Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Spearfish

UPDATE Yep, I knew I was lying saying I wasn't going back again. Today 3/23/25 1:30pm'ish, I'm happy to report that the Spearfish Pizza Ranch has made great strides towards improvement. HUNTER or BRAXTON (not sure) took our mushroom only pizza order & the other brought it to the table. It was the 1st time in a decade that I was given a pizza that had more than 20 mushrooms on it per my shit ton of mushrooms on a thin crust request. They were both excellent at making sure we had what we needed & were enjoying our meal. Both stopped at the table several times checking on us & clearing plates. The one said he had only worked there for a week. Give those young men a raise. The buffet was well stocked at all times. The entire crew did a stellar job. The interior remodeling (paint, tables, floor) looks nice! Could the buffet area be kept a bit tidier, yes. Today was a 8☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ compared to the consistent ☆ or ☆☆ in the past decade. If Hunter or Braxton are ever looking for another job down the road, I suggest they go to Papa Murphy's & tell Brent, Hunter M's mom sent them.

Past reveiw- We honestly have given this place 10 more tries than it deserves. It's mediocre or disgusting at best most times. Why we think "this time will be better" is almost a joke at this point. We were charged the supper price at 3:02 pm. Had the parking lot been less than a maze to get into, we could have beat the clock & been there by 2:58 pm. Who the heck eats supper at 3 pm? Ridiculous. I'm going to say we've learned our lesson & never go back but that's probably a lie based on the past. The chicken is excellent, IF it's fresh. This picture pretty much sums up the place. I really have...

We were traveling through town & stopped at the Spearfish location for lunch as we love Pizza Ranch. We realize this is the beginning of the Sturgis rally and they had clearly been slammed prior to us arriving. Since you can't see the buffet from the counter area, we had no way of knowing they had virtually no food available (or we would not have stayed). It appeared they were grossly understaffed as we only ever saw 4 employees. Poor planning for perhaps the busiest Saturday of the year or did employees not show up? We were willing to be patient & give them the benefit of the doubt until my husband attempted to ask if there would be food coming out as we debated staying or getting a refund after seeing the buffet status. He did not make a scene & talked discreetly as others had entered the front door. I've worked in food service & can tolerate/understand a lot; what I couldn't tolerate was the employee's (who appeared to be in a supervisory role) response to him of "Well the longer I stand here talking to you...". No apology, no brief explanation, no response that chicken would be out in a few minutes, just rudeness.

We eventually saw lettuce & chicken come out, which tasted good & got gobbled up quickly by those waiting. Only 1 pizza came out while we were there. The bright spot was a young lady working hard to keep "afloat".

I completely understand being busy & getting behind on a buffet but the curt rudeness of the supervisor to a legit question...

Entered restaurant and waited for service and greeting for several minutes. Cashier didn’t ask if we had a rewards card or special requests. All buffet counters were dirty with dried food and hadn’t been wiped down for what seemed a very long time. Food just thrown around the buffet and not looking clean or fresh. No forks and had to ask and was handed forks and saw several customers doing the same. I never saw the forks refilled the entire visit. Pizza was dry and old and then there was none and they were not filling anything Chicken was not seasoned like it should be. All hot food was empty or cold. Salad bar didn’t have much lettuce and most containers were near empty and dirty. I asked for croutons and employee said they were out. She gave me crackers. I didn’t see any employees using urgency or providing outstanding service. The employee cleaning tables was doing a decent job and was polite. I also noticed there was no music as I enjoy usually. I would not recommend and I would rate this Pizza Ranch as the worst I have ever been to. Pizza Ranch in the Midwest is better than the Old...