A surpise for us both...

Tim kicking this one off....

Location: Lamppost Pizza on Cochran, by Tapo
When: About 11:45

Tim's review:

We went out to lunch today with no intention at all of writing a review. Sometimes genius needs a rest. Really, since we weren't writing about it, we should have gone somewhere we have already been too. But, pizza called....again. And we ventured all the way to the East end to try a pie from Lamppost Pizza. So, we head inside and the place is cavernous......and we could hear the proverbial crickets. There was not a soul in the place, and it didn't appear that there was even a single employee in the place. After further inspection we saw who was probably the owner feverishly studying some paperwork. "Ahem!" Nothing... "Hello?" Still nothing. Wait 30 seconds, and try again. "Hello?" Finally he sees us. He comes up and immediately hands us a couple of plates and cups, assuming we were there for the buffet. The confused look on our faces gave us away and he realized we didn't want the buffet. So, we order a medium Linebacker pizza, which is a pizza with nothing but all the meats they have. We knew after this initial experience, we had to review the place.

We went to sit down and took in the whole place. It was nicely appointed with plenty of seating, two areas for semi-private parties, and a bar. Always good with me. This place is great for the sports fan who want to catch Monday Night Football, or a playoff game, as well as the softball team that needs a place to unwind after that grueling 6 innings of hard work. We had lots of ideas about how we were going to augment our experience here in the gigantic, empty pizza place. Some of the ideas included sitting as far away from each other (never bad) with our pizza strategically placed in the middle of the place (far away pizza is always bad), taking swigs of soda straight out of the machine, and some form of nakedness combined with the salad bar. Just as we were about to activate the plans, people came in. We could have waited it out to see if they were cool, but our pizza came, too. And this is where our review took the right fork in the road, instead off heading down the left, more awkward fork.

The owner made us a large pizza because he made us wait in the beginning. I know places make mistakes all the time. It's a fact of restaurant life. But, when a facility not only acknowledges the mistake, and corrects it without us even making a complaint, that place gets a pass.

So, on to the pizza. I will not say it's the best pizza I've ever had, because it isn't. However, it's good pizza. Really cheesy and they don't skimp on toppings, which were good. Though the sausage nuggets could use some reshaping. You'll know what I mean if you eat there. The pizza was a little greasy, but we all know how I feel about pizza grease. Just re-purpose it and go save some lives. And, since we had a large, we definitely got our fill. Maybe too much fill! I'm still quite stuffed. I'm not sure of the cost, because I did not pay this time. Daerick didn't want to eat alone again, so I talked him down off the ledge and had some pizza to boot.

So, I was taken off guard today, and was not initially prepared to write a review. So, my scale is a bit simple. On a scale of 1 to 10, they get a thumbs up. I don't need to explain that one, do I?

p.s. - a shout out to the blond chick at work who let me drive her cool car.



Daerick's reveiw:

So today was an impromptu review... typically we work out ahead of time if we're going to do a review and select a place to go, but not so today! I'm learning that this little endeavor of ours is taking on a life of its own, and once in a while it likes to remind us who's in charge. Today is a perfect example of this. We headed out for lunch and even said to each other "this is not a review day", I personally just didn't want to think about it today. Fate however had a different plan.

We went to Lamppost Pizza on Cochran in the Long's plaza, and I admit that I have never been to this place (though I've eaten at the Lamppost in Moorpark). Today was just supposed to be about pizza and killing time, a review was the furthest thing from my mind today. Until we walked in.

The place is deceptively large inside, I was surprised. It was rather dark though, and the place was completely empty. Given that it was after 11:30, we were confused. By this same time most other pizza places are already buzzing and prepping for the noon crush, we even did a double take to make sure the place was even open. There it was in big bold letters in the window: ABIERTO. Okay, so we were good on being open, so where was everyone. My mind was racing... I've seen this movie and it didn't end well. We started peeking in towards the kitchen area and I was preparing to see the alien creature finish eating the hapless staff or the zombies start coming our way or something. Instead we see the manager on duty (likely the owner) going over some papers and not aware we were there. At this point, I'm still thinking he's a zombie and will notice us soon, so I stand closer to the door knowing I can run faster than Tim. As it turns out, he wasn't a zombie (yet) and ran right out to help us once we finally got his attention (I told Tim he shouldn't call out until he knew for sure he wasn't a brain-eating zombie, but Tim is dumb like that).

Once he stepped out to help us, he made the assumption that we were there for the buffet. I stood there confused like an idiot, because I didn't realize they had a buffet and we had already decided what we wanted. He must have seen the look on our faces and realized we wanted to place an order. We ordered a medium Linebacker with two drinks, which is pretty comparable with Toppers (if you're familiar with them) in tems of size and price. We then went off to the dim interior of the dining room and found a seat. It was oddly quiet, there literally wasn't anyone else in the place. For like ten minutes. I was CERTAIN that an alien had eaten the staff and took on the guise of the proprietor.

After a bit a few other people started to arrive, and our pizza was brought out. The owner brought out a large to make up for making us wait in the beginning. This was unexpected, and was the clincher in our decision to write a review after all. The surreal experience upon walking in on top of getting a free upgrade without even asking for it just screams for write up. Also, I want to document my last moments in the event I was right all along and zombie aliens have indeed taken over and this lunch just planted little alien spawn in our bellies to gestate. I'm telling you I've read about this on the internet, this stuff happens! I will say however, if this is our doom, it is tasty pizza doom and I'm ok with that.

So, while I still have my wits about me, let me tell you about the pizza. It isn't the best in town, but it is a decent pizza. The Linebacker is bascally their specialty meat pizza, and was very well loaded with toppings. It was a little on the greasy side, but most pizzas in town are, and this one wasn't inordinately so. I liked the cheese and sauce as well. All in all this was a good pizza, and so long as little alien destroyers don't burst from my chest cavity later I'm going to rate this lunch really well. And if they do burst out from me, It will only affect my rating a little bit.

This one set me back about $21 for a medium specialty pizza and two selfserve drinks. The upgrade to a large is a sign of excellent service and a committment to their customers. I was a bit sarcastic in my review, but in all seriousness this went a long way with me. On a scale of absolute zero to melt your face off I rate this one an A. If I'm found later to have become an alien zombie as a result of this experience then the score becomes a B. Okay a B+. The pizza was good after all.