By Jason Arndt
Editor
Pizza Ranch, a national restaurant chain based in Iowa, will have a new location along a prominent corridor in the City of Burlington.
Bob Rehm Jr., of Grassroots Management, said construction crews are performing site grading, among other initial projects, on the Pizza Ranch location at 960 Milwaukee Ave.
Grassroots Management, Rehm added, is managing the development and operations of the Pizza Ranch for the ownership group.
A groundbreaking will be held in August, and the management group hopes to open the Burlington store by the end of the year.
The initial site grading comes a little more than seven months after the City of Burlington Plan Commission endorsed a site plan application submitted by Jim Oestmann.
According to plans submitted to the city in December 2022, Pizza Ranch will develop a vacant property, next to the former Pizza Hut, and construct a new 6,900-square-foot facility.
City planner Andy Cross, of the Lakota Group, said the restaurant will have seating for nearly 200 customers with features such as a large fun zone and game room, as well as parking spaces for 90 vehicles.
“A bike rack will also be installed on the site. The Seven Waters bike trail is located in proximity to the property and the restaurant seeks to draw customers from it,” Cross wrote in his memorandum.
Hundreds of locations
Pizza Ranch launched in 1981 and has more than 210 locations in the United States.
Rehm said Pizza Ranch is a buffet restaurant featuring multiple menu options.
“Pizza Ranch is primarily a buffet restaurant that features our legendary pizza, a hot bar with the Country’s Best Chicken, and salad bar with the drink included in the price of the meal,” he said. “Pizza Ranch also has delivery, carry out and catering for all the items on the menu.”
While Pizza Ranch has established itself in 27 Wisconsin communities, according to its website, the Burlington location would be the second in Walworth, Kenosha and Racine counties with first taking hold in the City of Elkhorn.
The Elkhorn location just finished a remodeling project in the last year.
Rehm said the ownership group, which also has a stake in the Elkhorn, decided on Burlington because the Pizza Ranch performs well in cities of similar size.
“We purchased the Elkhorn Pizza Ranch almost one year ago and it is doing well, and the two restaurants will be partnering businesses,” Rehm said, adding both will work together to “provide legendary service and cravable food.”
Initial site plans submitted to the city showed operating hours of 10 a.m. until 9 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. on weekends.
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