Peter Pipers Pizza

Before Peter Pipers there was Eatza Pizza, and it was good. To understand why I loved PP -heh pp- then you need to understand EP. The reason why is because Peter grabbed the ideas of Eatza and improved them.

For those wondering, this was a Eatza Pizza in Glendale AZ

When I lived in Phoenix, there was a great restaurant called Eatza Pizza. It was an all you can eat pizza buffet. There would be lines of all sorts of pizza, and new styles being made as you ate. If you wanted a little more variety, there was also chicken, mashed potatoes, and casseroles. In many of the restaurants would be a small arcade with games to play.

It was such a cool place, that when I found out there was one in the Tri Cities, which was only 80 miles from where I lived, I made a special trip. It was just as amazing as I remembered it. In fact, I would have gone more if I hadn’t moved to Hawaii.

When I was going to Phoenix this year to see a friend, I wanted to see Eatza Pizza. It was something that just resonates Phoenix to me. Heck, I knew some of the owners, and their family. It was quite the shock to find out that during the housing bubble bursting, the restaurant chain had gone under.

After seeing the movie Desolation of Smaug I saw a PP Pizza -yeah still funny. It was a little more modern, but still had a buffet. We had just missed the chance to try the buffet, but it didn’t look it had the same variety as Eatza Pizza. Still, it was designed just like the EP. There was an arcade, TV’s were blazing, and tons of pizza to eat. Heck it was even founded in the Phoenix valley.

I took a few pictures of the place, but because of all the kids had to do some extra work. Luckily my camera is really bad at getting faces.

The menu is order only after a certain time. There is a nice sized display saying what you can order, and when near the end of the line. I think the most awkward problem was that at times I didn’t really know what to do. They handed me a beeper, but didn’t really say what to do when it started beeping. There were signs, but seriously there was nothing in the architecture or design of the place that said Pizzas Here. It felt like they were trying to figure out how to be something like Eatza Pizza, and also a normal restaurant.

The big tag placed on every single device was a bit odd. Most arcades you see are not going to have stickers. A distributor owns the arcade games, and then moves them over to the arcade. So a restaurant gets a part of the money for having the floor space, while the distributor makes most of it for owning and maintaining the machines.

It was a bit odd, so I asked the guy at the counter. I was in for a surprise.

“The machines are all bought for the Pied Pipers in Phoenix. It doesn’t matter which one you go to, they will be the same. There is no distributor, its all ours.”

My friend Liz in her natural environment. Next to a Dead Storm Pirates

He continued.

“There are problems, like there was a ball machine that seemed cheaper. We kept telling them not to buy those, since they would likely break down more. After that, the buying folks gave us more credence.”

I asked where he learned to fix machines.

“I was in the airforce doing electrical work. This is way easier than trying to fix the wiring of a jet.”

He continued to talk to us as people began to line up. There were kids with tickets, ready for their prizes.

“Last year I had a goal of a million dollars for just this restaurant. My job is right here, and I am the manager of this section. I almost made it last year. We nearly made a million with just arcade games. My goal this year is to beat a million.”

The kids were waiting now, and I told the manager I would send him pictures, and a link to the article. I did not expect it would take so long. To him, I apologize.