Pizza Ranch, Inc., founded in 1981,[2][3] is a Midwesternfast casualbuffet restaurant chain with more than 200 locations. It specializes in pizza and chicken.[4][5]
Pizza Ranch is a Christian-based company.[9][10] The Pizza Ranch vision is "To glorify God by positively impacting the world we live in [through pizza]."[10]
In 1981, Pizza Ranch was founded by Adrie Groeneweg and Lawrence Vander Esch.[10][14][15] The first restaurant location opened on December 21, 1981, in Hull, Iowa.[16][17]
In 2001, Vander Esch left the company after being arrested and sent to prison for sexual abuse involving fraudulently obtaining semen samples of his teen employees under the pretense of a prostate study. The charges were later vacated on a technicality, but Vander Esch did not return to the company.[14][15]
In 2005, the chain's headquarters, formerly located in Hull, Iowa, moved to Orange City, Iowa.[7][8]
^Masters, Clay (August 11, 2015). "Pizza Ranch: Fueling Campaigns On Cheese And Chicken". NPR. Retrieved June 5, 2022. Many of the Republican presidential candidates have a hefty goal in Iowa ahead of its first-in-nation caucuses: make a campaign stop in all of the state's 99 counties. Along the way, presidential hopefuls are turning to the Iowa-based restaurant chain Pizza Ranch, whose ubiquity and inexpensive cuisine have made it a staple of the caucus campaign trail.
^Hafner, Josh (May 4, 2015). "To scarf up Iowa votes, candidates' first stop is pizza". USA Today. Retrieved June 5, 2022. But candidates of all political stripes visit Pizza Ranches: Democrat Hillary Clinton was the first to set foot in one ahead of 2008, according to Des Moines Register data. Democrats Joe Biden, John Edwards, Chris Dodd and Bill Richardson also appeared at Pizza Ranches for their '08 campaigns.
^ abLynch, James Q. (March 8, 2015). "Pizza Ranch is new territory for Bush campaign adviser". Cedar Rapids Gazette. Retrieved July 31, 2023. Lawrence Vander Esch from Sioux County spent time in prison on charges that he sexually abused male employees. ... In addition, the charges against Vander Esch, who was released from prison in 2006, have been vacated by a district court judge citing an Iowa Supreme Court ruling. Vander Esch, Kochel pointed out, is no longer with the chain of 180 restaurants across the Midwest.
