Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Cedar Falls

VISIT ONE: Foods on hot tables were cold and crusty, and or mostly empty; pizza and cheese sticks: what was there, the crusts were curling up, cold, ingredients were either soggy, slimey, chewy and or dry; ice cream machine was broken down; lettuce was wilted, cheese and carrots were dry, ingredients and counter areas were a mess, inter-mixed from dripping, dropping, etc. Temperatures weren't very cold or cool. VISIT TWO: Went to this place as a member of a large party, which had a reserved room, with attendees making use of the buffet. Upon arriving, ALL members of the party were REQUIRED by the counter service and management to wait intermingled in a double line that was all the way out the door! By the time all attendees, including their children of all ages, were able to get into the reserved room, those who got in first were done with their meals and leaving because the pre-arranged presentations, special activities, and prizes had over with by 20 minutes or more, since there were time constraints. Several members of the party gave up and took their family home or somewhere else to eat, especially those with young kids or medical conditions. Neither the first, middle nor last of the attendees had received a decent amount of food because the kitchens couldn't keep up with the crowds on the buffet! Not enough places for people with medical conditions to sit (out of the elements) while waiting to be allowed in to eat! VISIT THREE: Same experience as the first, except saw kitchen employees pouring new hot foods in on top of old hot foods, then stirring it in! They didn't change out the old hot pans. They did the same with the pizza and dessert hot tables (except for the stirring), they just put the hot"new hot" onto the same pizza pans with the "old hot"! Oh, the ice cream machine worked. VISIT FOUR - most likely the last Combine visits 1-3, times it by 5, add in our complaints to the management who didn't actually temp the food with a thermometer he just cranked up the heat on the hot table for the chicken, potatoes, etc. He also provided empty apologies, multiple excuses, and lame answers. Nor did he remove, or have anyone else do it, the cold "hot" foods or warm, wilted "cold" foods to replace them with new appropriately temperature(d) foods. He didn't refund or discount our meals, and we went home with empty stomachs, as we weren't about to eat foods that were not at appropriate temperatures, and were just "reheated" on a hot table by cranking...

What a Absolute Nightmare. This is going to be long so I'll try and make it short. I've been in the restaurant business for up to 20 years. I know exactly what it's like back of house and what it is managers have to do. I've never experienced a restaurant so far down in flames in my entire career. My son turned 13. They recently installed a very nice arcade a part of the restaurant. This is the spot he chose to have his birthday dinner. After paying $75 for four people. There was no food in the buffet, very slim pickings. Both soda machines ice machines were not in working order. So our drinks were very warm. I coukd tell the salad bar dressing squeeze bottles had been there since lunch was served, it was 5:45 p.m. ( plus I guarantee that's a red flag violation) pretty sure they have to be replaced and tempt every 3 to 5 hours. every inch of the floor where I laid eyes on was full of debris and food. There was at least 10 if not more tables that hadn't been cleaned. Fortunately we found the last one remaining table that was clean. But I watched two other sets of families walk around in amazement on the same thing I was also laying my eyes on. But weren't able to find a seat. I 100% blame whoever the manager is. Never saw him take control of the situation at any given period. It might not be a lot to some but $75 is a decent portion of my paycheck nowadays. And I just wanted to make my son happy on his birthday. I felt disgusted to even eat there. And trust me I've worked in all shades of restaurants. Cleanliness was apparently the lowest on the list as far as public service. And I couldn't make that even any clearer than what I just said. Worst dining experience I've ever had. I only ever seen one busser. And I never seen one person with a rag or spray bottle the entire time we were there. I'm close to calling this into a code violation. You know what I've got time... Don't risk the health of your family or children by going to this place RED FLAG...

Visited on 7/12/23 between 2:25pm-3:05pm. Have been to 2 other locations before (Lakeville MN & Mason City IA). This location is the biggest in terms of square feet with similar amount of seating capacity to Lakeville, more spread out. This location has a kids arcade back room area with a prize table with at least a couple dozen various machines (neither had an arcade) ... the prices were within reason for what your getting. Arrived at the tail end of their lunch buffet and well past the lunch rush that most folks with 8-5 type jobs would be their for. 1/4 of the dining area was used. The #1 problem I noticed during the whole time is how filthy it was when its past the busy period. Half the tables, chairs & floor had: plates, food & stains on them... few of them remained that way the entire time. The few tables that did get bussed were half-assedly cleaned with food and stains still on them or the chairs... there were 2 individuals doing the busing, both had cleaning rags except neither had a bucket or bottle to wipe down/sanitize the tables & chairs.... so the same dirty rag is being used again & again. Saw on the front end 1 manager and 2 associates at the registers... not including the backroom & delivery drivers. 5 front end workers is more than enough for a dining area that can hold approx. 100 patrons to be able to maintain cleanliness on top of registering new customers & refilling buffet. I live 2 miles away from this location and am a pedestrian; Halfway on my walk back I ended up throwing up few times and I suspect it was due to their Pepperoni Pizza...