I am playing catch up again after being away on holiday - I've not been ignoring anybody and will ge...
I am playing catch up again after being away on holiday - I've not been ignoring anybody and will get around to rating again now! : )
Member since:01.08.2005
Reviews:214
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I went to Florida just over a year ago now with work and on one of our free evenings a group of us chose to go to Ponderosa for an evening meal on the recommendation from one of the group who had been before. I honestly couldn't tell you which one on International Drive it was as there is two but, as they all operate on the scale and order process it will still give you an idea what to expect when you eat at one of them.
The chain: Ponderosa has five restaurants in Orlando. Two are on International Drive, two in Kissimee and one at Lake Beuna Vista. They are all named Ponderosa Steakhouses. They operate a meal policy where by diners can order a meal to be served to them and then still eat from the 'all you can eat' buffet.
The style: They all pretty much follow the same theme too with a cream decor and diners order their main meal an drinks
as they enter at the counter before they go through into the main dining area. Once you've ordered you are shown to a table and your server then brings you over your drinks and main meals once they are ready. If ordering soft drinks these are refillable and so are quite good value. You can start helping yourself to the buffet once you have your table.
The menus: As you enter through the main double doors the menus are displayed in picture form on the walls. They have meals listed depending on price. There are normally 4 rows with the top row all being meals priced at $9.99 and the bottom row normally at $19.99. Meals consist mainly of things like chicken and fries, steak and fries and I even saw lobster! It is just the main meal on the board that you order as things like starters and desserts are all in the buffet choice.
Staff and servers: The counter staff I came into contact with were very helpful -they were quick at getting the order through and as soon as I had ordered the other member of staff was ready to show us to our table. The drinks we had ordered arrived really quickly and when we wanted refills these also came very quickly. The member of of staff who was bringing our drinks and main meals was lovely and friendly and seemed very happy. There are a few staff behind the self serve buffet counters that are constantly putting out food and if you need them they were also very helpful. Overall I cannot fault the staff at all.
The food variety: I chose to have a steak as my main meal which I was able to have cooked medium rare and it was very nice for $9.99. The fries were plentiful and it was also served with a Small salad. Of course the main selection of food is from the buffet - I believe it changes daily on what they offer apart form some dishes that are available pretty much every day. On my visit I saw chilli, spaghetti, extra fries, meatballs, scrambled eggs, noodles, chicken curry and prawn crackers. I know there was plenty of other hot dishes but, these are the only ones I remember trying! For dessert they have have a selection of ice cream and jellies and the main thing I liked was that they had a ice cream machine that you could get Mr Whippy type ice cream out of in chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavours. I was so excited by this as the selection of toppings they had for the ice cream was excellent! They had chocolate strands, chocolates drops, lots of different flavoured sauces and even some crushed M&M's - I was in dessert heaven!!! Overall there was a really good amount of food on offer and plenty to keep everyone happy. The dining room: The dining area is nicely laid out with the tables all laid out on either side of the building and the buffet area in the centre facing the main door where you pay for your food. The lighting is good with it not being too bright and not too dim. The tables are fairly basic as are the chairs but, not that bad that they aren't comfortable to use! There are plenty of them too and as a general guide I would say the building could fit about 150 diners in. Of course I am not sure if this is the same for each Ponderosa but, I'd imagine they would try to keep them all of a similar size to make the most profit from having a buffet style restaurant.
Meals: Ponderosa are open all day and serve three different meals. They are open for breakfast which includes all the usual breakfast items you expect such as eggs, bacon, sausage and cereals along with a variety of juices and tea/coffee. Breakfast is served between 7.30am - 11.30am and is just a small $3.99 for the all you can eat. This is definitely a good way to get a hearty breakfast for cheap! They are then also open for lunch between 11.30 - 4pm and dinner is served between 4pm - 11pm. A good bonus is that all children aged 5 and under eat for free with each full paying adult. Overall opinion: I was really impressed by Ponderosa both in terms of service from the staff and the range of food available. I cannot say the food is the most amazing I've ever had but, for the price it is certainly not the worst and also is good enough for those who either are on a budget or just don't like spending a lot of money on food when on holiday. The fact that if travelling with young children means you will only pay for adults is a bonus as prices are really good anyway. I have already planned in a few trips to Ponderosa for different meal times for our upcoming trip as I know that it will save us a lot of money and that everyone in our group will be happy with the food here. I honestly think this place is somewhere you have to try - sure if you don't like mass produced grub you probably won't like it but, I bet those on a budget will love it just as much as I do!
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Jan 29th, 2009
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