A few weeks ago Kevin and I received a gift certificate for Tazino's; an all-you-can-eat pizza, salad and pasta buffet in Oak Creek we have driven past a few times. All three of us were in the mood for pizza (or peetzee if you're Sawyer) this afternoon so we decided to break in the gift certificate.
Tazino's is a local chain with locations in Kenosha, Menomonee Falls and Oak Creek; with another location opening soon in Racine. First and foremost, you can't beat the price. The adult lunch (and dinner) price on weekends is $7.99, kids under ten are $3.99 and kids under 3 are free (score one for Sawyer!). So for a family of four to go out for pizza it's $24.00. And with the variety that Tazino's offers; it's hard not to find something for everyone.
The buffet is comprised of a nice sized salad bar, cold pasta salads and warm pasta dishes, several soup selections, at least eight different pizza varieties, garlic cheese sticks and desserts (warm brownies and fried dough with sugar and cinnamon). The salad bar was a good size with plenty of healthy options including spinach. We chose to ignore the salad offerings because we were on a mission for carbs. Nothing but carbs.
Kevin tried a few of the different cold pasta salads (the Robosto salad and the Italian Confetti) and found them to be just ok. We sampled the mac and cheese and thought it was bland and under-seasoned; even Sawyer wasn't impressed. However if you have a kid that only eats mac and cheese, it's nice to know it's on the menu.
The real draw at Tazino's is the pizza. The pizza crust is a perfect hand tossed crust that's chewy with just the right amount of crunch. The sauce is also great; Tazino's claims their sauce is made from field picked tomatoes and I will admit it tasted more fresh than a lot of the pizza chain sauces. The pizza at Tazino's falls into several different catergories: classico, authentico and primo. The classico pizzas are just that: cheese, peperoni, sausage. Sawyer devoured a slice of cheese and sausage- she loved it. The authentico pizzas include margherita and roma tomato basil. We tried the roma tomato basil and thought it was delicious; the basil tasted nice and fresh. Kevin and I both loved the primo pizzas; especially the Chicken Bacon Ranch (my personal favorite! very creamy with just enough salty, delicious bacon) and the Tailgater (a unique combination of sausage, red onion and green pepper with a bbq sauce and just a hint of mustard). Kevin also gave the Aloha pizza his stamp of approval; he loves Hawaiin style pizza and found this one up to muster. Tazino's also has a POW (pizza of the week, their abbreviation, not mine) and this week it was "The Baked 'Tater" which is described as, "Our traditional crust is covered with a rich sour cream sauce, then topped with seasoned potatoes, smoky bacon bits, our 100% real cheese trio plus Real Cheddar cheese and chives". Kevin and I both thought it was delicious; the sauce was very creamy and the potatoes did not make the pizza too starch heavy. I don't think I'd order an entire Baked Tater pie (too rich!), but one slice was very satisfying.
The nice thing about the slices of pizza at Tazino's is that they are small- allowing you to try several different varieties. And while some pizza buffets are composed of pizzas that have been sitting under a heat lamp for an hour all the pizzas we sampled at Tazino's tasted fresh. Whenever we'd go back up to the buffet we'd notice at least three new pizzas that were brought out. Another cool feature was the "Accents station" which was a selection of at least twenty different spices you could sprinkle onto your pizza to personalize it (think: jerk seasoning, garlic salt).
The desserts were okay- the brownies were warm and dense but the fried dough was just okay. Sawyer however loved it and would have eaten several "Cinna-pillows" if I had allowed her to. I think the desserts are definitely catered towards a younger crowd; adult palates might not be quite as satisfied with them.
All and all, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better quality and value for a family pizza dinner; even the pickiest eaters would find something on the menu that they would be happy eating and there are enough pizzas that would appeal to adults as well as kids.
Tazino's does offer carry out; but I honestly think it's a better value just to take the entire family in for a sit-down meal rather than the carry out option. The interior of Tazino's is nice but not fussy, making it the perfect place for a casual, inexpensive family meal.
Check out their website for more information on menu selection, price and nutritional information (kudos to Tazino's for not using MSG, high fructose corn syrup or trans fats). http://www.tazinos.com/index.html
Happy eating!
Mama Cucina
Thank you for your thorough and thoughtful review of Tazinos® Pizza & Salad Bistro. We are a brand committed to offering our valued customers the highest quality dining experience, including delicious food made with better-for-you ingredients, an excellent price point (especially for all you can eat) and an inviting, family-friendly environment. We recognize and appreciate that you noted many of these positive brand attributes in your review.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to some of our pastas being bland for your family’s taste preference … admittedly, we do take a generally conservative approach in preparing certain bistro selections. This is done in the interest of respecting our customers’ concern(s) for eliminating things such as MSG, high-fructose corn syrup and trans fats in our bistro recipes. Also, we offer our customers the ability to personalize the flavor profile of their selections with our Accent Station, which features 24 different spices and seasoning blends.
We are truly pleased that you find Tazinos® Pizza & Salad Bistro an excellent choice for you and your family, and we genuinely appreciate your role in helping others discover all there is to love about Tazinos®!
Bryan Belmer
Director, Brand Marketing
Tazinos®, Inc.