The Wisconsin Pizza Factory
Synopsis: Horrible food, very new and clean, attentive staff, bland decor, rather expensive for what you’re getting. Overall my kids love it but it could be so much better, and more enjoyable for adults. If you don’t have kids don’t even bother going; you’ll be sorely disappointed.
- Food Quality - 1 of 5
- Cleanliness - 5 of 5
- Staff - 4 of 5
- Ambiance - 2 of 5
- Value - 2 of 5
- Overall - 2.8 of 5
In light of the recent column in the WDH regarding restaurant choices in Wausau I’m going to begin to review various local restaurants. First on the list is The Wisconsin Pizza Factory located at 610 Creske Avenue in Rothschild.
This is a new restaurant only open for a few months. I’ve been three times, the latest being this past weekend. I have always gone with my children; my son is four and my daughter is two. The three of us have gone for “daddy’s night out” when mom had something else to do. Naturally, of course, my children think the name of the joint is Daddy’s Night Out.
The restaurant is a local, scaled back, knock off of Chuck E. Cheese’s. Chuck E. Cheese’s (at least the ones I’ve been to) you have to check your children in and only the person with the correct bracelet is allowed to take the children out. Chuck E. Cheese’s is not a buffet and you get some free tokens with your food purchase. Chuck E. Cheese’s is a several million dollar operation. None of the above things are true of the Wisconsin Pizza Factory.
The Wisconsin Pizza Factory (I think I’ll just put WPF from here on out) is a pizza buffet and everyone who enters the building must purchase a buffet. The good news is that children 3 and under are free. The is especially good news because the food is really lacking in quality. There is a salad bar, and the ingredients have always been very fresh when I’ve been there. I always start with a salad because while it’s not huge there is a good selection of toppings for the salads. After you get past the salad bar you get to the pizza. The pizza is incredibly bad. In fact, it’s probably the worst restaurant pizza I’ve ever had. I’d had substantially better pizza frozen from the grocery store. I have a really high tolerance for bad pizza so I still eat two or three slices when I visit, but people with a more discerning pizza palate may find the pizza inedible (good thing - salad is better for you anyway). At the end of the buffet line is a desert pizza. It is half cherry topping and half apple topping. The desert pizza is quite good. It’s the same style as the Pizza Hut buffet has, but I think that the WPF has a superior desert pizza to Pizza Hut.
Here’s the thing though: I don’t go the the WPF for the food. I go there because my kids like it. When we go I buy five dollars in tokens (it’s a special treat night after all) and we take turns playing the games for the tickets. There is a decent – if somewhat small arcade – and my kids just love running from game to game. There are also some games that only older kids would like. When we’ve used up our tickets the kids go to the two-story playland area and have a blast. My two year old has some trouble negotiating some areas of the playland, but her older brother is usually willing to help her out. When they tire of that we get our “prize” and go home. It’s not long before they are asking for Daddy’s Night Out again.
The staff of the restaurant is always very friendly and helpful. The place is clean and neat (it’s a brand new building so it would be hard for it to be too dirty yet). I never see tables that are left dirty for very long at all and the staff is quick to come along and take away dirty plates while you are eating.
The decor of the restaurant leaves a lot to be desired. But the owners have said that they are currently working on it. My understanding is that they are working to change the color palette (the decor is dominated by bare white walls and a few beverage signs currently) and possibly include some kid themed murals on the walls. Some sort of contractor or sales person was there measuring the place last time I was there.
Our last visit cost me about $20. For that I fed myself and my two kids and bought $5 in tokens. If you have a large family with children over three years old the WPF could get pretty expensive, especially if your kids won’t eat the pizza. The attractions would not come close to matching the admission fee if it didn’t involve feeding your kids. The WPF desperately needs to improve the quality of their food as well as the quantity of foods offered if they are going to have long term success. For just a few dollars more I can make peanut butter and jelly at home and then go to the Lodge at Cedar Creek. My kids would pick the Lodge over WPF every time.
Apple » The Wisconsin Pizza Factory said:
[…] Citizen Wausau wrote an interesting post today on The Wisconsin Pizza FactoryHere’s a quick excerptIt is half cherry topping and half apple topping. The desert pizza is quite good…. […]
January 29th, 2008 at 9:03 am #
Pages tagged "pizza hut" said:
[…] bookmarks tagged pizza hut The Wisconsin Pizza Factory saved by 4 others JoseLA91 bookmarked on 01/29/08 | […]
January 29th, 2008 at 12:06 pm #
Dino Corvino said:
Man do I like it when a writer just breaks it down. Thanks man.
As a pizza snob, I find myself so disappointed by pizza that I often forgo the nightmare of it.
January 29th, 2008 at 12:18 pm #
lisastahl said:
There’s been some dicussion about WPF on www.cwmoms.com too. Having little ones myself, I’d love another place like that where we could all go and hangout for a couple hours for a birthday party or whatever. I haven’t been to WPF but from what I hear it could be so much better.
Is there a roller rink around here?
Who do you think has the best pizza in the Wausau area?
January 29th, 2008 at 12:47 pm #
janeal said:
How does it compare to Sam’s Pizza over in Rothschild? (Schofield? Over there…) My kids are older now, but that was always a big hit and the pizza must be okay –I can’t remember being overwhelmed by its greatness, but it consistently wins top honors in the annual City Pages poll.
January 29th, 2008 at 1:01 pm #
pamelasue32000 said:
The WPF is a good attempt at having a family place for younger kids, but is a far cry from Chuck E Cheese’s. Better decor would be one step closer to the upgrades needed to make this place a worth while place to go.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:47 pm #
timothyp said:
I have not been there but it seems to be a place to entertain children more than a restaurant, with the emphasis on kid’s birthday parties and such functions.
