Ponderosa — Restaurant in Clare

I went with my sister and as we both got the same thing, fried shrimp and baked potato, can't comment on other dishes.

Ordering was quick but using an old gift card I had found took a few minutes as the cashier had forgotten how to process it. With the meals paid for, we were shown to a comfortable booth for two near the food bar.

Our waitress came as we were getting ready to go to the buffet, bringing our drinks and a cheery ""Anything I can help you with?" She offered help twice more through the meal, running the perfect line between helpful and annoying. I wish I had gotten her name.

We both got pasta at the "create your own" pasta station, with us both opting for cavatappi and shrimp. I added chicken, peppers, onions and tomatoes with a single scoop of Alfredo sauce the young man heated and combined right in front of me. I tipped him a few dollars because it looked (and was) scrumptious. My sister opted for different veggies and combined the marinara and Alfredo sauces, ending with what looked like a yummy sauce. According to her, it was.

As we brought those back to the table, our meals were brought out. As usual, we ended up bringing the main course home to eat the next day. The fried shrimp were good and cooked well, just not the jumbo they're shown as on the menu board. The baked potato with butter and sour cream heated up perfectly the next day in the air fryer along with the shrimp.

We went back to the buffet for another plate. I got French fries, fried clams and fried shrimp. What I thought was another potato dish ended up being rice with shrimp and peppers. All were very good, particularly the clams which I haven't had in a long time and the shrimp rice mixture which was a very pleasant surprise. (I have to remember my reading glasses next time to check the labels)

After all that I couldn't even look at the dessert bar even with my sister tempting me with talk of ice cream (no longer self serve as everything else was) and the many possible toppings. There were cookies and fruit there, what else I'm not sure about.

A very good meal at an excellent price with great service.

For anyone interested, nobody I saw was wearing a mask, save for one...

I was so excited to see that there was a Ponderosa steak house in town. The waitstaff and cashier were very friendly and professional, so we thought we would give the hot/cold soup, salad, and entree bar a try. Oh, how the mighty ha e fallen! The food was not good at all. This may not have been such a problem if the price wasn't so steep($14.99 for seniors, approximately $17 for adults. Additional cost for beef entree/ beverage).

They offered taco meat at the hot bar, but I saw only round Tostitos as a base for it. No taco shells or tortillas. Given the lack of signage on most of the food, I had no idea that it was for tacos and put it on the few water-logged mostaccioli noodles that I found. Given the fact that they had taco meat and some unnamed gravy covered meatballs displayed alongside, one would assume that egg noodles and taco shells/tortillas would be more appropriate to accompany them. They did offer a thin tomato sauce that was dressed up with a few sprigs of dried spice, but it is impossible to determine if they were Italian or parsley, because they didn't alter the flavor of the sauce at all! In fact, all the unnamed sauces were rather unappealing due to an adornment of the virtually unpenetrable skin that had formed on top.

As for the desserts, a simple fruit pie or a nice slab of chocolate cake would have been a welcomed relief from the disappointing entree on offer. None was to be had, not even a brownie. Those craving a treat had to settle for dry, generic store cookies, sloppily sliced cream pies of the discount variety, and a dish of high-school style soft serve ice cream.

I know this was a rather long and negative review, but I feel that given the negative experience that I had, coupled with the expense of a meal that left me ill, I had to share. I am writing this as I eat the peanut butter crackers now substituting for the barely touched dinner I...

My best friend and I decided to take a color drive from Lansing and have lunch here on Sunday, October 17. With all the mixed reviews, we weren't sure what we'd find. We walked into a moderately busy restaurant, were greeted by a very sweet blonde girl who rang us up, and we sat down at one of many clean tables. Our server was friendly and brought our fresh rolls and drinks out before we'd even returned from the bar; we never had to ask for a refill nor to have dirty dishes removed. The bar was fully stocked and tended by a woman who was in constant motion, wiping down and refilling. The manager was also in the thick of it, helping with everything from re-stocking the bar to cooking to making sure there were clean plates and tables. Mind you, there were groups of people headed home from some sort of Jeep event who were coming through so it was steadily busy the entire time we were there. Not once was there a lack of food at that bar. Our sirloin tips were cooked to order. The one issue mentioned in reviews that I could almost see was in the restroom: I wouldn't call it "dirty," there were just small pieces of clean toilet paper scattered across the floor and the countertop had puddled water and since there is a hand dryer, you don't have the opportunity to wipe up after yourself. To me, that's just people being pigs in public because you know they don't leave their own bathrooms like that. We had a nice time there, left pleasantly full, and have no problem making the occasional drive up to visit,...