LISBON — Some people collect vinyl records, others want to see every MLB baseball stadium in America, and one person wants to visit all the Pizza Ranch locations in the country.
That man is Jason Halkias from Iowa. On Oct. 25, he was in Lisbon, Waukesha County visiting his 221st location.
“Well, I’m currently on the final swing on my quest to get to all the pizza ranch locations," Halkias said.
Pizza Ranch, a chain buffet-style pizza restaurant, has thousands of visitors a day, but none are like Halkias. He has traveled to a dozen states across the country from Colorado to Kansas to Montana to Wyoming.
“There’s nothing quite like the environment of Pizza Ranch," Halkias said.
After the Lisbon location, he has just three more to go in Tennessee and Iowa.
He averages about 4 or 5 slices per location. If you multiply that by the 221 restaurants, you get around 1,000 slices. He will revisit certain locations near his home in Davenport, Iowa so likely the number of slices he has eaten is even higher.
“Do you ever get sick of Pizza Ranch? And I say I know my limits, but I never get tired of the food," Halkias said.
In many places, like Lisbon, he draws the attention of local media. He has done dozens of interviews. But I still managed to do a first with him. I sat down with him and ate a slice of his favorite pizza with him - buffalo chicken with a cheese-filled stuffed crust.
When Halkias isn't driving to a new Pizza Ranch, he is working as a custodian, karaoke host, and event DJ.
He went to his first pizza Ranch around 2005. However, his quest didn’t start until he dated a woman in 2013 for 2 years. She was a Pizza Ranch fanatic and got Jason hooked.
Watch Jason Halkias' incredible Journey to see all 224 Pizza Ranch locations
“Even though that relationship eventually ended the passion just continued from there," Halkias said.
From about 2005 to 2023, he visited 100 Pizza Ranches. Then he put the pedal to the metal, and in roughly 2 years he visited 121 locations.
"As much as I give back to Pizza Ranch, they give back to me," he said.
He has been in touch with Pizza Ranch ownership. The corporate folks have thanked him for being such a loyal customer. Individual locations have even given him free swag and gift cards.
Eating at Pizza Ranch has become more than just finding a place to get a slice of 'za.
"Eventually, however, it became all about going to places in the country that I've never seen before and allowing me to see what's out there," he said.
There are others like Jason. He knows of couples trying to visit all the Panera Breads, Texas Road Houses, and Cracker Barrels. I’ve actually done a story about a Wisconsin man who has visited almost all the Kwik Trips.
While Jason is close to completing his goal, it’s actually a never-ending mission.
“There will be new locations opening in the future. So even though the intial quest will finish, the quest itself overall will never end," Halkias said.
That’s good news for a guy who loves traveling the country and eating at Pizza Ranch.
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