North Liberty’s new Pizza Ranch combines dining, entertainment

A reimagined Pizza Ranch, located at 1355 Hayes Lane, boasts a 5,900 square foot FunZone arcade, the largest combo in the franchise, says owner Brandon Pratt, of Lion Development Group. Combined, the restaurant and arcade reach a little under 13,000 square feet.

It’s almost double the size of the restaurant’s previous location at the Beaver Kreek Center off S. Dubuque Street, which opened in 1996 and which Mr. Pratt bought in 2019.

“We’re excited to give the city of North Liberty a fresh look at what is now,” he said, at the Aug. 19 grand opening.

The new building can host up to 280 diners at a time and has five party rooms, each equipped with TVs that live-stream the arcade room, a convenient way for parents to keep an eye on their kids.

The glittering arcade can accommodate 94 players, who can choose from favorites like skee-ball and air hockey, as well as the more advanced Godzilla Kaiju Wars shooting game, equipped with virtual reality headsets.

The latest technology isn’t just limited to the FunZone, however; the kitchen also features updates such as the XLT oven, which cuts cooking times down from nine minutes to four, a big difference to a packed eating establishment. And while there’s no delivery option at this Pizza Ranch – Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats will still be utilized – a carry-out drive-thru window saves busy customers a little time as well.

Pizza Ranch diners and arcade visitors won’t help but notice the major construction that adjoins the arcade – it’s the future space for BowlDogs, a 26,000-square-foot bowling alley that will complete the leisure hub when it’s completed sometime this winter.

It’s all part of the plan to provide North Liberty residents some recreational options that will keep revenue within the city, Mr. Pratt said.

“The city of North Liberty needs something to keep people here,” he said. “There’s so much of our dollars and our revenue (that) go to neighboring communities.”

“We fully anticipate we’re going to be bringing in people from outside North Liberty,” he added. “Iowa City, Coralville and Tiffin, I think, will be spending a lot of time and money and effort and fun here at our complex. The Palestra is going to bring people from even further outside.”

The Palestra is the neighboring 36,000-square-foot sports complex that opened this summer with 5-7,000 visitors estimated per week during peak sports seasons, Mr. Pratt said, and he’s hopeful traveling sports teams will spend their dollars at FunZone.

“We’ll have pizza promotions where (Palestra visitors) can come over here (and) play in the arcade,” he said, and Pizza Ranch will livestream the tournaments and games from the Palestra.

What: Pizza Ranch and FunZone
Where: 1355 Hayes Lane, North Liberty
When: Open 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. M-F, 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. weekends