Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse are a chain of buffet/steakhouse restaurants that are a part of Homestyle Dining LLC based in

Plano, Texas Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. History European settlers came to the area near ...

. Its menu includes steaks, seafood, and chicken entrées, all of which come with their buffet for a nominal charge. A lunch menu is also served. Unlike other chains with two names, such as

Checkers and Rally's Checkers Drive-In Restaurants, Inc. is a chain of double drive-thru restaurants in the United States. The company operates Checkers and Rally's restaurants in 28 states, and the District of Columbia. They specialize in hamburgers, hot dogs, fren ...

, which uses only one of the names in a given region, restaurants in a given region could be named either Bonanza or Ponderosa. This is because Bonanza and Ponderosa were separate companies, which were later merged under the

Metromedia Restaurant Group The Metromedia Restaurant Group was an American casual dining company that operated and franchised more than 800 restaurants under the names Steak and Ale, Bennigan's, Bonanza, Ponderosa, The Plano Tavern, The Southlake Tavern and the 29 Degre ...

. The names of the restaurants were derived from the

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

'' Bonanza'', which was set at a place called

Ponderosa Ranch The Ponderosa Ranch was a theme park based on the television western ''Bonanza'', which housed the land, timber and livestock-rich Cartwright family. The amusement park operated in Incline Village, Nevada, near Lake Tahoe, from 1968 until 2004. Po ...

History

In 1963,

Dan Blocker Bobby Dan Davis Blocker (December 10, 1928 – May 13, 1972) was an American television actor and Korean War veteran, who played Hoss Cartwright in the long-running NBC Western television series ''Bonanza''. Biography Early life Blocker was born ...

, who played Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on ''Bonanza'', started the Bonanza Steakhouse chain. The first Bonanza opened in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

Sam Wyly Samuel Evans Wyly (born October 4, 1934) is an American businessman. He first appeared on ''Forbes''s list of richest Americans in 2000 with a net worth of $750 million, and he remained on that list throughout 2010 with a net worth of $1 billio ...

and his brother

Charles Wyly Charles Wyly, Jr. (October 13, 1933 – August 7, 2011), was an American entrepreneur and businessman, philanthropist, civic leader, and a major contributor to Republican causes and art projects in Dallas, Texas. This included $20 million to b ...

bought the small Bonanza restaurant chain three years later. The company grew to approximately 600 restaurants by 1989, when the Wylys sold it to Metromedia. In 1965, Dan Lasater, Norm Wiese and Charles Kleptz founded Ponderosa in

Kokomo, Indiana Kokomo ( ) is a city in Indiana and the county seat of Howard County, Indiana, United States. It is the principal city of the Kokomo, Indiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Howard County, the Kokomo-Peru CSA, which includ ...

, moving the headquarters to

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, in 1971.Stephens, Caleb
"Local Ponderosa restaurants fall from six to two"
''Dayton Business Journal'', April 18, 2003. Ponderosa began operating in Canada by 1971 and remained there until 1986, when its focus moved to post-recession US. After closing most Canadian Ponderosa restaurants, the company returned to generating US restaurant franchises in 1986, reversing a previous freeze on new US franchises in the move to Canada. At that time, 36 Canadian Ponderosa locations were acquired by General Mills Restaurant Group which converted them to

Red Lobster Red Lobster Hospitality LLC is an American casual dining restaurant chain headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company has operations across most of the United States (including Puerto Rico, Guam) and Canada, as well as in China, Ecuador, Ho ...

restaurants. In the meantime, Bonanza maintained a presence in Canada. In February 1988, Ponderosa was sold to

. In September 1989, Metromedia acquired rival Bonanza, combining the two chains. In 1997, Ponderosa and Bonanza united under the Metromedia Family Steakhouses (MFS) organization to be marketed under the Ponderosa or Bonanza brands. MFS was one of founder

John Kluge John Werner Kluge (; September 21, 1914September 7, 2010) was a German-American entrepreneur who became a television industry mogul in the United States. At one time he was the richest person in the U.S. Early life and education Kluge was bo ...

's companies using the

Metromedia Metromedia (also often MetroMedia) was an American media company that owned radio and television stations in the United States from 1956 to 1986 and controlled Orion Pictures from 1988 to 1997. Metromedia was established in 1956 after the DuMon ...

name. After its ''S&A Restaurant Group'' division was forced into an involuntary

Chapter 7 liquidation Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debto ...

by its lender,

GE Capital GE Capital is the financial services division of General Electric. The company currently only runs one division, GE Energy Financial Services. It had provided additional services in the past; however, those units were sold between 2013 and 2018. ...

, in August 2008, and closed over 300 company-owned Bennigan's and Steak & Ale restaurants, the chain's parent company, Metromedia Steakhouses Company, filed for

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

bankruptcy in 2008, although it planned to reorganize around franchise operations and a profitable core of company-operated restaurants. It emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 under the name "Homestyle Dining LLC". The chain engaged Trinity Capital LLC as its financial advisor in 2016 and was sold in late 2017 to

FAT Brands FAT Brands is an American multi-brand restaurant operator headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. History FAT Brands began as a holding company for Fatburger in 2017, gaining a chairman in Ed Rensi. On August 13, 2020, Johnny Rockets wa ...

, the owner of

Fatburger Fatburger North America Inc. (doing business as Fatburger) is an American fast casual restaurant chain. Its tagline is ''The Last Great Hamburger Stand''. While it is a fast food restaurant, the food is cooked and made to order. Some Fatburge ...

, Buffalo's Cafe and Hurricane Grill & Wings. FAT Brands has approximately 300 locations open, with another 300 under development in 32 countries."FAT Brands Completes Acquisition of Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses for $10.5 Million "
"www.businesswire.com", October 31, 2017 In winter of 2017, the

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

8th Street Location was destroyed in a fire; the fire started in the kitchen, and the land has since been re-developed into a strip mall, with a

Popeyes Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., also known as Popeyes and formerly named Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits and Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits, is an American multinational chain of fried chicken fast food restaurants that was formed in 1972 ...

location now occupying its former site. In 1989 there were almost 700 Ponderosa locations. By 2003 there were less than 400 locations. By October 2022 only 17 Ponderosa locations remain open.

References

External links

Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse company siteVideo Ponderosa Steakhouse 1995 Commercial
{{bonanza, state=collapsed Companies based in Kokomo, Indiana Economy of the Midwestern United States Economy of the Eastern United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1965 Steakhouses in the United States Buffet restaurants Restaurant franchises 1965 establishments in Connecticut Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008 Metromedia Bonanza

History

See also

References

External links