Shakey's Pizza

Shakey's Pizza
5639 Holt Blvd
Montclair
909-988-5431

After reading an article in the Daily Bulletin that said Shakey's Pizza in Montclair, was the oldest chain restaurant in the Pomona Valley I decided to try it. Shakey's always had the lunch buffet deal with all you can eat, pizza, fried chicken, mojo potatoes, pasta bar and salad bar.

I got to the Shakey's at about 11:30am and there were two other people there. The lunch buffet, once called the Bunch a Lunch, was $7.04. Pizza and chicken still weren't out on the steam trays. The pasta, rice, and vegetables looked as though they were on the steam tray forever. I got some salad, the normal iceberg lettuce and tomatoes with ranch dressing. Nothing exciting or special about the salad, hell I didn't even take a picture.

After finishing the salad I went back to the steam table and pizza and chicken were there. They had a pepperoni pizza and a sausage pizza. The pizza has a very thin, crispy crust. Not my kind of crust. But the pizza sauce has a nice tangy taste and is well spiced. There were a good amount of toppings. Nothing special about the pepperoni or sausage.

The fried chicken, a breast piece, had a very nice crunchy skin but it was also very salty. I was drinking tons of water. But the the inside was very moist and tender. None of the salt got into the meat so it was very good. Among the best fried chicken I've had in terms of moistness and tenderness. They need to cut down on the salt on the coating.

I try not to eat potatoes anymore but I had to try the mojos potatoes. The mojo potatoes had the same salty coating as the fried chicken, just not as thick. They were ok but again way too salty.

I know it was early and nobody else came in while I was there, but the pizza and chicken were filled only once. I got another breast piece and when I went back they had the same thigh and wing piece sitting there. After the pepperoni and sausage pizza were gone, they didn't put out another pizza. While I understand only three people were eating, they still need to put more food on the trays.

Service, other than the lack of restocking food, was good. I was quickly greeted, the guy took my order and was nice about it. The owner or manager was also very nice when I asked her about the article and if the article brought them more business.

I would go back but later during the lunch rush. Sure there would be more people but there should also be more food.