…this is what they MAY be using for ingredients:
Frozen Pizza Dough
Canned Pizza Sauce
The dessert pizza…canned fruit pie fillings that I have ALWAYS refused to eat
Industrial food
None of these things are what you’d probably use at home, and I do hope that in the future their nutritional (sorry always been a bad speller) quality and ambience goes up with the popularity this place has gotten.
It is what it is, it serves a purpose for children’s entertainment and seeing that there is no Chucky’s nearby, it may be the closest this area has to offer parents that want to take the kiddies to a place similar to that.
As far as pizza… and my waistline will back me up on this one… I prefer Angelo’s. Somewhat greasy (often) when it arrives, but the overall taste is a bit better than Sam’s.
I prefer to make my own at home with spinach or arugala, artichoke hearts, havarti cheese, sun dried tomatoes, with fresh basil and roasted pine nut pesto on a whole wheat thin crust instead of a tomato based pizza sauce.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:55 pm #
Melissa Sullivan said:
We’ve also been discussing this restaurant on CentralWisconsinMommy.com. You can read reviews and submit your own: http://www.centralwisconsinmommy.com/website/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=225&Itemid=75
My opinion of the Wisconsin Pizza Factory is that the pizza is pretty low quality, but the play area and games are awesome — much better than Sam’s. If the food was better, it would be a great option.
Best pizza by a mile: Angelo’s! YUM! Hmm…maybe that’s what’s for dinner tonight.
January 29th, 2008 at 2:56 pm #
Barry Liss said:
Wow - a 1 out of 5 in food - that’s a serious critique…I like your idea of PB&J and then heading to cedar creek instead. I’ve never been to the place but based on this review I think I’ll stay away.
Barry
January 29th, 2008 at 6:26 pm #
cupcake said:
Those of you with young children should be happy to have ANYPLACE in Wausau for kids, especially during the cold weather. Except for playlands at McDonald’s or Burger King, there was nothing for my kids (now college age) when they grew up here. My view on Sam’s Pizza: it is voted “Best Pizza” only by those who grew up in Wausau and think it is good pizza! I HATED it, and my kids were on DCE area teams that had ALL their team parties there. Got expensive with all the games. If Sam’s would add a salad bar it would make all the difference? Anyone remember KidZone at Cedar Creek? It was only open for a few years but was GREAT for kids.
January 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pm #
iclarkz said:
I am a transplant here, and have to agree that there is a serious lack of good pizza in town. Also, there is one thing that really puzzles me about the way pizza is served here — what is the deal with cutting a round pizza into squares? It seems everywhere we have ordered pizza we end up trying to navigate these little squares of pizza cut from a round pie. I have never seen this anywhere else.
(Also, I think the best pizza in town is the one that Downtown Grocery makes on the weekends. It is not my favorite style of pizza — but it is often very good.)
February 1st, 2008 at 9:57 am #
Dino Corvino said:
See I love the squares for some reason, but I also love a really thin crust, really crispy.
For me, it was Rosatti’s, but that has fallen off…then I liked Sams.
Suddenly though I tried godfathers, and LOVE THE CRUST.
But really, it is sams.
February 1st, 2008 at 10:22 am #
lisastahl said:
I grew up in Des Moines, IA in the 70s and loved going to La Pizza House where they cut their oval pizza into rectangles. For some reason, it felt exotic. Sigh.
I see that Gulliver’s is offering New York Style pizza.
Personally, I prefer a white pizza with a very thin matzo-like crust.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:31 am #
christopher said:
the wisconsin pizza factory needs to seriously rethink the pizza they serve. having a “place for kids” isn’t going to keep them alive if the food is sub-standard.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:37 am #
iclarkz said:
There is a fatal flaw with the pizza being cut into squares, which is that you never get to eat the “point” of the pizza — the portion of the center of a round pie that you get on every slice — the pinnacle of pizza perfection — or at least the part which seems to have the most topping on it. (In fact, maybe that is why the affinity for the square pizza here — you have the illusion of having less crust if there isn’t crust on every piece of pizza.)
To me a slice of pizza is a big triangle that you can put your index finger on top of the midpoint of the crust to bend it a little — so that it looks like a very wide “v” going into your mouth. Once slice should feed you for lunch, and maybe two for dinner if you are really hungry.
But those squares — what do I call them anyway? They certainly aren’t slices. . . and really, what is the point if there is no “point”?
February 1st, 2008 at 3:59 pm #
wisconsinpizzafactory said:
For everybody that has commented on the Pizza Factory, Thank You. Your input is always appreciated. Many of your concerns have been addressed over the last few months. We try to give the best value we can for families and friends with our menu. Believe me, our margins on our food are very, very slim. As a father of two I understand the value of the dollar. Our pizzas have changed since this post began. Our buffet crusta have been upgraded, we’ve changed the recipe for our sauce, and we use even more fresh ingrediants. With our new carry out menu (which has a number of unique pizzas … Chicken Alfredo with Grilled Veggies … you have to try) our crusts our all hand tossed, additional seasoning in our sauce, and even higher quality ingrediants. These pizzas will also be available for table service staring September 2nd. Stop in and say hi! The decor has been updated, new games have been added, the buffet has expanded, and our staff continues to give great service. Thanks again everyone!
Steve Foley, owner
August 28th, 2008 at 10:49 am #
Dino Corvino said:
WAY TO GO STEVE FOLEY!!
I totally forgot about this post. I have since been back and picked up pizza, Veggie Pizza, not vegan yet, but I have a feeling…Way to be responsive Steve Foley.
Maybe someone would like to write a follow up review given the changes. I know a family of four here could go and let us know what they thought.
August 28th, 2008 at 12:32 pm #