Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Galesburg

Overall, I had a pleasant visit. Didn't interact with any staff other than the nice woman at the register. She rang me up and gave me a cup. Then she said to sit wherever I would like to sit. All great! However, finding an empty table was the issue.

Now for the atmosphere. This place is CROWDED! I had to wait a few minutes for a table to become available. Not that big of a deal. I'm a patient man. I get to my table and finish my first helping of pizza. I went back up for seconds and when I returned, I noticed that people were sitting at my table. So again, I had to wait for a table to open up. Not the restaurant's fault. This was just something that happens since I was dining alone. They thought the table was empty. I will also note that the tables were really close together. I had to be careful not to accidentally bump into anyone as I walked through. All of these problems could easily be fixed by expanding their dining area. Add more tables. Maybe the owners could rearrange the buffet bar? They take up a lot of space for minimal real-estate. They don't need to be diagonal or spaced so far away from each other. Line them up into 2 lines and use the empty space to expand the dining area. Not really a deal breaker for me. I'm just giving constructive criticism.

Now the food: It's a nice mix of pizza, country food, and salad. All-in-all, the food served it's purpose. I ate, had my fill, and walked out feeling like it was worth the money. However, there's not a huge selection of pizza. I was kind of surprised that a simple pepperoni pizza wasn't on the buffet but they had multiple veggie pizzas. I dunno. Just struck me as odd. The chicken was good, though. I would say it's better than KFC and other chicken chain restaurants. However, those places don't really set the bar high for fried chicken. Still, it has good flavor. Properly seasoned and not too salty. The batch I ate from was a little greasy. However, no more than KFC. So I will say it passes as decent chicken.

My overall score isn't meant to bash this restaurant. It's to give the managers and owners a little insight for improvement. I see a lot of potential in this restaurant. I mean, they even have a game room! That's really cool! Sadly, It's the little things that pile up that I must take starts off for.

TL:DR Give more selection in buffet options, figure out a way to maximize your real-estate with the dining area and the buffet area, and keep the minimal interaction with staff as it is.

As a truck driver, I see a lot of places. I eat at a lot of restaurants. So I've seen "bad" restaurants. This restaurant is far from bad. It was actually better than what I was expecting. My own personal score, I would give it about a 6.5-7 out of 10. Google only let's me give whole star ratings, so I had to round up to 4 stars to be fair. My actual rating would be 3.5 stars. I will definitely be visiting again in the future if I am ever back in this beautiful little town. I will try to bring my family next time. I hope by that time the restaurant has grown even more and taken my criticisms into...

We went to Pizza Ranch on 11/16/24 at 4:45 PM with my daughter. We ordered 2 pizzas and I ordered thin sliced veggie pizza because that’s all I eat when I go there every time, my order came wrong with meat on it. I stayed calm and asked nicely for my order to be fixed, the manager named Alyssa told me that I looked just like those who go there to steal trays of pizza just like that. We paid for our food when we walked in, Alyssa the manager racially profiled and stereotyped me and my child just because I nicely and peacefully asked for my pizza to be fixed because I do not eat meats is a shame on you Pizza Ranch! The manager left with my daughter's pizza and did not give her anything to eat. We were stunned oh my Goodness! She left empty plates on the table we had nothing to eat. This happened in Galesburg, IL the manager's name is Alyssa in red T-shirt a disrespectful and racist lady who doesn't have any morales nor work ethics and she should not manage anything at all. This is a shame and should not happened to anyone. Thanks to Sam and Juice who tried to make things right, they fixed my pizza and apologized for the manager bad behaviors. Juice made sure that my daughter had pizza to eat. Sam apologized to my daughter and I and even went to get another manager who apologized to us and gave us free gift cards which they didn’t have to do that. I appreciate Sam, and Juice kindness and generosity.

Update/ on 12/17/24 at 3:50 PM, my daughter asked me if we could go to Pizza Ranch and I said well well well. My daughter said, “ mom, everybody deserves a second chance.” I decided to honor my daughter’s request. We walked in and Sam treated us like Queens! She said hi with a big smile on and she knew exactly what we like. Sam deserves to be one of the managers there. She is a doll who treats people with kindness and respect. Sam made sure that my pizza was right and delicious. She made our day special, welcomed my child and I with a smile and apologized again for what happened in the past. Sam is the true definition of a great employee who treats people with...

First, the cons... If you can call them that. The price is a little higher than other buffets in town. And you can't NOT pay for a soda. It's in the price of the buffet.

If you don't want simple shredded icebirg for a salad, there is also spinach, which is nice... But they don't put it out without some sort of white crumbled cheese (like gouda or bleu), walnuts, and strawberries. So, that's "meh." But the rest of the salad bar is pretty decent. So, not bad.

Now, the pizza, which is in their name, is not mind-blowing, but it is decent. Better than Pizza Hut's buffet stuff by a good measure. The real kicker is that they will make literally any pizza you ask for and bring it to your table to offer you the first few slices before putting it on the buffet... For THAT reason alone, they kill Pizza Hut.

HOWEVER: The chicken part of the buffet is great. They even admit (on the back of some shirts) that the place is known for their chicken. Also, mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans (with bits of onion and bacon), mac and cheese, corn, WAFFLE FRIES, buttermilk biscuits, and... Omg, the stuffing is KILLER. Honestly it's what I think of when someone mentions going there. And did I mention the fried chicken? Very good chicken. I'm sure I missed something.

Their desert pizza selection is great too. I like getting a slice of strawberry and blueberry and stacking them. The soft serve ice cream is pretty HQ also.

So the price and a couple of personal issues of mine are MORE than made up for by the quality and selection. I mean, how much would a 3 piece chicken, 3 sides, and desert meal cost anywhere else? Add in the soda, a decent atmosphere, clean store, and some pizza if you want it... Or whatever you want, and you are getting WAY more than your money's worth.

And it's just all around good food and a good place.

Pro tip: put a little bit of shreddedcheese on your plate from the salad bar, then put potatoes over that, let it sit a minute, stir it up... Boom. Cheesy...