A couple years back, I recalled writing, “hooray for boring” in my posting regarding a purchase of 2012 Honda Civic… yup it’s boring and so is Pizza Hut. My dad is getting old (so am I, but as you may have figured out, he’s older than me) and for this Father’s day, I suggested we just do pizza. Yes, I know the stereotypical picture of bonding over barbeque, but as a father myself (who is suffering from old fart syndrome) the vision of roasting over a hot grill to cook for the extended family didn’t appeal to me. Call me Shallow Hal, but we don’t expect mom to whip up a meal on Mother’s day so I want my equal rights. Nonetheless, I know the limits of my oppression and figured offering to pick up pizza for the gang would have to suffice. I thought at least this would minimize my stress (yes, family gatherings can be stressful), but as sometimes happens this was not to be the case.
No, I didn’t consider the logistics. I live about 45 minutes from the small town of Cobleskill and my parent live in the country about 30 minutes beyond Cobleskill. For the most part we were trying to shoot for around noon for the big family Father’s day luncheon. My sister was putting together some spaghetti plus the pizza with a few odds and ends was to make for an easy meal. My mom had suggested a pizza place and after checking it out, I learned that they didn’t open until noon – this was less than ideal as it would definitely push the luncheon back further than desired. Of course I took to the Internet to research Pizza in Cobleskill. I found 2 additional local pizza joints – one of which also opened at noon and the other at 11am. I was optimistic about the 3rd which opened at 11am; “Little Italy”, even the name sounded like good pizza and the reviews seemed ok, too. Upon closer inspection, the website for “Little Italy” had no menu. I know it’s a small town, but having your menu posted online seems pretty basic at this stage of the Internet age. Regardless, I broke down to apply the old fashioned way; I called “Little Italy”. Good news, they advised me they could have my order ready to go at 11am. Due to the lack an online menu, I had to try to talk through the ordering process through a series of question and answers. After this exertion, the conclusion was that they would charge me about $50 for 3 pizzas. I guess if these were gourmet, knock your socks off pizzas that would be one thing but my recollection is that 1 or 2 of them were just plain Cheese pizzas – really? $50?
Well guess who else opened at 11am? Yup, the good old neighborhood Pizza Hut. I was trying to avoid this option as I was sort of feeling that as a dad, I was celebrating my day too and in hindsight had unrealistic expectations of a relaxing day (really, this was a family gathering) and delicious pizza (picked up from a completely unfamiliar store). Although my fantasy did not include Pizza Hut for this occasion, I will note that I have ordered from our nearby Pizza Hut in Albany (Wolfe Road) and have been very satisfied every time. Moreover, I’ve got to give Pizza Hut kudos for their online ordering system – I love it! It is easy to navigate and easy to understand and make your selections.
Additionally, when it comes to being affordable I have found they are hard to beat. Pizza Hut frequently sends me discounts and specials by email in addition to their online promotions. On this particular occasion I didn’t have a great email offer but I spotted their $5 Flavor Menu – wow, what a deal – as long you buy 2 or more, you can get a medium 1 topping pizza for only $5… sign me up. This was the perfect solution – I ordered 5 medium pizzas and by doing so was able to get a wide variety – I even ordered 1 pizza half and half with different topics (yes, their online ordering makes this easy – no need to explain over the phone, just click and choose). I also selected a few different flavored crusts and best of all the grand total for this option cost a mere $25 plus tax.
The online ordering also allowed you to identify your time and day of pick up so I placed my order the day before (on Saturday) for 11am on Sunday. Upon arrival at 11am on Sunday all of my pizzas were ready to go and all were done correctly as ordered. Thank you, Cobleskill Pizza Hut… I may have called you boring, but everyone enjoyed your pizza and you made my Father’s day a bit more relaxing (plus, since I didn’t have to spend $50, I figure I should have $25 to spend on me… just kidding). Yes, hooray for boring!
No, I didn’t consider the logistics. I live about 45 minutes from the small town of Cobleskill and my parent live in the country about 30 minutes beyond Cobleskill. For the most part we were trying to shoot for around noon for the big family Father’s day luncheon. My sister was putting together some spaghetti plus the pizza with a few odds and ends was to make for an easy meal. My mom had suggested a pizza place and after checking it out, I learned that they didn’t open until noon – this was less than ideal as it would definitely push the luncheon back further than desired. Of course I took to the Internet to research Pizza in Cobleskill. I found 2 additional local pizza joints – one of which also opened at noon and the other at 11am. I was optimistic about the 3rd which opened at 11am; “Little Italy”, even the name sounded like good pizza and the reviews seemed ok, too. Upon closer inspection, the website for “Little Italy” had no menu. I know it’s a small town, but having your menu posted online seems pretty basic at this stage of the Internet age. Regardless, I broke down to apply the old fashioned way; I called “Little Italy”. Good news, they advised me they could have my order ready to go at 11am. Due to the lack an online menu, I had to try to talk through the ordering process through a series of question and answers. After this exertion, the conclusion was that they would charge me about $50 for 3 pizzas. I guess if these were gourmet, knock your socks off pizzas that would be one thing but my recollection is that 1 or 2 of them were just plain Cheese pizzas – really? $50?
Well guess who else opened at 11am? Yup, the good old neighborhood Pizza Hut. I was trying to avoid this option as I was sort of feeling that as a dad, I was celebrating my day too and in hindsight had unrealistic expectations of a relaxing day (really, this was a family gathering) and delicious pizza (picked up from a completely unfamiliar store). Although my fantasy did not include Pizza Hut for this occasion, I will note that I have ordered from our nearby Pizza Hut in Albany (Wolfe Road) and have been very satisfied every time. Moreover, I’ve got to give Pizza Hut kudos for their online ordering system – I love it! It is easy to navigate and easy to understand and make your selections.
Additionally, when it comes to being affordable I have found they are hard to beat. Pizza Hut frequently sends me discounts and specials by email in addition to their online promotions. On this particular occasion I didn’t have a great email offer but I spotted their $5 Flavor Menu – wow, what a deal – as long you buy 2 or more, you can get a medium 1 topping pizza for only $5… sign me up. This was the perfect solution – I ordered 5 medium pizzas and by doing so was able to get a wide variety – I even ordered 1 pizza half and half with different topics (yes, their online ordering makes this easy – no need to explain over the phone, just click and choose). I also selected a few different flavored crusts and best of all the grand total for this option cost a mere $25 plus tax.
The online ordering also allowed you to identify your time and day of pick up so I placed my order the day before (on Saturday) for 11am on Sunday. Upon arrival at 11am on Sunday all of my pizzas were ready to go and all were done correctly as ordered. Thank you, Cobleskill Pizza Hut… I may have called you boring, but everyone enjoyed your pizza and you made my Father’s day a bit more relaxing (plus, since I didn’t have to spend $50, I figure I should have $25 to spend on me… just kidding). Yes, hooray for boring!
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