CiCi's Pizza in South Lansing
Like most people, J and I are trying to stretch our dining out budget during the holiday season. I’d rather buy J something nice than spend a fortune on cheap, but expensive bar food. This morning, we needed to make a grocery store run. We had planned on the weekly Horrocks/Walmart trip, but neither of us could get out of our warm bed. Instead, we slept in and settled for Meijer which doesn’t have the flavor or Propel I like.
Before hiting the grocery store, I needed food. I was starving. J suggested hitting something close and I thought of CiCi’s. I figured it would be fairly cheap and we shouldn’t leave a buffet hungry. I had eaten at a CiCi’s a few years ago with my dad back in Peoria (review HERE). I wasn’t a huge fan of the pizza, but it was cheap. J had never eaten there so it would be something new for her and a second chance for me.
CiCi’s Pizza is part of a strip mall on South Cedar across the street from the Meijer. There are a couple other restaurants in the strip mall and Finley’s American Grill (review HERE), Applebees, and Pizza Hut all have stand alone buildings. We found a place to park in front of the Dollar Store which is just a few doors down from CiCi’s. When you walk in, you come to a register where you pay. The lady working was right on top of things and saw us walk in. The only option for dine in is the endless buffet. We got two of those and two drinks. The total was just over $16 which I thought was high. I thought it’d be closer to $10, but when I did the math in my head, it made since. Six bucks for each of the buffet’s, a couple bucks for drinks and taxes come out to $16.
CiCi's Pizza on South Cedar Street in Lansing.
After paying, you walk around the corner to the buffet. The first stop is a salad bar which I bypassed rather quickly, but J stopped and got a little salad on her first trip. After the salad is the pasta. We both passed on that. I went straight for the pizza. They do have a number of pizzas out which is nice. There are a lot of options.
On my first pass, I went for two slices of cheese, two slices of pepperoni, and a slice of a buffalo wing pizza. The pizza isn’t all that great. It’s not anything I would ever consider ordering for delivery. Of the three I got, the buffalo wing pizza was pretty good, but I was wondering at first if I was eating chicken or something else. On my second trip to the buffet, I grabbed three more pieces of the buffalo wing pizza and some breadsticks. The breadsticks were delicious. It was definitely the best of the pizza that was up there. I also grabbed what I believe to be a mini cinnamon roll. It tasted like a cinnamon roll and was really messy. I didn’t grab silverware, but went back for a fork.
After getting the salad, J grabbed a slice of cheese, a slice of macaroni and cheese and a couple slices of dessert pizza. The mac ‘n cheese is kind of a CiCi’s specialty, but she didn’t say anything about it one way or the other. She saw the breadsticks before I did and grabbed a couple on the first trip. She also went back for a second trip, but didn’t say anything about the pizza either time. She did really like the brownie’s which she said were soft and gooey.
CiCi’s advertising is what drew me back. I guess I didn’t do the math ahead of time because $5.99 endless buffet sounds like a good deal, but when you think about it, I could have ordered a pizza, had it delivered, and probably paid less than I did at CiCi’s. Sixteen dollars isn’t bad, but the pizza really isn’t that good. It’s bland and doesn’t have a lot of flavor. There’s a lot of crust. CiCi’s is probably a good option for families..especially if you have hungry teenage boys, but for the two of us, I think we could have spent out money a little wiser and gotten better food from a delivery place.
Mid-Michigan Dining 
Perfectly said!!! CiCi’s is the Old Country Buffet of Pizza restaurants…Yuk…
My family used to eat at Old Country Buffet all the time. They were actually sad a few weeks ago when they thought the store closest to them pulled out of the market….once they found out it just moved, they were releaved…
I think you should give them a few more chances. There is a lot more to CiCi’s than you mentioned. For example, you can request a special pizza made just for you, and they will prepare it and deliver the requested number of slices to your table. Second, their pan pizza is awesome. My favorite pans are pepperoni and zesty ham and cheese. No lack of flavor there! I recommend returning and requesting a pan pizza in your favorite flavor. The salad bar is decent if they have cheese – not all do. You can ask them to give you cheese for your salad, and they happily do so. Some CiCi’s also have soup. You never tried the cinnamon rolls, which are by far the best thing about CiCi’s…they rival the brownies. I love them! If the money is a bummer, order water instead of soft drinks and save that way. It really is a bargain compared to other buffets ($7 and up), you get a ton of variety, and you don’t have to wait for pizza delivery, pay a tip and hope your pizza isn’t burnt, missing toppings or bland. At CiCi’s, if you don’t like your slice, go get a new one! So, I suggest going back, getting salad, pasta, pan pizza slices of your choosing and a cup of water. It will seem like more of a deal then. I hope you like them better!
I’ve tried a few times. The pizza just doesn’t do anything for me.
This is not Chicago pizza. In Chicago, our pizza has more sauce, cheese, and ingredients. CiCi’s serves simple pizza with not much more than crust. It’s cheap and you get what you pay for.
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