An Ypsilanti Pizza Review

Cici's Pizza

I skipped lunch today. That is my excuse. You see, I was *really* hungry when I drove by that new Cici's Pizza Buffet place. I decided that pizza sounded good for dinner and somehow the rumbling in my tummy turned my brain off. Otherwise, it might have occurred to me that the pizza in a place located in the same strip mall as WalMart, that advertises an all-you-can-eat pizza buffet for under $5, might not have the best pizza in town.

While I was waiting for the pizza I ordered, I took the opportunity to take a look at their buffet. It seemed pretty straight forward. There were three kinds of tossed salads differentiated as far as I could tell mostly by the type of dressing they put on the lettuce (italian, ranch, or ceasar). There were some uninspiring looking breadsticks and some decent looking desserts. There were around a dozen different kinds of pizza and also pasta with a choice of marinara or alfredo sauces.

I decided to get a medium pizza "to go" since I wasnt in the mood to eat in. I ordered just a plain old pepperoni pizza because I believe that pepperoni pizzas are the pizzas to judge all other pizzas by. If a place can make a decent pepperon pizza, it is a good bet that all of their other pizzas will pass muster too. I have to say that after eating a slice of the pizza I ordered, I immediately realized how Cici's might be able to turn a profit on their all-you-can-eat buffet because I realized that one slice was about all I could eat of this pizza. The dogs liked it though but they eat cat poop at every opportunity so I wouldnt take it to mean much that they liked it. Although I havent eaten Domino's Pizza in years, I think that this pizza might be even worse or at the very least along the same vein. It isnt entirely uneatable and might appeal to someone who just wants something bland that tastes like cheese and tomato sauce on cardboard. I will give Cici's one thumbs up though. They do seem to use a pepperoni that has *some* flavor to it. Not enough to make it worth anyone's while to actually go there though.

Domino's Pizza

I have decided to include Domino's Pizza in my review mostly because I think it is one of the world's great ironies that one of the world's largest sellers of bad pizza could get its start in a town like Ypsilanti Michigan where there is good pizza everywhere. Before going to Cici's, I would have said that Domino's makes the WORST pizza in town but now I think they might have a run for their money.


Aubree's

The truth is that I have only had a proper pizza from Aubree's a couple of times. I seldom seem to order pizza there anymore though because I usually seem to end up there during happy hour when their Calzones are half price. But Calzones are really just folded up pizza so I feel qualified to write a review of Aubree's pizza.

Generally I think that Aubree's Pizzas are pretty darn good. They might even be the best pizza in town. The crust has a nice texture and flavor. The sauce has character. The toppings are of a quality one would expect from a good pizza. All in all, a winner. I would even say Aubree's happy hour half price calzones are the best pizza value in all of Ypsilanti except that I usually find myself having a couple happy hour mojitos or martinis or whatever the drink of the day happens to be so I end up spending more money than I would otherwise and sometimes have to walk home afterwards. Oh well, the atmosphere is good there and I usually go with friends so it is all good. In fact, I can honestly say that Aubree's is one of my favorite places to meet up with folks.


Mr Pizza

This is a local chain but you know what, it is pretty darn good pizza. It isnt very expensive either. The have all the usual things that make a good pizza. Good toppings and good sauce. It is their crust that I like the best though. It is all nice and crispy on the outside but really soft on the inside. It is strong enough to hold the toppings without tasting like cardboard. I probably eat their pizza the most because it is so cheap and so close by that I can easily take advantage of their pick-up specials.

Mr Pizza has a menu that includes a lot of non-pizza items and also has a catagory that I like to think of as "things we can make out of pizza dough." My very favorite guilty pleasure from that section of their menu are the cinnamon sticks which are pizza dough with cinnamon sugar and vanilla icing. It is sugar shock in the extreme so I dont get it very often but if you are jonesing for some sugar, it is one pretty good way to get it. I like those things more than I like donuts.

Happy's Pizza

This is a pretty new place over near the corner of Michigan Ave and Ecorse Rd. I tried it a few months ago right after they opened. I dont have much to say about them . Their pizza was decent but not as good or as cheap as Mr Pizza's which is it's main competition. Like Mr Pizza, they have a huge non-pizza menu. Basically, my opinion of them is that you wont go wrong there but why bother when Mr Pizza and Aubree's are only blocks away?

Tower Inn

This used to be my favorite pizza in town when I lived on College Pl. just a couple of blocks away. I loved it. And for some reason, I havent eaten there even once in the last six years since I moved ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN to where I live now. I feel bad about that since ALL THE WAY ACROSS TOWN is probably less than a mile.

Tower Inn has that whole EMU campus thing going on. There are always lots of students in there and that gives it a nice atmosphere, imho. It is also the only place I can think of in town where one can get a greek pizza with gyro meat as an item *and* get an order of OPA! cheese too. Plus they are right by Ypsilanti's famous water town (hence the name, I imagine). So I guess I want to give them an honorable mention even though "I havent eaten there in six years" might not be the glowing review they deserve.



That is it folks although there are lots more pizza places in Ypsilanti. If there is one thing that is nice about Ypsilanti, it is that there are no shortages of places to get good pizza. So where are your favorite places to get pizza?