Cici’s Pizza

Five stars. The food is consistently fulfilling, you get your money’s worth without question. The staff is silly, the place is clean. I love the ranch dressing at the salad bar. It is pure heaven.

We stopped here on a Sunday after spending the day at the Indiana State Museum Star Wars exhibit. First off, this is the only CiCis left on the north and west sides of Indy. Walked in and the place was hoppin. But it’s not only because of the cheaply priced buffet. The staff were having fun and enjoying their work. They were engaging and yelling out when a new food item was placed on the buffet. I have to admit that watching people clamber up when their favorite pizza was called out was fun. Kind of a civilized Hunger Games scene… The activity was so engaging my 7 year old didn’t even see the arcade in the back until he was done eating. And if that isn’t magic, I don’t know what is.

My husband is a quantity-​over-​quality type of guy. Me? Not so much. But, every so often, I give in and agree to go to a buffet. I used to eat at a Cici’s in Fishers when they first opened. At first, the pizza was pretty good. But after a while, the quality went downhill. Now they seemed focused on gimmicky pizza or, I guess, pizzas that kids would like. Mac and cheese topped pizza? Sure, why not! Blech! The pizza is bland and pretty dull. (Ha, a Cici’s commercial just came on while I’m typing this.) I guess, if you aren’t picky, you’d probably like Cici’s. There’s nothing wrong with it for the price.

I love this place! It’s located in a somewhat dirty strip mall, but the inside is pretty clean. I agree with the previous review, it’s a pretty carb heavy buffet, but it was still so good. The price for adults is $ 5.29, but if u add a drink, it’s an additional $ 1.99. Still beats the price of other buffets. I was seriously craving this, so maybe that’s why I loved it so much. Oh, and the people here were super friendly, I feel bad I didn’t leave a tip (there’s no waiter service, so it didn’t cross my mind). Will definitely come again.

First off, the salad bar section, though limited compared to real buffets, is pretty good quality. They always have had a big bowl of iceburg lettuce, and one of Ceasar salad. They usually have a creamy pasta type cold salad too. And the veggies on the salad bar have always been consistently good in my opinion: the cherry tomatoes, cucumber slices, fresh mushroom slices, sliced black olives, brocoli, and baby carrots. So EAT YOUR VEGGIES.
Next, the pizza stations. Here’s the BIG SECRET to getting a GREAT pizza at Cici’s: THEY WILL MAKE A CUSTOM PIZZA AT YOUR REQUEST.
Don’t like their one-​topping pizzas or standard combos? Just ask for whatever you want. They will make you an entire pizza just for your table, or put it on the buffet to share with others if you don’t want to eat a whole pizza by yourself.
However, one thing I have noted: if you go with a lot of toppings, you have to ask them to increase the baking time (I usually ask them to add 3 minutes to normal bake time), or otherwise, they will just bake it the standard number of minutes and it will be under-​done due to the extra toppings on the pie.
Out of the ordinary toppings include chicken, tomato chunks, pasta swirls, pineapple, and various types of cheeses, in addition to the ordinary toppings of sauce, pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, ham, green peppers, olives, onions, etc.
There is also a «pasta bar» with a couple different types of pasta, and two different sauces, a red-​sauce and a white sauce. I’m too much of a pasta snob to like pasta off a buffet, as neither it nor the sauce is as fresh as I like. The pasta sauces also just taste a little too industrial for me.
Other sides include pizza-​dough or pizza-​like garlic bread.
Dessert options are a sugary-​cinnamon pizza-​like concoction, and brownies.
All the locations that I’ve been to have a game room for the kiddies (or big kids) in back, so it is usually a loud and crowded «family» place with screaming brats, etc. And they are often unable to bus the tables quickly, so you’ll see piled plates during the height of the dinner hour. But if you go outside the dinner rush, it’s usually well-​kept and not so hectic.
It’s very carb heavy here, so that’s why I try to fill up as much as possible on the salad and veggie part.
The various stores in their chain are remarkably consistent. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen ‘em all.
I forget what the price was last time, but I’m thinking $ 5-​something, plus drink, plus tax. Same price for both lunch and supper. It’s a GREAT DEAL, and even more so if you have them custom-​make a pizza with lots of toppings (toppings are more expensive than pizza dough) or you’re a big eater (like me.)
You can also order pizza by the box to take out.
Not many people do, but please leave a tip. Their employees work hard, are always on the go, and are very friendly. I’m impressed by the consistently positive and service-​oriented attitude of all their managers/​supervisors that I’ve encountered.