198 Vale StreetI spent a pretty long day in Lansing one day last week for a conference. We were fed “lunch” at this conference but it was a pretty thin turkey wrap and a piece of chocolate cake. I was still pretty hungry after that and since I was leaving at dinner time, I decided that it would just be a pizza night for me.
There are a lot of pizza options in Lansing but I don’t remember anything being fantastic when I had to live there. The one place I did like also has a location in Battle Creek so I decided to order from there so it wouldn’t be totally cold by the time I got home.
Sir Pizza is a small mid-Michigan pizza chain that has ties to the larger Sir Pizza and Pizza King franchise out of Lafayette, IN. Their corporate structure is really odd and hard to follow. The Michigan locations are just in Lansing and Battle Creek but they don’t seem to have a relationship. There’s also another Battle Creek location that seems to have nothing at all to do with the location I stopped at in Emmett Township.
I picked the Sir Pizza on Vale Street and Columbia Avenue to order from. This shop is both a sit-down restaurant and a carry-out spot. The building sits right on the corner of the two streets but the original entrance faces Vale Street which is why it has that for an address instead of Columbia Avenue.
I pulled off I-69 near Olivet and called in my order. When the person on the other end answered, I asked if I could put in an order. His reply was, “We don’t deliver.” Um..ok, I never asked that. I asked if he could put in a carry-out order. Instead of a “Yes.” I got a “What do you want?” I assumed that meant I could so I ordered a large pepperoni pizza. He said it would be about twenty minutes and I was about twenty five away so it should have timed out perfectly.
The restaurant is divided into two spaces. The original part of the building is where the kitchen and order counter is. Even if you’re dining in you order at the counter as there is no table service. The large waiting area has a couple video games to play if you need to kill time. My pizza was ready so I grabbed it an a 2 liter of Coke. The total cost was $13.25.
If you chose to dine-in, there is actually a pretty large dining room in a newer addition to the building. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s a spacious, comfortable space that will easily accommodate large groups.
I kept the box closed until I got home. I didn’t tell the family I was picking up pizza so it was a nice surprise for them to when I walked in the door a little later than I would on a normal night.
Sir Pizza is pretty unique when it comes to chain restaurant pizza. They use a thin, doughy crust and a really sweet sauce. The pepperoni’s are cut into little cubes instead of the typical flat ones you see on most pizza. Sir Pizza has a really unique taste so even though it’s easy to label it a “chain,” you’re not going to get typical chain pizza from them.
We didn’t eat at Sir Pizza a lot when we lived in Lansing. It was probably just a few times. We did a lot of Cottage Inn there because they delivered. Every time I have a Sir Pizza know I question myself from 10 years ago. Why the heck didn’t we eat this more often. It’s such a different pizza than we normally get. It’s weird..I know people who will tell you it’s no different than typical chain for and I know people who will argue to the death this is the best pizza on the planet. I’m somewhere in the middle. It’s just different enough that I enjoy it every time I go out of my way to pick one up.