Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Billings

Took the family to pizza ranch on king ave for lunch. We frequent buffets since we have two young children and a teenager, the instant food is always a factor when choosing a place to eat with a hungry family. We found a table and proceeded to the buffet line. None of the pizza looked appetizing to look at to say the least, they were all spent and definitely time to be replaced. Typically at a pizza ranch you will at least have a few freshish pizzas to choose from and you can usually count on several pizzas being added to the buffet line during the time you are there however this was most definitely not the case for us or the other guests who voiced frustration with the selection and quality. After about ten minutes went buy and no pizzas were coming out my wife suggested the “buffet your way” option so I went to the counter to ask for a pizza and asked when any fresh pizza would come out. She took our order and suggested that fresh pizza should be coming out any time. I asked if we could get a half and half on the buffet your way so the kids could have what they want on half and the adults could compromise on the other half but we were told that they don’t do that for the buffet your way so we just ordered a Mac and cheese for the kids and where sure we would find something on the buffet soon. No pizza ever came out so when the Mac and cheese pizza was done everyone had one piece of that, yay🙄. We had our piece of pizza then went and asked a boy who worked there if any fresh pizza was coming out soon and he gave me some pass off response. by this time the kids were just over it, they had already been on the edge since they refused to eat the plastic pizza they had to choose from which I don’t blame them (they usually love pizza ranch as we go there at least once a week for our family fun day cause the kids love pizza and we get it quick, well thats the idea but we will now only go to the one on Main Street that seems to be much better managed and actually has more options) on our way out I mentioned to the employee that we had been there for 35 minutes and not one fresh pizza had come out and he just threw up his hands like a little child and said “yeah so”. That prompted me to ask for his general manager and he replied that the manager was too busy cutting pizza in the back to see me. So my family and I left disgusted by more then just the food. This was at the king avenue location and let me just suggest that the location on main street is worth the extra 5 or 10 minute drive. If your in need of lunch don’t come here they will not accommodate you or your children. If you are in the area Golden Corral is just up the road a quarter mile. It’s always a huge red flag when you see this kind of stuff, I can only imagine how they run the kitchen and the quality they keep there. This location has the general manager in the back cutting pizza while a smirky boy is left to the customer relations. ...

I went in tonight to order 2 pizzas to go. I was greeted quickly and politely by a nice young lady who took my order and read it back correctly, while confirming it was a to go order. I then found an open table as close to the front as I could get, sat down, and waited. I figured it would be at least a half an hour wait for the pizzas. About a half an hour goes by, and I've seen the girl, who took my order, walk by me twice on other duties. About 5 minutes later she comes walking towards me with a pizza box and bag of food. I look up and directly at her as she walks by with the food to the table behind me. They had ordered additional food to go, after I had, but had received theirs before me. I waited a few more minutes to see if I'd get my order. I did not. We're at about the 45 minute mark now on a wait time for our pizzas. I decided to go up front to ask about them. No one is up front. A family walked in after I walked up to the desk. We all waited a bit for another young staff person to walk up. She asked if she could help me, and I said yes, I was wondering about the to go pizza order I had made well over 30 minutes before. I handed her my receipts. She looked at them, dropped one on the floor, when a manager came up to ask what was going on. She had clearly been on her way to the back to retrieve a fresh pizza for the buffet. I explained what I was looking for and why. She gave me a blank stare and said nothing, then continued into the back on her mission. The young lady I was left with asked me if I had asked anyone else about my pizzas. I said that I couldn't because the original young lady was no where to be found. She was the first person to be seen to even inquire about my pizzas. By this time I noticed 2 pizzas sitting in the warming cabinet in the drive through area. I figured they must be mine. Just as I was about to mention that to her, she must have had the same thought to check there for them. Yes, they were mine. She handed them out to me with no apologies, or any words what so ever. I had to ask for my receipt she had dropped on the floor. No to go bag of necessary items, or napkins was even offered. If this is how they run the store on King Ave., we will not bother to visit the new Heights location, that we were so excited to have being built. Before this we had always had stellar service and yummy food. The manager clearly could have cared less to help the young staffer, who needed more training. Sad really. I'm not mad at the young lady, she just needs time and training, that no one is giving her. The manager should have stepped in, and tried to help resolve the situation and find my pizzas. It is her that I'm disappointed with. Oh well,...

My family and I eat this restaurant every once in a while after moving to Billings recently. Where I am from there used to be plenty of buffets, not many like this. I have been pleased every time to come in and be greeted almost immediately as I come up to the register. The hosts and hostess’ are a pleasure and make sure to ask the kids ages so that they can be priced right, who does that anymore??? :) When going to choose our tables they are frequently bussed or being cleaned. I love the selection of pizza as it consistently changes when we come in to the restaurant. This is a great restaurant for people who like pizza but want to have a little variety in their buffet as well. They have a pizza bar, a salad bar with different items like cottage cheese, pudding, oranges, peaches and different types of salad. There is also a food bar for people that aren’t super big fans of pizza with options such as fries, mashed potatoes, biscuits, multiple styles of fried chicken, and more sides like green beans. It has great variety and most everything looks fresh and well-made. My only criticism here is that I definitely saw stuff that could have been changed or remade such as croutons that had fallen in the cottage cheese and had become mushy and mixed in. But other than that there is great selection for most every type of craving. Along with a great dessert section that has soft-serve ice cream and dessert pizzas. My little sister’s favorite thing is that they let her special order Mac’n’Cheese pizza, which is fantastic! You HAVE to try it! I have worked in the restaurant industry before and the first thing I do WHENEVER I enter a new place it to check out their restrooms to make sure that they are keeping up on them because of the restrooms aren’t good, who knows how they clean their kitchen! I was pleasantly surprised to see clean mirrors, stocked toilet paper and towels, and clean floors. The toilets were a bit dirty but that is understandable. Was very impressed with the overall condition of the restrooms. The aesthetic of the restaurant is not as impressive though. I am not a fan of carpet that looks worn and beaten up. Ideally a restaurant can do whatever theme they desire but make it look clean and pleasant. Pizza Ranch obviously goes for the “Western-ranch” theme but the updates that a restaurant in this day and age should have are not here. But this is a family buffet! Buffets aren’t meant to be five-star restaurants. They are meant to be a place for families to get and get a bunch of food and lay back and relax for a bit. Which is exactly what Pizza Ranch is. A place for families to come and get some food and relax for a bit. Hope this helped! Merry...