levels of yours truly) which was fabulous! The parm and feta along with the spices made it extremely tasty and I could have eaten an extra plate of it. 

Then we ordered pizzas, and I went with the 5 cheese and tomato. (Knowing full well I was going to take the tomato off...it's a texture thing.) I love multiple cheeses on pizza and this combination - fresh & traditional Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, Romano and smoked Gouda - was phenomenal! My original intent was to leave with some for lunch the next day, but that didn't happen. 

All of this deliciousness was gone before dessert

Two of the three amigos opted to end the night with dessert. One opted for the butter cake (which looked fabulous) I debated between the Belgium Chocolate Soufflé and the Red Velvet cake. I opted for the Red Velvet, and while it was good...I need to go back for the Belgium Chocolate one soon. Even if I go just for that! 

This month's winner for best pizza was really a no brainer. Cici's is good for what it is, lots of pizza at a great price. But as far as quality goes, it pales in comparison to most actual pizza restaurants.