Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse are a chain of buffet/steakhouse restaurants that are a part of Homestyle Dining LLC based in Plano, Texas. 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, 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 names of the restaurants were derived from the classic TV series Bonanza, which was set at a place called Ponderosa Ranch.
Video Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse
History
In 1963, Dan Blocker, who played Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on Bonanza, started the Bonanza Steakhouse chain. The first Bonanza opened in Westport, Connecticut. Sam Wyly and his brother Charles Wyly bought the small Bonanza restaurant chain three years later. The company grew to approximately 600 restaurants by 1989, when the Wylys sold it.
In 1965, Dan Lasater, Norm Wiese and Charles Kleptz founded Ponderosa in Kokomo, Indiana, moving the headquarters to Dayton, Ohio in 1971.
Ponderosa began operations to Canada by at least 1971, amid little apparent demand in the US, and remained in Canada until 1986, when the post-recession US appeared to present a more viable market for expansion. After closing most Canadian Ponderosa restaurant locations, 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 restaurants. In the meantime, Bonanza maintained a presence in Canada.
In 1988, Ponderosa was sold to Metromedia.
In 1997, Ponderosa and Bonanza united under the Metromedia Family Steakhouses organization to form a single restaurant concept marketed under either the Ponderosa or Bonanza brand. MFS was a forerunner company of the former Metromedia entertainment conglomerate founded by John Kluge.
The chain's parent company, Metromedia Steakhouses Company, filed for Chapter 11 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".
Maps Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse
See also
- List of buffet restaurants
References
External links
- Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse company site
- Last Ponderosa Closed in Canada
- Last Ponderosa Set to Close (Moncton, Canada)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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