Ponderosa Steakhouse- anyone remember this food chain?

Yes. It was terrible, shiteous food.

Omg I remember those huge illuminated menu signs you would choose one and order it at the counter!

What did you like about them, OP?

R1 it really wasn’t. Their potatoes and shrimp were delicious

So good. Sirloin with butter and onions, baked potato, and ice cream bar for dessert.

I was in high school in the mid-90s and a hot jock I knew and liked worked at the local P-Rosa, so I would beg my friends to eat there any chance I could get.

R5 my mom always got a baked potato. I loved the shrimp and chicken with steak fries. But I also loved their steak and mashed potatoes.

I worked at one for a while when I was young.

Did you ever taste his hot slab of beef?

R9, are you asking me, R6?? Because yes, I did taste it, but it was during a Boy Scout camping trip, unrelated to his work at Ponderosa.

Did R6 ever get the....hot beef injection?

When I was a kid they were a big deal, but I guess my parents didn't like it, because we only went a couple of times ☹️

Boy Scout. My my we stared young! Bravo.

Anyone remember this food chain?

The Ground Round

There was a group of restaurants my parents were too proud to frequent. So we would go to the fast food chains, and Friendly's, but we wouldn't go to cheap chain restaurants (expect Friendly's and maybe HoJo if we were on the road). They considered McDonalds' universal for everyone, convenient and tasty, but places like Ponderosa and Red Lobster were "not our kind".

I can't be the only one. I seem to remember many of my friends having the same culture.

Ground Round was another one we wouldn't go to.

Was Ponderosa like Bonanza?

[quote]Boy Scout. My my we stared young! Bravo.

He was a senior, 18, and I was just a year younger at 17. He was “straight” with a girlfriend, but knew exactly what I wanted and gave it to me unequivocally in that summer camp tent.

R14 yes but they were never as big as Ponderosa. They had 200 restaurants opened during their peak while Ponderosa had 700.

R17 they were owned by the same people.

Bonanza, another one. It was next to the Carrols hamburger drive in. Not allow to go to Bonanza. Which was just as well because it looked like a sad place. Carrols was Jetsons space age fabulosity.

Why do DLers always claim to get the straight hot guys Cock? That’s a rarity in real life yet every DLer claims the same story.

[quote] Anyone remember this food chain? The Ground Round

There was one in our local mall. My Boy Scout hookup/Ponderosa employee/hot jock’s older sister worked there as a hostess. I would stop by and ask her about her brother.

Carrols

R21 your parents sounded like snobs.

But yes, there is a difference between a fast food place like McDonald’s and a chain restaurant like Applebees or Red Lobster. The latter is processed chain food but it isn’t fast food. You have to sit at a table and order with the waiter and wait for your food etc.

We had a Bonanza in my small Georgia town. I have very fond memories.

@r22, Straight guys aren't the only ones who brag about sex they never actually got 🙄

Bastard cousin to Sizzler.

My parents weren't snobs. They were aspirational. They were nice to everyone. They had standards for who they wanted to be and what they wanted to consume. Pretty typical of the era. My father was an engineer and spent years tutoring poor kids in his free time. Yet he refused to EVER go into a WalMart which he felt was going to destroy people and commerce. He was right.

Sorry, don't mean to hijack. I just remember vividly all the "family chains" that were NOK. Funny, all these years later.

Guys, Bonanza and Ponderosa are the same thing pretty much lol. I think with some different items. But owned by the same people.

Good baked potatoes and rolls

R30 "lol" "guys"

Are you 12? No one uses lol anymore

R32 are you 80?

@r32, Lol, 😂, stop being an "lol" snob

r32, right now I'm pointing at you and Laughing Out Loud

You guys really crack me up

My family loved Bonanza, and their "Freshtastic Food Bar", i.e. salad bar, which was huge and included a soft-serve ice cream machine. Heaven! I was also a cheese addict as a child, and the salad bar had "Cheddar Mountain". Unlimited cheese?! I wouldn't poop for a week.

