Meet the Davenport Man Trying to Visit Every Pizza Ranch Location in the US

For many Midwestern kids, Pizza Ranch brings back nostalgic memories of family pizza nights, birthday parties, and even school-sponsored activities. For Jason Halkias, the restaurant chain has taken on a special place in his heart. It's become Jason's mission to visit every single Pizza Ranch location in the United States.

I was fortunate enough to chat with Jason on the phone to inquire about "The Quest to Visit All the Pizza Ranch Locations," per his self-created Facebook page documenting his journey. As of this writing, Jason has visited 150 Pizza Ranch locations across several states. The 150th location was Sioux Falls West, SD's Pizza Ranch.

Just how many Pizza Ranch locations are there in the United States? According to Jason, who resides in Davenport, IA, that figure is difficult to discern because the restaurant chain is actively opening a few every year. Three of the 150 locations he's visited have since closed. A couple are temporarily closed. As of now, there are 223 active Pizza Ranch locations across the following states:

• Iowa
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Illinois
• Kansas
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Tennessee
• North Dakota
• South Dakota
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Barring that no Pizza Ranch locations open nor close by the end of the journey, Jason will have visited 226 locations total (including the three eateries he visited before they shuttered).

Because it just so happened that the Sioux Falls West Pizza Ranch location was his 150th stop, Jason plans to keep the "Sioux" tradition going. He wants the location in Sioux City to be his 200th stop, and he's saving the Sioux Center location for the home-stretch (that's near Hull, IA where Pizza Ranch founder Adrie Groeneweg grew up/worked in his first pizzeria).

The inspiration for this mission was inspired by an ex-girlfriend's love for Pizza Ranch. However, the quest itself didn't fully commence until relatively recently.

The Dubuque Pizza Ranch location served as Jason's 22nd stop.

Take a listen to my interview with Jason Halkias to learn more about his quest to visit every Pizza Ranch location in the country. Stay up to date with his travels as he checks more off the list on his Facebook page too!