Daily Loaf

I have always thought the people who eat inside Sam’s Club, Target or Wal-Mart are a little….odd. (Like the people in this picture to the right. I don’t know who they are, but they appear to be enjoying themselves.)

It’s strange that these large stores have restaurants inside them in the first place. They aren’t a mall, we don’t spend all day there – why the heck do we need weird food there? My local Target has a Starbucks, Pizza Hut and their own branded food items in the store. Our local Sam’s Club uses their own brand for everything.

Probably the most unusual thing of all is that some people go to these stores just to eat at the “restaurant” inside. There is no atmosphere, no service, and the food is mediocre at best.

We are members at Sam’s Club and every time we pay and we’re waiting for our receipt to be checked my wife turns to me and says, “We should get Sam’s Club Pizza, it’s really good.”

In my brain I have always thought, “That sounds disgusting, there is no way in hell I’m eating pizza from Sam’s Club.” However, I usually say something along the lines of, “Oh, ya we should sometime” (very noncommittal).

Be warned, what I am about to tell you next may horrify and alarm you…

Finally one night she convinced me. Hey, she swore it was good.

I called up Sam’s Club and placed our order for one large pizza. She told me it would be 10-15 minutes – what are they microwaving these things? Total cost: just over $9 (a deal for a large pizza).

About 15 minutes later, I made my way to Sam’s Club and walked over to the “cafe” area which just so happens to be set up right by the exit doors and features with chairs and tables bolted to the concrete floor.

As I’m paying the cashier, I ask, “Is this really good?” She said, “YES! it is so good, we sell them non-stop all day long.”

Whoa – a Sam’s Club employee getting pumped up over their cheap pizza? Hmm, it must be good, otherwise how do they sell so many and have customers coming back to sit and eat pizza in front of the entire store?

Once I got home I did a deep “sniff” inspection before taking a bite and it actually smelled pretty good. It looked cheesy enough. Could this actually be amazing?

The pizza is thick (deep dish-like) and the pieces are large. Meanwhile, my wife is thrilled and I cautiously take my first bite….

It’s good. Suddenly I’m freaked out. Logically thinking, pizza should not be good from Sam’s Club.

I eat a couple of more bites and realize that not only is this good, it’s better than Pizza Hut and any other chain restaurant pizza I have tried. And for less than $10.

Ok, so I’m a little embarrassed that I ate and enjoyed Sam’s Club pizza, and you won’t be seeing me eat in their “dining room” any time soon. But one thing is for sure, when it comes to chain pizza Sam’s Club knows how to do it right.

Posted in Food and Restaurants | Leave a comment