I just googled "cheddar mountain" to see if anyone else remembered, and it linked to my own post from a Datalounge thread from 2008 about shitty steakhouses, where I apparently said the same thing :)

I remember Ground Round (had no idea it was actually Ground Rounds) — they had a popcorn cart in the entrance and would put a basket of popcorn on the table. I don’t like popcorn, but always thought that was fun.

You don't like popcorn? Not even as a kid?!

R39 not that poster, but i didn’t care for popcorn as a kid much myself. Only if it was cheese or caramel popcorn. Hated regular or butter popcorn. If we went to the movies the only way I would eat the popcorn is if I mixed Raininettes in

My mom took us there once for my 14th birthday and they didn't burn her steak like she always insisted and she was quite upset and we never went back. Sometimes I just watch the Phyllis diller commercials when I'm bored.

The old thread has more vivid details.

The old thread is 14 years old. Move on.

Apparently people have moved on, to duller, older brains and memories.

I think it's fair to re-visit the same topic every 14 years.

There was a York Steakhouse in the mall 45 mi. away. My mom sometimes treated us at the end of her shopping day. I'd get Sirloin Tips, steak fries and a decadent dessert. For us yokels used to homemade meatloaf and mashed potatoes, it was rah-sha-sha.

When I was a wee one I developed an intense crush on a waitress at my hometown Ponderosa. I think it was mostly for show because I was already getting pressure to like girls and wasn't feeling it, but I remember making my parents go constantly and always sit in her area and I'd make them leave her a huge tip and it all felt like the first stirrings of something.

R44 you can go read that 14 year old thread that can not even be commented on anymore. The rest of us will remain in modern day discussing this.

I worked as a waiter at a Ground Round in 1979. They were owned by Howard Johnson’s and the soup we served was canned HJ soup that we kept reheating every night and then putting back in the fridge. It was vile. If I wanted to get a tip, I knew I had to steer my customer away from ordering it. The big draw were the peanuts in the shells that people ate with beer and threw the shells on the floor. It got pretty treacherous for walking with the combination of peanut shells and spilled beer.

I don't think I ever ate at a Ponderosa or a Bonanza as a child, but my parents would take us to Mr. Steak.

I never had their Salmon but I heard it was good. I believe they later started selling Tilapia instead of Salmon. Or maybe both.

R22 because I get it.

R38 ate there once as a kid but didn’t return because my mom and I thought throwing popcorn all over the restaurant and all over the floors was gouache.

I’m the poster who doesn’t like popcorn (never have) and worked at Ponderosa when I was 14. The one I worked at had been a Betsy Ross Steakhouse originally. I remember being sent into the attic for something and seeing all of the old Besty Ross signage — felt like a time capsule.

I think many of the chains were super similar (Sizzler, etc). There was also a Rustler not too far away. I don’t think I ever ate there, but I’m betting it was super similar.

The first night I worked at Ponderosa I was dishwashing. A girl who worked the salad bar spent the entire night trying to find her name tag. At the end of the night I was spraying out a massive plastic tray of ambrosia salad and there it was at the bottom… Welcome to Ponderosa, I’m Lisa.

Gosh, I haven’t bought about that chain since we had it here in our city in the ‘70s when I was a kid. Great place that my family enjoyed going to.

I too disliked popcorn as a child.

Great Texas toast

We also ate at Maverick steakhouse. Like the Sizzler.

I miss Sizzler.

The only time we ever ate there was in Orlando, and it was always fresh and good. Loved the fried chicken.

Never been to Ponderosa, but I worked at both Bonaza and Ryan's during college in the 90s and I'd actually eat at Ryan's.

there seems to be a lot around(none near me though)

R60 yes those are the only ones left in the entire country.

They don’t exist out west at all anymore b

Dallas has Dunston’s Steakhouse for anyone looking for the same type of menu…and 1970s decor.

