Runza Restaurant — Restaurant in Papillion

Our kids were really excited about the $1 ice cream cones for the summer so we've gone a few times already, plus they really enjoy the fries. We've always had a pretty good experience, the restaurant is always clean and up until this last visit, the staff has always been really friendly.

Unfortunately, after placing our order, we observed one staff member being pretty rude and talking down to another employee who was working really hard from what we observed.

Then came the issue with the ice cream. Our first few cones came out ok, then the next had some issues with the ice cream consistency. We also ordered a dice cream dish, which came out really runny.

We completely understand if there are equipment issues and didn't have a problem with that. The issue was with the fact that the runny ice cream that was just dispensed got dumped right back in the machine from the dish. We asked about that and were told it's perfectly fine and that it's their procedure to just dump it back in the machine when it comes out funky.

That just seemed off to us and seemed like a...

I really love this restaurant. Not because of the Runza sandwich (which I find abhorrent) but because of the friendy staff, the community-focused ownership, and the convenient downtown Papillion location. I do find many of the entrees tasty, especially if they feature those fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth buns. My kids love getting the kids meals because of the ice cream coupon on the bag, and I love that the kids meals don't come with any "play with it once and throw it on the floorboards" toys. One of the things I've really appreciated during the COVID era is that they have made the effort to keep their dining room open and low-risk. The seating is blocked off to ensure proper spacing, and the tables are cleaned often. It is really nice to get out of the house for a meal...

Like all chains, there is variability between stores. Never having been to another Runza before, I don't know if our experience is representative of them all, but this one was mediocre. The food was delivered quickly, but was warm at best, and as we started to unwrap, the order was wrong for 3 of the 4 people who ordered. I found the runza sandwiches to be an acquired taste that I don't have, but my son said it was better than his almost cold burger. Mother in law loved her mushroom Swiss runza. Father in law said regular runza was meh, but Swiss mushroom was good. My pretzel Swiss burger was also lukewarm, cheese wasn't melted at all. So, not a great experience for the highly anticipated...