Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Fargo

My low rating really has nothing to do with the food, I enjoy the food. In fact my love for their chicken is what prompted this critique. I had gastric bypass a couple months ago and have been on a pureed diet since. To say the least, I was craving some food with texture to it. I knew when I got there I couldn't eat the buffet. I couldn't even eat a whole piece of chicken but I didn't know if you could order just a piece and a side. When entering the cashier named Misty (worst possible type of person to be greeting customers in my 15 yrs in foodservice mgt.) Waited on us. My friend ordered the buffet and paid and then without even asking me anything says $12.xx (can't recall buffet change total) so I swiped my card. Yes maybe I should have said something right there but there was a line and without knowing if they would accommodate individual orders I swiped my card and sat at a table. I took 1 chicken breast and half a scoop of green beans, knowing I wouldn't be able to eat all of it. As I ate I looked up the companies website and saw that pizza ranch does order by the piece. I had only ever had the buffet so I didn't know this was possible. When I was done I wanted to take another chicken breast home with me so I went up to the counter to inquire about that and possibly changing my order. My first line was "Hi I just had gastric bypass" and before I could say anything else Misty asked if I had a card proving this. Who tf carries a card saying they had weight loss surgery in their pocket? 🤦🏽 I said all I had are my fresh surgery scars and her response was that she had the same marking when she had a gall bladder removal. This rude hag literally accused me of lying without even knowing what I wanted. I went onto say how much I liked the chicken and if I could have a piece for later. "You can buy one" which I did. I paid over $17 bucks for 2 pieces of chicken and half a scoop of green beans. Had anyone else in the world been behind that counter I wouldn't have such a low review but never in my life have I been talked to like that in a restaurant, dirty pizza buffet chain (store was very very unclean) or not. The second they correct the issue I may consider coming back. To the reviewers saying "this is the buffet in town" fail to mention that's it's also the ONLY buffet in town that isn't Chinese. So technically...

Disappointed. We love Pizza Ranch in Bemidji MN, our hometown. When traveling to Fargo we decided to have dinner here. We should have gone to McDonalds.

First off, the only person that even acknowledged us was the cashier. None of the staff even looked at us. The place wasn't busy but most of the tables were dirty. I attempted to get a worker to wipe a table so we could eat and she said "sure" and walked off. I got paper towels and water and washed the table myself.

There was food and napkins all over the floor. Of course you didn't see the mess til after you paid and go in the dining room, or I would have said let's go elsewhere!

2 of the workers were in a little back area near the fun zone kissing! Probably the ones that were supposed to be cleaning tables.

There was soda syrup crusted onto the backs of the soda fountain. Puddles on the floor of soda.

A girl rolled up a rug to clean at one point, then rearranged the pizza slices without washing her hands.

The handicapped stall in the ladies room had no toilet paper, and there was so much soap crusted on the walls behind the soap dispensers that you could tell cleaning wasn't a priority.

We got there at 7:45 on a Tuesday evening, so it wasn't like it was dinner rush on a weekend.

I have worked in both fast food and higher end restaurants. If my boss had seen such filthy conditions and I wasn't cleaning as I should I would expect to get fired.

Food was ok- very little variety on pizza, but the salad was ok.

All in all a disappointing...

Several pizza dishes excel in flavor but often disappear from buffet quickly. I believe the popularity of this place stems from the overall lack of buffet restaurants in the area. If you don't want to wait in line for 45-60 minutes during the dinner hour, this is where you'll likely end up unless everyone in your party enjoys Asian cuisine (the only other type of buffet in Fargo/Moorhead).

Buffet items rarely rotate and consist of various pizza, fried chicken (regular, BBQ, and hot), some form of potato, corn, beans, soup, and an anemic salad bar. Desert pizza is available but often disappears quickly as well. Ice cream machine was a hit with my kids although they lack any available toppings for the treat. Seating is hit-and-miss with the larger tables crammed pretty close together in back rooms which amplifies the screams of the children at the next table.

Trips to the buffet are hazardous at times as they are arranged with no discernible order with the salad bar and chicken bar parallel but the pizza bar at a slight angle and the soda fountains located perpendicular to the salad/chicken bars. Regardless, expect to get cut off several times during your trip to the buffets.

Overall the establishment is OK. There's a bit of variety and visiting once a month is about as much as I could tolerate when my family is in town and we don't want to wait for seating at...