On Labor Day, the culinary options on the Corridor of Commerce – Fifth Avenue South expanded. A Pizza Ranch opened just north of Menards.

The latest addition to the local restaurant world features assorted dining choices.

“It’s mostly a buffet, however, we do also have delivery and carryout,” said Michelle Snyder, the general manager. “People are welcome to order off the menu. We have three sandwiches on our menu, which we call wraps.”

Pizza, of course, is a key part of the cuisine, but there’s more to the story.

“Pizza, broasted chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, we have a full salad bar with two different kinds of soup and soft-serve ice cream and then we have our dessert pizza,” Snyder said. “There are four buffet lines – one for the pizza, one for the chicken, one for the salads, one for dessert. Dessert is included with the buffet. … The buffet has everything – all the fixings.”

The buffet is available almost anytime a patron chooses to dine.

“We’re running an all-day buffet,” Snyder explained. “It closes an hour before we close.”

During that last hour, people can still order off the menu. That is a choice also available whenever the buffet is in operation.

“Anything that is on our buffet, you can get off the menu,” Snyder said.

Pizza lovers will relish to diversity Pizza Ranch provides.

“We have three different kinds of crusts,” Snyder said. “We have our own sauces. We do a feature pizza every quarter. Right it is garden garlic chicken pizza.”

She said feature pizzas that prove popular tend to find their way onto the chain’s standard menu.

Good corporate citizenship

The first Pizza Ranch opened in Hull in 1981. Adrie Groeneweg, the company’s founder, remains at the helm more than three decades later. Today’s Pizza Ranch, however, has grown far beyond its origin as a small-town eatery.

Today there are more than 180 Pizza Ranch locations in 13 states – Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Its business model features franchise stores, many with local owners. The enterprise has annual revenues in the range of $150 million according to a profile on the corporate website.

Pizza Ranch, however, is not just another big business.

“We’re a religious company,” Snyder said. “It is very Christian-based. We like to do a lot of good for others. Our vision statement is: ‘To glorify God by positively impacting the world.'”

That philosophy is reflected in the company’s commitment to giving back to the communities where it does business as well as to people in need.

Helping local nonprofit organizations and charitable endeavors succeed is a companywide project.

“We do a lot of community impact nights,” Snyder said. “We have fundraisers for groups that want to earn money for their organization. They get to bus tables for tips and we give them a percentage of our sales for that shift. … They invite all their friends and families to come in and eat. They have fun doing it. It’s a pretty good deal. They get the tips and 7 percent of our sales during that timeframe.”

These community impact undertakings both raise money for worthy causes and increase community awareness of them, Snyder said.

“We’d like to have fundraisers booked all year long and we’d like to be involved in the community and with the schools,” she said.

Pizza Ranch also is helping people far from the venues where it does business. Three years ago it partnered with Ethiopia Reads to establish schools in Africa. The company’s restaurants contribute $.50 for every pound of coffee they use to Ethiopia Reads. So far, this has resulted in the two new furnished schools in Ethiopia funded by this initiative.

Snyder said the company also facilitates an array of mission trips.

Meet the manager

For nearly a decade and a half, Snyder has been a manager with the franchisee that owns the Pizza Ranch in Fort Dodge – Davis Ranch, headquartered in Cedar Falls.

“I transferred here. I’ve been with this company for 14 years and this is my fifth store,” she said. “I’ve opened three of them.”

Snyder said the key to making a restaurant succeed is quite straightforward.

“You have to give legendary service and you have to have legendary product,” she said. “You have to hire happy people. That is really the key.”

Snyder said she is a firm believer in a hands-on approach to restaurant management.

“I jump in. I sing. I make jokes,” she said. “You have to walk the walk and you have to be willing to do any job that you ask employees to do.”

Snyder grew up in Sac City and graduated from high school there. She subsequently continued her education at Northeast Iowa Community College and the University of Northern Iowa.

She has four children. The three youngest are currently in school in Fort Dodge. Her oldest daughter, Kali Nunnally, is the guest services manager at the Fort Dodge Pizza Ranch.

About the Fort Dodge Pizza Ranch

The Fort Dodge Pizza Ranch can seat 200 patrons. Its dining room has three sections. Additionally, there is a private function room that can be divided into two smaller venues. Snyder said she has about 90 employees most of whom work part time.

The restaurant is open Monday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Pizza Ranch offers senior citizens a discount.