Eric Perkins

Pizza Delivery

Went to Pizza Ranch tonight in Delano with family and friends. I love me some pizza!

I love the fancy stuff. I think Punch does a great job with their ovens that are hotter than the core of the sun.

I often get the Margherita pizza with Gorgonzola and Green Olives. After spending a month in northern Italy covering the Olympics last year, I developed a love affair with Gorgonzola. It's hard to get enough of it actually.

I also love the Pizza Ranch. When you've got young kids, it's hard to beat family friendly restaurants like that. Buffet style, great service, fun atmosphere. I have never been to Pizza Ranch and not left completely satisfied and pleasantly content. It's not in the same classification as Punch, but its every bit as good in it's own right.

I used to be a delivery guy. Vinnie's Italian Kitchen, Fab's Italian Kitchen, (run by brothers), and I started my pie toting career at Domino's in the San Fernando Valley of California.

The worst part of Domino's delivery was that you had to get the pies to the location within a half an hour or else the customer would get 3 dollars off. Not too much of a problem, but with multiple orders going out in one car, you could get burned by the policy. Tardiness kills tips.

A great gig though that I look back at fondly. My best tip ever was from Tom Petty's keyboardist. He gave me a 20$ bill on an 11$ pizza.

One of my most disappointing tips was when I delivered a pizza to the set of Who's the Boss. I got a couple bucks for a 170$ order.

So goes the life of a delivery guy. Ever since that job though, I am a ridiculously good tipper to pizza delivery people.

Too bad Pizza Ranch doesn't deliver. Or wait, do they?!

perkout