Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Council Bluffs

I love the concept, it seems kind of like a CiCis but with more options. Pizza quality was ok but not great. I suppose its about what I expected for a buffet. The salad bar was fantastic. My biggest problems revolved around two things, cleanliness and the soda machine out of literally every flavor. It was difficult to find a clean table, most of them had very clearly been used recently with smudges and fingerprints and food particles all over them. A lot of the seats had food on them. A girl was attempting to clean up around the buffet area but it was still pretty bad. Food all over the floor and the little metal ledge. So also, if you are a customer at ANY restaurant can you try and not be gross?! Like c'mon people... So issue number two was the drink machine. Tried to get a cherry coke and just soda water with a tiny bit of syrup in it came out. Tried the orange Fanta, same thing. Tried regular coke, and also no dice. Tried on the second machine and it was the same. I alerted a young man to the problem and he seemed appropriately concerned and said he would look into it. I got some tea to drink and hoped it would be working soon. I gave it about 20 minutes and went back and it was still mostly just water. The employee tried filling up several cups to prime the system again and wasn't getting anywhere so I gave up. They seemed to have staff there and were not terribly busy, I'd say about a quarter of the restaurant had patrons, so I'm not sure what the issues stemmed from. My last complaint is that the pizza selection was kind of lackluster. Peperoni, veggie and some monstrosity with pineapple on it lol. Well, little tip... I found out after the fact that you can request them to make any kind of pizza you like and they will make it and put it out! I feel like that should be told to you when come in and maybe have some signage. Overall I didn't hate it but I do hate a dirty restaurant. I'd give them another shot but don't have any in the area I live. I loved that they had fried chicken, mashed potates and stuffing! I didn't end up trying them because after my couple slices of pizza and my salad I was just bummed out and had lost my appetite.

So in summary I probably just caught them on a bad day and I wouldn't tell you to NOT try it out especially with your kids who are probably less picky(my teenagers were ok with it). Maybe just verify its clean first lol, and don't forget you can custom order pizza for the buffet!(not a personal one...

My first experience with Pizza Ranch was roughly 3-4 years ago at the Council Bluffs location. It was not a pleasant one for several reasons, all relating to the food/ice cream/seating. I had no interest in ever going back. After reluctantly attending a family event at the same location a couple years later, my opinion changed completely and I have been there several times since, as well as to other (Omaha) locations.

Besides my initial experience, every time I've been here has been exceptional and it is actually one of my favorite places to eat now. The food is always great, the dishes are clean, the staff is attentive, the drink is now included in the buffet price, and the music is played at an appropriate noise level; I can hear my family speak without yelling, yet its a relaxing background sound. Staff is always friendly, though sometimes during busy hours you'll need to seek them out if you have a request (understandably so). I can't say a negative thing about this restaurant, as they have completely changed my opinion since my initial visit.

[Two visits ago, I watched a very rude customer 'freaking out' on some employees because a past pizza option was no longer offered as a default option. The employees calmly answered her back in a much more patient tone than I would have, and advised her they would have the (now) specialty pizza made and brought out to her. They would have been justified to ask her to leave, yet they handled the situation with class, even when treated with none. Hats off to the employees.]

If you've had a single poor experience in the past, I recommend giving Pizza Ranch (Council Bluffs)...

I’m incredibly surprised at all the good reviews - it means that either they are fake or we went on the wrong night. I’ve been to pizza ranch all over the Midwest - never a bad experience, until now. I should have went with my gut when we got there, it was pitch black at the entrance. Paid $35 for probable food poisoning. I’ve included the buffet when we arrived and when we left. Not a SINGLE fresh item put out. There were about a half dozen customers in the restaurant. A family came as we were leaving- who clearly was a relative of an employee. They literally hand delivered several whole fresh pizza’s to the table within 5 minutes of arrival. That was the straw that broke the camels back. I had requested a taco pizza and cheese sticks when we arrived. 30 minutes later, nothing. When I inquired with the clerk I ordered with, she scurried to the back and came back to say “the printer was broken, they didn’t make it. We can make it now”. I was done at this point and told her to forget it. The entire 40 minutes we were there, I saw one employee in the lobby cleaning - the rest were clearly in the kitchen chatting. I assumed there was no manager on duty (due to the horrific state of the restaurant) and decided to take my experience up with management and corporate personally after leaving. It clearly would have been wasted breath at the restaurant. My daughter had a bad stomach ache after leaving - I suspect it’s from the food that sat out for hours prior to our arrival. I would strongly encourage people to support a successful pizza ranch, not...