When you enter the cafeteria what is the first thing you check? Do you check the entrees to see what the main meal is? Do you check your usual table to see if your friends are there? Do you check to see how long the line is? Well I check to see what the special pizza for the day is, and I only have one type in mind: buffalo chicken pizza. While it is a rare occurrence, I can’t help but get my hopes up every time I enter the cafeteria for even the slim chance that there might be a slice of warm, delicious, filling buffalo chicken pizza awaiting me. I love buffalo chicken pizza, and I believe you should too.
“Eating buffalo chicken pizza is like that scene in Ratatouille where he eats the cheese and the strawberry. The pizza is the cheese and the buffalo chicken is the strawberry, creating a symphony of flavor. Pure deliciousness.” Jacob Gergen ‘24 said.
The origins of this tasty meal go back to 1964 in Buffalo NY, where the buffalo wing was created as an afternoon snack to fulfill one mother’s always-hungry sons. After the wing’s popularity soared, innovative chefs saw an opportunity to blend two of America’s staple foods. The calm, comforting taste of pizza mixed with the bold, unique statement that buffalo chicken offers created an instant cultural phenomenon that spread across the country.
“It wasn’t long before the buffalo chicken pizza gained popularity, emerging as a menu favorite in pizzerias and restaurants.” (FrancosPizza.com – History of Buffalo Chicken Pizza)
Not only is it delicious, but it’s easy to make for the sage dining staff. The pizza uses ingredients that are always readily on hand in the Sage Dining kitchen. The cafeteria is never at a shortage of chicken tenders which are a meal option almost every day, and buffalo sauce is available every day along with the other condiment options. That means that all the dining staff have to do is chop up the already-made tenders and pour out the already-supplied buffalo sauce.
“Not only is it easy to make but it is truly ad delicacy that I don’t know I needed until it’s gone” Hudson Kadlecek ‘24 said.
Sage Dining buffalo chicken pizza is also special because there are very few pizza restaurants that make good buffalo chicken pizza. While mod pizza allows you to put buffalo sauce and chicken on your pizza, other pizza restaurants like Little Caesars, don’t offer any buffalo chicken pizza option, and buffalo chicken pizza from Papa John’s and Domino’s are simply sub-par.
“If Sage Dining sold buffalo chicken pizza once a week I would buy it every time” Gergen said.
Additionally, the chicken on the pizza makes the meal much more filling than normal pepperoni or cheese pizza. While some students have to buy three to four slices of cheese or pepperoni pizza to get full, simply two slices of buffalo chicken pizza will satisfy almost anybody’s grumbling belly to perfection.
“Whenever I buy pepperoni pizza, I always feel a bit hungry at the end, but when I buy buffalo chicken pizza, my stomach is always full” Gergen said.
Making more buffalo chicken pizza is a win-win for both Sage Dining and the students. Students will get more pizza that they like, and Sage Dining will make more money selling more pizza at a higher price since the special pizzas are more expensive than the normal pizzas. Everybody’s happy whether it’s full bellies, satisfied cravings, or greater profits.
