CiCi's Pizza left a bad taste in our mouths

I first heard about CiCi's Pizza before we even had one available in my town. Home of the pizza buffet for under $4, at the time, I was excited when they branched out to my neighborhood, even if their prices had been bumped up a bit by then. Married, at the time, with four kids...his, mine, and ours...a family dinner out for under $20 was amazing.

The kids grew and so did the prices, and now a family meal out including my ex-husband and his son is a little over $30 there, but still a good value and a relaxed, family-friendly environment. I love the B-B-Q pizza, and all of the kids were crazy about the curly pasta with alfredo sauce. Emily in particular, will somehow squeeze three plates of it into her long, lean, frame. Whenever we gave the kids a choice in where we went to dinner, CiCi's was *always* the top choice from all of them.

So, recently, to celebrate the girls' good grades, their father, Brian, my roommate, Dale, and I took them to CiCi's. They were so shorthanded and busy that the girl at the counter had to ring a party up, then dash to an empty table and bus it before they went through the line and sat down. Finally we were up and I paid for us all. But as we went down the buffet line, we realized that our favorite things were just gone. No plain curly pasta. No alfredo. No cheese bread. Just some icky marinara covered pasta and flavorless breadsticks.

I was not impressed. Emily was so upset she was nearly in tears, and would not eat a thing. When I spoke with the manager about our disappointment and my daughter's reaction, he just passed the buck to corporate for the menu change and didn't even offer to refund her meal.

So, just know that CiCi's menu has changed. Even though their commercials say "Same Great Taste." Even though there are no signs about the change. Even though their website still makes mention of 'endless topping choices' for pasta that no longer exist. Even though their downloadable menu specifically mentions alfredo sauce and garlic cheese bread.