Pizza Ranch — Restaurant in Waukee

We visited this Pizza Ranch restaurant during a mid-June weekend for lunch. Since, we are strict vegetarians, we were little apprehensive about the choices on the menu for us, and whether the buffet would be a good choice for us due to limited vegetarian options. Alex, at the counter, helped us out. He was a very nice and helpful guy. Before paying at the counter, we requested him if we could take a look at all the options due to our dietary restrictions. He gladly helped us out. He walked us through all the options on the different counters, and clarified all our doubts / questions. We were satisfied and felt that we could try quite a few options which suited us. We chose "All-You-Can-Have" Lunch Buffet. $15.99/Adult. We did not have any option of soup. We started off with several options of salad / veggies. Potato Wedges, Beans, Corn, Chips, Mashed Potatoes, Pasta, Mac&Cheese, Sauces - all were fresh and tasted good. Cheese Garlic sticks were fresh, hot and fluffy - as we had wanted. Regarding the Pizza, we requested Alex if there was something more that he could offer than the normal Cheese Pizza. He offered us the PR's Prairie Veggie Pizza with different veggies on top. When the pizza was ready, he was kind enough to serve it at our table. We liked his gesture and helpfulness. We had different kinds of pizza (Cheese, Cheese Garlic, Prairie). There was coffee, soda, cold drinks on the counter. And, then the Dessert - Chocolate Chip Cookie and Cactus Bread. Overall - we enjoyed our lunch buffet (even though with limited Pizza options). And Thanks Alex - for going out of your way to get us what we wanted. Great Customer Service ! The only improvement I would request is - more options of vegetarian pizza - with different options of toppings like Pineapple, Olive, corn and so on. With the current inflation and gas prices - I tend to agree on the price, but they can get more footfalls, if they reduce the price.

I would highly recommend...

We've been going here for years and watching the slow decline in quality but yesterday was the worst I've experienced. I'll start with the good - the staff are always consistently friendly and the claw/toy machines are numerous and have cute things in them for kids.

They turned off the dessert pizza heat lamps and put the dessert pizzas in with the regular which means decreased space for actual pizza. The selection of actual pizza was weird stuff. There should always be at least a couple simple, basic options available on a buffet like pepperoni and cheese.

Then we go to the drink machine and about 2/3 of the drink names are blanked out. Three of the four teas were unavailable as were the Hi-C, lemonade, powerade options. There were three pops, one tea and water. Three of the four of us couldn't get what we usually drink there.

Then we go to select a table. A large section of seating was blocked off. Of what was left there were maybe three open tables and two of them were dirty.

Back to the food. The chicken looked like it had sat there long enough to dry out. They brought out a couple of skillet chocolate chip cookies. My kids were excited and started trying to scoop them onto their plates. Much like last time we were there, they weren't cooked through. They were still doughy/gummy in the middle so I told my kids not to eat them. Even with trying to be a little selective, two of us felt queasy by the end of the meal.

My family has long enjoyed Pizza Ranch and this location used to be good quality food and selection. Time to try a...

We ordered chicken and a pizza. My husband arrived at the store when they said it would be ready. After 15 minutes they brought out the pizza but no chicken. Then after 20 more minutes my husband asked why our chicken wasn't done. He was told it would be right out. 15 minutes later it finally came out. My husband was there for an hour. He was understandably upset. The manager asked for our rewards cards. And claimed to have put the cost of our food onto it because he had already paid. We was happy about that. We then a week later ordered chicken. My husband went to get it and wanted to use the rewards card to pay for it. When it was swiped there was no money onto it. My husband was upset and talked to a different manager. They apologized and asked for our rewards card. Claimed they put $30 onto it and apologized for the mix up. My husband said we would not be back to the Waukee store. So, we stopped this weekend on Sunday at the Ankeny store to eat. And once again when they swiped the card, there was only $5 onto it. We was lied to by the Waukee store manager once again. We do NOT recommend the Waukee store to anyone. They...