Ponderosa Steakhouse: A Restaurant Chain in need of a Face- Lift
Written: Sep 26 '02 (Updated Oct 28 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Buffet is fairly good; pricing is ok; large interior
Cons: Small meat portions; below average quality overall
The Bottom Line: Ponderosa needs some serious updating and good advertising, if it wants to attract a new generation of customers
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| Bryan_Carey's Full Review: Ponderosa Steakhouse |
Ponderosa is a popular steakhouse chain restaurant owned and operated by Metromedia Restaurants, an operation that also owns Bonanza Steakhouses, Bennigans, and Steak & Ale. Ponderosa was founded in 1965 in Kokomo, Indiana. It quickly expanded and moved its headquarters to Dayton, Ohio, later that same year. Today, the chain is headquartered in the Dallas, Texas area and it now has about 450 restaurant locations, in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Egypt, Korea, and Dubai.
Menu Selection:
When people think about Ponderosa, the first thing they think about is steak. Ponderosa offers a full selection of steaks, ranging from a cheap piece of chopped steak to a more expensive round steak. Steak meals are served with a baked potato, vegetables, and a dinner roll.
Besides steak, Ponderosa also serves grilled chicken, seafood, and prime rib as part of the dinner lineup. The buffet food bar, however, is probably the main attraction at Ponderosa. Many people skip the main dinner items completely and instead partake in the all you can eat buffet, which includes a wide assortment of food items from appetizers, to breakfast items (in the morning hours), soup, salads, and desserts (Note: the buffet varies from one location to the next. Some feature a limited buffet of just soups, salads, desserts, and appetizers. Others feature heavier food like pizza, chicken wings, and pasta). The buffet- style bar was added in response to competitive pressures from other steak houses, like Ryan's. It has quickly become one of the mainstays of the Ponderosa lineup.
Ponderosa also offers a special menu for children. The children's menu features junior- size portions for the youngsters and the option of eating french fries instead of a baked potato.
Atmosphere:
When Ponderosa first opened, it featured a western theme with pictures of horses and western towns on the walls and waiters and waitresses dressed in cowboy uniforms. Today, the restaurant has toned down its western theme and the employees have removed the western garb in favor of more modern attire. There are still a few hints of the western theme, but it's mostly just a typical steakhouse atmosphere, similar to Outback or Ryan's.
The inside of Ponderosa is usually large, with seating for about 250 customers. Even on crowded days, during the dinner rush, I have never had any problem finding a place to sit, in one of these restaurants. There is plenty of seating to accommodate the large crowds of people.
Pricing:
Ponderosa offers families and singles a pretty good value. The all you can eat buffet usually sells for about $5.49 per person. Steak dinners carry a wide range of prices, from a low of about $7.99 for chopped steak to a high of nearly $20 for a more fancy cut of meat. The chicken and seafood options are also priced between $7 and $15 per meal. If you want to get a steak dinner and the buffet, you usually have to pay for both, unless there is a special currently running on a combination of the two.
Final Thoughts:
Ponderosa was once very popular here in the Dayton, Ohio area. The world headquarters of this restaurant was located next to I-75 in north Dayton, not far from where I live, for nearly 30 years. The chain was sold in 1994 and is now centered in Texas.
In the past 10 years, Ponderosa has slipped in both quality and popularity. I no longer see or hear any advertisements for Ponderosa. Back in the 1980's, when the restaurant was headquartered here in Dayton, it was common to see television advertising and special corporate promotions. Now, I see almost no ads at all. And the locations in the Dayton area have dwindled to only four. I have also heard people make degrading comments about the quality of the food, referring to the chain using names like "Pondegrosa" and other unflattering jargon.
As far as the food goes, it used to be fairly good. But it can't compare to most of its competition, like Outback Steakhouse. The steaks are usually average in taste at best; more bland than the competition and they are usually a little bit too small. The chopped steak, in particular, is too small and too similar in quality to a hamburger to waste your time with.
Other food items are ok, but nothing to brag about. I like the grilled chicken, but its low fat content and small size leave you wanting more food. Also, it's not uncommon to open up the foil from the baked potatoes and find a little bit of dirt on the skins. Baked dirt isn't dangerous, but it can really spoil one's appetite.
About the only time I visit Ponderosa nowadays is for the lunch buffet, which I think is still a decent value and offers just the right level of food for a midday meal. But I don't even think about Ponderosa anymore, when I'm in the mood for some good food. Metromedia Restaurants really needs to do some work on Ponderosa, to improve the quality and service. Until then, the chapter is pretty much closed for me, with this restaurant. It's mediocre at best, and there are far better places to visit for a good steak.
Be Sure to Click the Links Below to Read Reviews of Other Full- Service Restaurants:
American Style Food:
Denny’s
Hooters
Perkins
Waffle House
Damon’s
Steak ‘n Shake
Cracker Barrel
Frisch’s
Max & Erma’s
Golden Corral
Shoney’s
Bob Evans
Hard Rock Cafe
Outback Steak House
Friendly’s
Red Lobster
Texas Road House
Bill Knapp’s
Ground Round
Fricker’s
Hops
Applebee’s
O’Charley’s
BW-3
IHOP
Ruby Tuesday
Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q
Famous Dave’s
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Cafe
Ryan’s Restaurant
Italian:
Olive Garden
Carrabba’s
Romano’s Macaroni Grill
Mexican
Chi- Chi’s
Cozymel’s
Chipotle
Recommended:
No
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