The Villages - September 2008 - (Page 54)
CICI’S BRINGS PIZZA BUFFET AND MORE TO COLONY PLAZA Gary Ryden just accomplished a life dream. Ryden and co-owner Tom Fox, a Village of Rio Grande resident, recently opened the CiCi’s Pizza franchise in the Colony Plaza Shopping Center. “This is eight years in the making,” Gary said about the buffet-style resident. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s a dream come true.” Nearly 150 customers lined up outside for the grand opening of this restaurant that features pizza, pasta, salad and dessert — all you can eat — for $5.49 sans beverage. It offers take-out, too. The buffet begins with a large salad bar offering two types of lettuce, nine fresh toppings and seven dressings. It is followed by a pasta bar with marinara and alfredo sauces to top fresh pasta. The offering of pizzas on their buffet is unusual and diverse. Gary said the bar will feature 13 pizzas at a time. A few of these include: bacon cheddar, pepperoni and jalapeno, spinach alfredo, ham and pineapple, macaroni and cheese, buffalo chicken, zesty ham and cheddar, zesty tomato alfredo and zesty veggie. Gary said if cutomers can’t find a pizza that tempts them, the staff can custom make a pizza with toppings they have at no extra cost. Go & Do Retail Briefs Following the pizzas are the desserts: fudge brownies, cinnamon rolls and apple pizza. “Everything is made fresh daily in the store, even the (pizza) dough,” Gary said. Village of Caroline resident Paula Howard was among 100 customers who won a free monthly buffet meal for a year. Paula arrived around 5:38 a.m. to find a line had started forming about an hour earlier with eager customers waiting for the prize. “I had a great time,” Paula said about the wait. “We got to meet all sorts of neat people.” Those neat people included Norm and Anita Werner, Village of Duval residents who also won free meals each. Like Paula, Norm and Anita are familiar with CiCi’s from their hometown. It’s one of their favorite restaurants. “We’ve got a CiCi’s back home,” Anita said, speaking about Clarksburg, W.Va. “Norm’s their No. 1 fan.” With a chuckle, Norm added, “Pizza is the fifth food group. Most people don’t know that.” It was apparent Gary, who manages the restaurant, and Tom relished the satisfied looks and comments they received as guests dined on their fare. That satisfaction can be attributed to Gary’s eight years of work as general manager of the CiCi’s franchise in Kissimmee. “Gary is a great guy,” said Rick Crawford, owner of the Kissimmee franchise who joined in The Villages store’s grand opening. “He was a huge part of our success down there. He grew our store into one of the top 10 CiCi’s stores in the country.” SEPTEMBER 2008
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Villages - September 2008
The Villages - September 2008
Contents
Polo Club Scores Goal
Dreammaker
Art Program Expands
Sports and Recreation
Camp Villages Memories
Health
Food
Go & Do Shopping & Dining Guide
Retail Briefs
Entertainment Briefs
Major Events
Snapshots
The Villages - September 2008
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