May 23, 2019 – West Bend, WI – As Pizza Ranch in West Bend celebrates its 1-year anniversary we’ll spin back the clock to 2017 on a chilly Nov. 21 when Stacy and Matt Gehring gathered on the east side of the old Ponderosa and held an official groundbreaking for their new business.
It had been quite the saga for the Gehrings who invested in two different properties prior to securing the sale of the former Ponderosa building, 2020 W. Washington Street, from Steve Kilian.
“Finally, huh?” said Stacy Gehring in October 2017. “We were pretty relieved at the closing… it really felt like crunch time.
“We just had to wait for all the drawings and for permits to get finalized and we’re hoping to break ground the end of November or beginning of December.”
“We can only use three walls and the steel roof trusses otherwise everything will be brand new,” said Stacy. “We’re also going to do a little addition to the back.”
Kilian confirmed during a phone call he closed on the sale of the building.
“The time it took to sell the building was just normal business,” said Kilian. “I had other potential buyers but they were direct competitors; I’m happy about the Pizza Ranch. The Gehrings are good people.”
Kilian owns the McDonald’s restaurant that’s within a stone’s throw of the new Pizza Ranch property.
It was March 28, 2018 when we took a sneak peek inside the new restaurant.
Finally on May 6, 2018 there was a blessing by Rev. Nathan Reesman before the grand opening of Pizza Ranch.
Stop at Pizza Ranch in West Bend and help them celebrate one year in business.