Dinner Served "Little House On The Prairie" Style At Pizza Ranch
Samm Sack
Staff Writer
The servers all wear cowboy boots and belt buckles, the napkin holders have fence designs on it and all the signs are country related in some way or another. That setting reminded me of a big, home-cooked meal I used to have out on my grandparent’s old farm. There were buffets filled with steaming plates of mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken and more kinds of pizza laid out than I could ever dream up.
Nov. 18 marked the grand opening of the new Pizza Ranch on 84th and Leighton in Lincoln.
Being the opening night, the restaurant was overly packed; I was slightly claustrophobic. There was hardly maneuvering space among the already tightly jammed, country-themed tables. To top it off, it felt like there was as many workers hustling around as there was diners.
Although the probability that an average Friday night will not hold as many people, I would have suggested that the designers space out the tables a little more efficiently.
The variety and quality of pizza, which is exactly what I had been looking forward to, made up for the somewhat uncomfortable dining capacity. The buffet, although marginally expensive, was constantly transforming. Cheesy Ranch Stix were traded for Texan Taco Pizza, Steak Pizza or Stampede Pizza (which is topped with just about every ingredient the cooks can think up). There were some toppings that will develope into favorites (the kind that people crave at one in the morning on a Saturday night) like the fresh lettuce, tomato and crispy bacon on the BLT pizza, but there were some toppings that flopped to me, such as the Sausage.
The name Pizza Ranch is not misleading in anyway--there is certainly a surplus of both pizza and country-western themes--but I would dub it the Pizza and Chicken Ranch. I can’t compare the chicken to the ever popular Raising Canes, but it was still, for lack of a better word, delectable. I probably ate more chicken than pizza, which is hard to do at a pizza buffet.
Even though the dessert bar included one ice cream machine and two pizzas, I would especially choose the apple pizza over Valentino’s desserts. Even the ice cream, which was extremely creamy and tasty, was more appetizing than most ice cream shops.
The one drawback that I experienced, aside from the space issue, was the cost. $11 per person can add up especially if a family comes in. I thought that the ranch was on the pricier side for only getting a pizza buffet out of the deal.
Yet, if you ever find yourself with a surplus of money (since it is pretty expensive), I would recommend popping into Pizza Ranch. There’s no waiting for orders and an array of pizza and chicken to chose from.
