Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On December 28, 1981, the first Pizza Ranch opened in Hull. Started in northwest Iowa, the company grew into one of the Midwest’s most prolific pizza and chicken restaurants.
Adrie Groeneweg opened the first Pizza Ranch in Hull, Iowa, in December 1981. At 19, he was convinced he could open a pizza place while working part-time as a welder after high school. To earn extra money, Groeneweg started working at a pizza place in a nearby town. Groeneweg convinced his father, Bill, to help him get a start in the pizza business. After finding a building on Main Street in Hull, Groeneweg’s parents suggested a Western theme for the restaurants.
The restaurant found quick success and opened a second location in nearby Orange City in 1983. In 1984, Mountain Lake, Minnesota, inquired about the potential of franchising, and Pizza Ranch Inc. was officially incorporated. In 1987, a location opened in Sioux City and started offering a Tuesday night promotion featuring pizza, broasted chicken, and a salad bar. The popular concept took off and soon spread to the other thirteen Pizza Ranch stores, eventually leading many to claim the Pizza Ranch is really a chicken restaurant.
Today, Pizza Ranch functions primarily as a buffet restaurant with more than 200 locations in fifteen states. The restaurant also claims to have “America’s Best Chicken.” #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar
