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PETE TITTL: Chain or no chain, Round Table does it right

BY PETE TITTL, Contributing columniste-mail:
ptittl@bakersfield.com | Tuesday, Dec 22 2009 05:26 PM

Last Updated Tuesday, Dec 22 2009 05:27 PM

I knew few have any love or passion for pizza chains, but I do make an exception for Round Table. It's not a national giant, it was founded 50 years ago in Menlo Park, Calif., and had once had a strong presence in Bakersfield. But like Straw Hat, another western chain, it eventually vanished from Kern County.

Now it's returned, to the White Lane location just east of Highway 99 that was once a Peter Piper Pizza and for a time was our last Shakey's, and I'm glad to see it back with its vague King Arthur theme and the funky three-shield logo that is supposed to subliminally spell fun. Take a look sometime. Graphic designers get paid big bucks to do things like that or hide the arrow inside the FedEx logo.

We visited twice, once for the lunch buffet and once at dinner. As with most pizza places, coupons are the only way to go and the new restaurant had been running discounts on the buffet (regularly $5.99 for adults, down to $4.99) and on the family meal deals (a large pizza, eight pieces of fried chicken and wedges for $25.99).

The buffet (11 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday-Friday) is an absolute steal, and though we visited after 1 p.m., I was impressed at how the staff kept it well-stocked.

The pizza choices were excellent: veggie, pepperoni, barbecue chicken, combination, pepperoni and sausage and Hawaiian. There was also fried chicken and wedges, garlic parmesan twists, cheese bread, a complete salad bar that included a lot of fresh vegetables, including cucumbers and black olives, as well as raw spinach leaves and a batch of dessert items such as cinnamon twists and some sort of streusel dessert pizza. My only complaint was the lame dressings for the salad, which were the overly salty Wishbone variety that are about 20 years behind the times.

One note: there is an extra $1.89 charge if you want a soda, but that was OK with me.

Dinner was pretty much more of the same, though I have to reserve some special praise for a barbecue chicken pizza they're offering as a special. It's noteworthy for its excellent combination of ingredients, such as tomatoes, red and green onions and three cheeses (provolone, cheddar and mozzarella). There is something distinctive about the Round Table product. The crust is always dark brown but still soft and pliable, and the tomato sauce has a bit of kick to it rather than the sweet blandness or pasty texture of too many chain pizzas.

Service was solid on both experiences, and I was especially taken by how friendly the staff is. I don't know what they're doing, but the crew seemed to smile a lot at customers, and bused tables pretty efficiently. The interior looks a lot like it did when it was Shakey's, with a big game area near the back and TVs tuned to sports in the dining room that has both tables and booths.