Re: an update on CiCi's

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm the one checking into CiCi's for my local Cel-Kids group. In

addition to the information you mentioned below, I found out the

following that applies to my local CiCi's and maybe to yours:

If it is a busy night, there is one person stretching the dough in back

(contaminated hands) and another who puts on the ingredients (not

contaminated unless touches the dough). On non-busy nights, only one

person does both. The people don't wear gloves, but are willing to wash

hands if you ask. On the salad bar and for pizza ingredients, the same

person with contaminated hands who is stretching the dough is also

cutting green peppers, red onions and broccoli in the back. All other

salad bar ingredients are prepackaged. Don't forget to ask them to NOT

cut your pizza with their contaminated pizza cutter.

My friend is checking with their manager about us bringing in our own

crusts and getting me the ingredients lists.

Cheryl in Colorado

Message: 2

Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 01:02:53 -0000

Subject: An update on Cici's pizza

A while ago, someone had asked about the crustless pizza at Cici's.

While I am not the person who was looking into a franchise, I did

have occasion to call the Cici's near where I live (in Rockville,

MD). My celiac son is four, and this past Monday I was informed that

his preschool class was planning a field trip to--you guessed it--

Cici's pizza for " make your own pizza day " two days later. While my

husband and I gave serious consideration to just keeping him home

that day, I made an appointment and called the general manager to ask

how the field trips were handled before making a final decision.

The general manager was very nice and extremely accommodating, and

very willing to do whatever he could to make the trip safe for my

son. He explained the set-up, and the work stations for the kids are

set up in the dining room (not near any flour ingredients in the

kitchen), and each child is given a pre-stretched pizza which he/she

can then top with sauce and cheese (so no flour for rolling). Each

pizza is baked on a disk and travels through the oven on a conveyor,

so substituting a gf crust in a disposable pan was very easy. (The

manager was kind enough to offer to put the gf dough on a disk for

me, but I was concerned about cross-contamination so we sent an

unbaked crust that no one had to handle.)

The general manager read me the ingredients in the sauce (just

tomatoes, basil, and salt) and the ingredients in the spice package.

He ran through the spice package contents faster than I could write

them all down, but it was only spices (like garlic and black pepper)

and no " natural flavoring " or mysterious ingredients that could hide

gluten. (It does include soybean oil, though.) All of the cheese is

cut up and grated on site, and only the cheese in the salad bar is

mixed with cornstarch to prevent clumping.

I also asked about the crustless pizza (in case something bad

happened to the crust we sent), and they do have one, and it is just

sauce and cheese in a disposable pan, and one eats it like thick

soup. We did try this before the field trip, and my son loved it and

ate every last bite.

I was impressed that they were willing to accommodate us and bake

something they did not prepare (some places balk due to potential

liability issues), and the option of a crustless pizza for my celiac

son and traditional pizza for his non-CD brother is a big plus. We

did have to ask to see a manager about the crustless pizza (the

cashier was unfamiliar with that option), but overall it was a very

positive experience.

Hope this helps some others looking for gf dining options!

Thanks,

Deb

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