Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Mason City

I hate leaving negative reviews but when it's warranted, it's warranted.

With the lack of choice for decent sit down restaurants in town, we really wish we enjoyed this Pizza Ranch location more. Mason City isn't a big city, and, as such, this PR is on the smaller side - the selection on the buffet reflects that (it wasn't that long ago they finally got an ice cream machine!). That wouldn't be a huge issue IF the food available was hot AND fresh.

We don't go there for the pizza, we go for the chicken. Well, we last visited mid-January, and the chicken was so overcooked and so dry that it was inedible (yes, inedible. I'm not exaggerating). Anyway, we didn't feel comfortable making a fuss or complaining since we feel bad for the workers who seemed to be understaffed. We won't be in a hurry to come back anytime soon...just not a good value for what you get.

*also the machine for making ice for the pop was apparently...

I ordered a cheese stick and a gluten-sensitive pizza to accommodate a friend via the website. The website defaulted to only being able to order a medium pizza, which was perfectly fine. When we received the order, the pizza was a small. I called the restaurant to explain the situation. I was given the manager to talk to. No solution was offered to correct the situation. The manager claimed they don't control the website and the gluten pizza is only a small size (which was different from what the website made me order), and he couldn't issue any correction, and again, didn't offer any solution of his own effort. I have never seen restaurant staff be this indifferent about a significant mistake like this, especially when you are not getting the value you paid for, and offer literally nothing to rectify the issue. I am thoroughly disappointed by this experience and never plan to order from this...

The worst pizza ranches I have been too and I go them regularly. We drive 16 miles round trip to go to this pizza ranch instead of eating fast food near i35.We arrived for lunch and wanted a specific pizza, the buffet have it your way was not available. The chicken and waffle fries(were hard) were over cooked and have been sitting for hours, basically barely edible, stuffing remained empty, mash potatoes were bad and gravy was empty. Ranch sticks were old and tray was basically empty, the few pizzas that were out were dried out. Items remind empty the hour we were there. The dessert pizza was good and the salad bar was being maintained. Staff was not friendly or engaging. Some sat down in the booths not on break and discussed vaping and cigarettes. Overall not a place I would recommend or return to. I gave 3 stars because it had a...