That actually is not a criticism. I had lunch at one last month and it was pleasantly nostalgic!

MISS GULCH If you don't hand over that dog, I'll lie and say Henry tried to rape me. And then you’ll have to get a shady lawyer and go to court. You’ll spend a shit load of money and have to sell this sad excuse of a farm to pay for it!

Trashy suburbanite slop.

We had a Bonanza in our neighborhood growing up, and I remember we went there infrequently, and they shut down fairly early on in my childhood.

The only thing I remember about it is they served some of the food in those oval-shaped, red plastic baskets that were somewhat prevalent in diners and coffee shops back then, and that they had Texas toast (although I'm not sure they called it that), which I loved.

R64 what? It was all over cities lmao

Real cities? SF? New York? Boston?

R67 yes. Yes. Yes. They were in NYC.

We used to call it Pondegrossa. All the Canadian locations shut down in the mid-80s.

Did they close in Canada in the 80s? They still have 30+ locations in foreign countries, with around 25 left here in the states.

Their peak year in the states was 1989. They kept growing in the 80s and were doing amazing. They did well in the 90s but not as strong as the previous decade, and some locations started closing.

In 1989 they had almost 700 locations open, but by 2003 it was down to 400.

R69 wait, now you’re from Canada?

We ate at Ponderosa about once every other month. The first time I was allowed to carry the drinks to the table, I tripped and they went flying.

I loved the salad bar and soft serve machine. My dad ordered his steaks "burned," which they happily obliged. We were not a big steak family at all, and I thought Ponderosa was wonderful.

When I was in college and went to a real steakhouse, I learned that 1/2" pieces of meat were not really steaks to be happy about.

The "fancy" mall steakhouse near me was called Brennan's. It was considerably more expensive than Ponderosa, but they had sirloin tips with mushroom gravy that I loved.

Ponderosa opened in Canada in 1971, and closed in 1986 because the owners wanted to put all their focus in the states restaurants now that the recession was pretty much over and most people were making money again.

I remember going here as a young young kid. Last I had heard of it someone was shot there by the DC sniper.

Western Sizzlin', y'all!

I remember the weirdness of going to a Ponderosa restaurant with my family and then standing in line with a tray like at a cafeteria. My favourite menu item was the chopped steak platter. My parents would splurge and allow me to order it with mushroom gravy for an additional 75 cents. Good times.

Their steak used to rip through my system like a missile. I don't know what they put in it, but every time i ate there, from mouth to toilet in 30 minutes.

The Ponderosa steak house chain had its headquarters in Dayton, Ohio. During the time they were very popular, the CEO, Jerry Office, accumulated a fantastic collection of contemporary art that was on display in their corporate HQ. When the chain began to fail and the HQ was going to move elsewhere, the Dayton Art Institute launched a fund-raising drive to buy the entire Ponderosa corporate collection, which is now the cornerstone of their contemporary holdings. Being a Daytonian, I've seen the collection numerous times and it's really quite nice, with many boldface names (which weren't that well known at the time the collection was purchased).

God yes! I remember Sizzler too. I really liked that food, lol! I wish there was a Sizzler or Ponderosa around here now. 🐴

I had no idea Bonanza Steakhouse was founded by Dan Blocker, the fat guy who played "Hoss" on "Bonanza", and died tragically young.

Hopefully it wasn't his own shitty food that killed him!

Sizzler had those addictive yeast rolls. I used too get the steak tips with mushrooms,and mashed potatoes,and make sandwiches with the rolls. Drove my dad bonkers. He swore I was playing with my food. Damn,I could polish off a plate of that right this second !

I liked their breakfast buffet r81

I loved going to buffets as a kid because I had the freedom to choose what I would eat, even if the food wasn't necessarily great.

Yes. When my brother was small we would let him choose whatever he wanted. I think he always loved buffets for that reason. He must have felt independent (even though one of us always stayed with him).

