Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Cedar Rapids

My son and I were in last night and had the most unremarkable experience. If we didn't enjoy our time in the arcade, we would be very unlikely to return. Food wise, I'd probably give it a 0.

When we arrived, the pizza on the buffet looked like it had been sitting there for quite some time. Yes, I realize I can order my own pizza, but really it just takes too long for my son's patience. The pasta in the container clearly had been there a while. It had changed colors. I can't imagine anyone wanting to eat it. There weren't any regular cheese stix out, only stix with toppings.

I returned to the buffet a few minutes later to check for new food. They had brought out cheese stix with toppings. I had to ask for regular cheese stix. When they came out, they looked awful. They were not cut equally, some had very little cheese, others had way too much cheese. When I returned to the table, I found my son had finished his pizza. He said look at my plate. It had a layer of grease covering it. He tried the cheese stix and said he wasn't going to eat them because they were "gross". This coming from a kid who can probably eat half the pan normally. They too were a pile of grease.

I made a comment about the cheese stix to a staff member in the buffet line and to the person who was picking up the plates. I got one "I'm sorry about that". The person picking up plates giggled and walked a way. In reference to the cheese stix with toppings, my son said "why mess with something that isn't broken".

Another frustration, while I was there they brought out the same pizza that was already in the buffet. I am guessing this Thai flavor is new, but do you need two out. Guessing not since there was still 3/4 of a pizza in the line getting old. I will say it wasn't bad. I picked it cause it was fresh and didn't appear to be too greasy. It would be helpful if you put signs on unusual pizza options.

There were pepperonis in the salad mixture. Why? You take a vegetarian option and add meat.

There really is no system for being able to grab a drink after the arcade. You aren't allowed to take the empty cup into the arcade area. When I asked about it, the worker informed me to leave it on the ledge. I was uncomfortable with this because anyone could do anything to my cup. She assured me she would watch it. No surprise to me she didn't. There would be no way for her to do her job and watch the ledge in the entryway to the arcade. When I came out, the cup was full of trash. I think you should consider a system where someone can have a drink...

2 stars may be generous. I havnt had Pizza Ranch for a few years and never to this location. I was eager to get there, eat and have fun with my child. The entire experience did not meet my expectations. The buffets selection was minimum and freshness was past expired in my books. The salad bar had more to choose from than the pizza and chicken sections combined. The soft serve ice cream was delicous but the bowl you get to fill up is smaller than a lid from a spray paint can. The vibe being put off from the workers felt like dont interrupt the conversation im having with my coworker and let me get my 100th pop refill so I can go talk some more. We ate and went to the arcade to let my little girl have fun. The arcade could have been enjoyable but several games were out of order, a couple more malfunctioned each time I played and a few Claw games were not stocked. Lost over $30 on the machines that didnt work right. The VR games were cool but the headsets need new straps. I had to use one hand to keep it held on, making the VR Experience and game play pointless. There was also braided steel wires to help hold the headset at a certain height that were frayed and broken that was poking/scratching my face while the machine moved around. You couldnt reposition or move them out of the way. No food or drinks allowed and have to be left at the table. Dont plan on going back to get a drink once you go to the arcade. They will clear your table and not give you a replacement cup. An hour before closing, the guy walked around and restocked the games and removed out of order signs on 2 machines. It was 9:15 and time to head out since they close at 10. We stopped to turn in tickets and get prizes. The guy crossed his arms, started huffing, puffing and making sure we noticed this and cause us to rush. Its not easy picking prizes with a 3 yr old and trying to add up points left and what else to get. He then said in a stern tone, yep i have to do all lf this in 30 minutes. I said ok you mean clean and close it down? Yes i have to do it all by myself in 30 min. And he said what do you want from the prizes we have? We rushed for the guy and didnt get what we was going to get. The arcade was clean and not much attention was needed. We were the only ones in there for the past 2 hours. The have a good nights said to us as we walked out the main doors was about the only friendly and positive...

We paid $73 for our family of 5. Our boys are 14 & 15 so they were charged as adult's. The buffet was less than disappointing. They only had dark meat for chicken, and the gravy was as thick as the mash potatoes. The pizza selection was missing altogether for the 1st 20min. Then it was sausage and mushroom, cheese that needed more cheese or taco with an insane amount of tomatoes. All pizza my family doesn't like. The bread had 3pieces that looked like the heat light had baked them most of the afternoon and they were never refilled or replaced the entire time we were there. Niether was the pizza. The Dr.pepper was all carbonation and no soda, so was the strawberry Fanta and the HI C orange was out of order. The salad bar was lettuce cheese pickles imitation bacos and crackers with about 12 dressing bottles that hadn't been washed in quite some time, said the caked up dried dressing all over the lid. All 3 food stations were filthy gross. Food dried onto the sides and spills never cleaned up or wiped down. The drink station had wrappers all over it. Cactus bread was underbaked and mushy on the bottom. After paying $73 for dinner and waiting an hour for fresh food selection that never came out we went home hungry and had cereal for dinner. The fun zone was actually a blast. We bought each kid a $20 card that charged us for the card so they actually got $18 each. Lots of games and carnival things to do. We spent over an hour in there. It was the best part of our dinner. We had a good time. After cashing in over 3,000 tickets the kids left with pockets full of dumdum suckers and super cheap tiny plastic toy's. And rubber bounce ball's. My family most likely won't be returning to the pizza ranch. It was so obnoxiously loud and chaotic that we could barely hear each other. The food was missing and the place was dirty. When we spend $133 to go out for dinner and let the kids have fun we expect to actually eat dinner! I could have saved myself the huge headache I left with and my hand sanitizer plus my $133 and fed my kids the cereal they ended up eating as soon as we got home. Maybe we just chose a bad night or time to go. But it was bad enough that we won't be giving it...