Ponderosa — Restaurant in Center Township

First off I would like to say I was highly disappointed when there were none of those fabulous breaded chicken wings that I so fondly remember from the past and the only reason we even stopped to eat at Ponderosa (sad face). I did ask the waitress and she did advise that they’re no longer able to get those wings from the company that they did for all those years which is so disappointing but obviously not anything that Ponderosa could help… I was still sad though. We came on a Saturday around three in the afternoon and didn’t expect it to be quite so packed but it was extremely busy…we were at least seated quickly. Our waitress was very nice and got our drinks over to us fast. So this part I’m not sure if it was because of how busy they were or if it was not having enough employees but they were having a very hard time keeping up with keeping all of the food refilled on the buffet… certain things were sitting empty for pretty long periods of time and there were even empty spaces in the buffet where nothing was available which was kind of weird to me. Unfortunately, I wasn’t too overly pleased with anything I ate… everything was just ok and really lacked seasoning and flavor. And even though they didn’t have my sought-after breaded chicken wings they did have some other chicken wings out there that were pretty good however they didn’t have any sauce on them and while there was sauce available on the side it just wasn’t the same. My daughter ate some meatloaf and she did really enjoy that and I did enjoy the piece of coconut cream pie I had for dessert. For the price you pay I really shouldn’t complain, especially in this economy… for two adults and one child along with a child’s drink I paid a total of $31 for lunch and to me that definitely explains at least partially why it was so busy. Try at your own risk but just know there are no longer any breaded chicken wings like back...

A group from a non-profit organization came to the restaurant in Butler County, our experience was awful.. We bring groups of special needs people to this restaurant frequently. On this occasion however it was a big fiasco ... With a large group of people it is hard to keep track of who ordered what. The waitress brought out 2 T-bone steaks one of our special needs people said it was hers when it was right in front of her. She began to eat. Meanwhile a worker never received her meal. When ask where her meals was the waitress had no idea. She gathered everyone's slips and after several trips back and forth found the special needs person was eating the steak. Another coworker's steak was still cold and was returned for heating. Meanwhile they are still trying to figure out what happened for the special needs person to receive the steak. The manager eventually comes out and tells the special needs person they will have to pay for that meal. She has no extra money to do this. He is not offering a solution other than she will have to pay. Now the original person who ordered the meal still doesn't have a meal and the rare steak has returned well done. The manager has the person pay for the buffet and not the steak ( this person also pays for the special needs woman's as well). After an hour the steak finally comes but guess what it is time for us to leave, the worker has to take her $20 something steak home in a take home box... Really Because of this experience we will not be bringing our special needs people to this restaurant. Oh bye the way the gentleman who bought her steak paid full price and she had already paid for the meal she had ordered.... So therefore they were paid twice for one meal. What happened to making your...

If you come here for the steaks, you will be disappointed. I have eaten here many, many times after it opened in Butler. Pretty much the same thing every time. The Buffett hasn’t really changed much which is ok for me. Some of the items are usually pretty good. The chili when they have it is good. The batter dipped and fried wings are probably the best item on the menu. They are good. The meatloaf is good too. They always have cooked cabbage in one form or another and that’s good too. The desserts are ok, but you need to get about three or four of them because they are so small. They aren’t even kids size. They are small. While talking about small, try the banana bread. It really tastes good, but geez, they cut it so small you can’t use it for bread. You get about two bites out of a piece. You need four pieces to make one regular slice of bread. Whining about how small portion gets you a shrugged shoulder from the server and a hohum response from the manager. Complaining about anything in this place gets you no where. They don’t care, so it doesn’t matter to them. They like the status quo so they won’t change. I guess they save money on banana bread that way, go figure. I will continue to go here in the future. They do have a senior discount, usually a free drink which is nice. There is also a senior price in the Buffett which is also nice. They won’t change and for most part, that’s ok I guess. Kind of recommended when you are hungry and don’t want to wait. I didn’t talk much about the steaks because there isn’t much to talk about. They are ok, but I wouldn’t recommend them. Just get the Buffett or maybe the chicken meal. ...