When he was around 6 we were in PA so we went to a Golden Corral for dinner and we would let him go get his own fruit or desserts himself, and they had this chocolate fountain you dip the strawberries in. Well he would take a bite of the strawberry then dip it. That’s when we stopped letting him go on his own for a while 😂

We used to go to Muriel's Palace of Steer when I was a kid. My parents never wanted to pay extra for the fully loaded baked potato or the Autumn Harvest Experience, but I always made multiple trips with my prison-striped Once Around the Garden plate and I never got caught. I always had bread pudding for dessert because my sister found droppings from someone's hairy pubis baked into her cak once. Eeeeee! After that, she only ate frosting from a tub, and only at home.

That margarine fountain, though. Ugh. You don't want to know what was double- and triple-dipped in that thing after hours.

It was the cafeteria version of Applebees. The one time I ate at an Applebees, the entrees looked familiar and realized, it was the Ponderosa menu (and food) with table service.

Only the food tastes nothing alike and the menus are nothing alike r86

I liked Ponderosa as a kid.

I would get odd things at the salad bar. Like a whole bunch of these little ham cubes that were only intended to be sprinkled on salad.

There was a grilled chicken meal at Ponderosa that was good. Can't remember what else it came with?

I worked at Ponderosa in my small midwest city. Food wasn’t great but I had a good time meeting other homosexuals when I was 16. The lesbian cook ended up in jail for stabbing her girlfriend.

The chain was called Bonanza in my neck of the woods. I think by the early 80's it had closed down. I never cared for steak, so I always ordered the 'chopped steak,' which was a charco-broiled ground beef patty. The last few times I ate it, though, I got food poisoning.

Steak N' Ale owns this thread. Bitches.

What was the quality of the steak like at these places? Sounds to me they probably get the dregs from the meat packing plant.

We had a Ponderosa in our neighborhood and it was a "treat" for us to go there, usually on a Friday night so guessing that was my dad's payday. I also remember wondering how it was supposed to be a fancy steakhouse (according to my mom and sister), but you stood in line with a tray just like we did in the school lunch line. I do remember being super excited to be introduced to the concept of baked potatoes with butter, sour cream and bacon bits though!

It was both Sunday after church dinner AND diuretic.

R95 Full circle experience

Looks like there are still about 20 Ponderosa/Bonanza Steakhouses in the U.S. -- mostly in the Rust Belt states.

There are 22 left in the states and 32 in foreign countries

The Ground Round in my neck of the woods became a gay bar in 1980. Hunter’s Nightclub.

R87: The food tasted the same: Steak that was from God knows where , marinated past the point of tasting like beef.

The food tastes nothing alike.

An Applebees Fan/Troll. Even funnier than the ArleneGolonka troll.

R85 Muriel's Palace of Steer

😂

[quote] Why do DLers always claim to get the straight hot guys Cock?

Because we didn't have a deprived adolescence. I had my straight friend's cock in my mouth when I was 12.

The last time I ate at a Ponderosa was the week my Grandmother was buried. I was stuck in Lacrosse, WI with my sister and for some ridiculous reason I don't recall we couldn't get a flight back home for a week. I drove from Lacrosse to Beaver Dam just to dump my sister off at her daughter's house. It was a five hour drive round trip and was totally worth it because I could not stand being cooped up with her and her cigarette smoke and complaining another minute. A couple of days later I drove back to pick her up. So worth it.

We stopped at Ponderosa and I ordered the prime rib.

I remember it was served stone cold. Thanks, Wisconsin.

No love for Quincy's, home of the Big Fat Yeast Roll?

[quote] never had their Salmon but I heard it was good. I believe they later started selling Tilapia instead of Salmon.

You don’t have to capitalize “salmon” and “tilapia.” You might have to capitalize the pancakes in Pancakes Barbara, though.

I’ve never eaten at a Ponderosa or a Bonnza. Sounds like Sizzlers, which my family and I enjoyed.

I remember their old commercials. I always liked them.

Speaking of Ponderosa, my mother is watching Bonanza.