Runza® Restaurants

Runza^® Restaurants is a Midwest quick serve chain with over 90 locations spread throughout Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, South Dakota and Kansas. They’re famous for their namesake sandwich – the Runza^® sandwich, which features seasoned ground beef, cabbage and onions baked inside homemade bread. It’s been a favorite of locals ever since the first location opened in 1949. But a recent April Fool’s joke touting an unlikely version of this sandwich highlighted the restaurant’s dedication to community support.

On April 1, 2024, the brand utilized a social media post to announce they would begin serving a new breakfast Runza^® sandwich. Originally intended to be a gag on the popular hoax day, the sandwich concept received an enormous amount of positive feedback. So, Runza^® decided to make the sandwich (filled with scrambled eggs, ham, green peppers, onions, American cheese, cream cheese and Runza^® seasonings) and prepared 350 at one of their locations. Runza^® requested that, in exchange, patrons make a monetary donation to help fund Feed the Need, the chain’s annual fundraiser to help combat youth hunger and food insecurity. Eager breakfast lovers began lining up as early as 5:30am and the sought-after sandwiches were all gone by 9am. The donations collected that day piled up to $1600.

As wonderful as that is, it’s only a small part of the overall giving the restaurant brand does. Since 2018, Runza^® has donated nearly $260,000 to local youth hunger and food insecurity-related organizations. And to go one step further, the restaurant also raises funds for other causes and organizations including the Alzheimer’s Association and the Teammates Mentoring program, demonstrating their commitment to those in need is truly no joke.

If you would like to check out more of the happenings at Runza^® Restaurants, visit their website or follow on Instagram or X.