John's Incredible Pizza

I wanted to just take a long long nap after lunch today, but no. We only had a few hours of rest before leaving the house again...

This time to John's Incredible Pizza Co. located where the old Mervyn's used to be in the Plaza Bonita Mall. Can you see the sign for Nordstrom Rack? Anyhow, one of the mom's thought it would be fun to have the kids come here to play games and hang out with their classmates. It looked like a Chuckie Leray Cheese kind of place but let's find out the real deal...


I'd never been here before but Bert had for a past birthday party for one of TC's friends. To "get in", you must pay for the buffet (even if you're not going to eat). So if you go here, and I can only imagine that those with a kid or kids would even contemplate going here, then go hungry and keep your standards low. Real low.

Although the gathering was supposed to start at 3 pm, Bert and I saw on the website that the price was cheaper before 3 pm. As in $2.50 cheaper! Hmmmm, $6.99 vs. $9.49?  So, with the money we save with the two adults, that's $5 extra for TC to spend on games and such.

When we got there, some of the food stations were empty. I won't bore you with all of the food stations, but I thought I'd include the pizza one since this is "John's Incredible Pizza" right?

The offerings were sparse. Either that or it was cleaned out by a hungry mob. We were intrigued by the spicy PB pizza offering. We were all still full from lunch....

But we sampled a few slices nonetheless. Bert got a sliver of Garlic Chicken Pizza and another one with vegetables and chicken on it. Let's put it this way, it's not gourmet but the choices are much much better than Chuckie Cheese. Plus there isn't a buffet of this magnitude at Chuckie Cheese. There is a full salad bar, soups (at least 3 or 4 different kinds), pastas, and even dessert (mostly brownies and fresh made mini doughnuts).

I got a smattering of stuff from the salad bar and topped it with sunflower seeds, croutons, and Baco-bits. There was also some beef stroking off stroganoff. Of course, no dressing for me. I ended up just picking at this because I ended up chatting with some of the other moms there. Our kids have been friends since kindergarten and one of them, since they were born. All of us were relieved that the school year was over!

We reminisced about when the kids were still small and the different fields trips we chaperoned. While the adults were talking, TC and her friends had a blast playing the different games (arcade type games) and riding these actual "rides" on the other side of the complex. They also had fun posing for pictures in this photo booth. Aaaah, to be young and carefree again right?

Drinks at this place cost extra as well. There are lots of choices - sodas, coffee, tea, and Icees. Bert had a coffee and later on, an Icee. They offered three flavors (red, white, and blue).

It wasn't that bad inside this place. It's pretty large and there are separate dining areas that are away from the game areas, so it's pretty quiet. That's where we hung out, in those private dining areas. The food was a step up from Chuckie Cheese but not quite Hometown buffet quality, if that tells you something. It's basic food and most kids will like it. If I hadn't eaten lunch at Smashburger, perhaps I might have been more adventurous with our (mostly wasted) buffet. But then again, it's not like I plan on going here again anytime soon. Today was the exception since it was TC's day.

Ha ha, in case you're wondering, TC is sporting "Gir" ears (it's a headband) and a Gir shirt (he's a character from the old Nickelodeon animated series, "Invader Zim"). Gir is one of her current obsessions. And look how tall she is now. She is nearly 4'10" (I was 5' at her age eons ago).

All of the sixth graders had to make a "This is My Life" poster, all of which were hung up all over the walls as decor for the promotion ceremony. TC designed it herself with no help from us. She had photos from every year of school, plus family photos (both sides of the family) and a few from when she was a baby on there. She also added her favorites such as "JB" (can you guess who THAT is? Ugh!), One Direction (the latest boyband from the UK), Taylor Swift, and "Avatar - The Legend of Korra". She also added stickers of horses and characters from "Nightmare before Christmas". One thing she did add made me crack up.  It said, "My soul has been removed to make room for sarcasm". Gee, I wonder where she gets her sense of humor from?

The day was not yet over...we still had dinner planned in a few hours with more of the family!