Ponderosa Steakhouse offered 'great salad bar' and 'great prices' | Wausau restaurants our readers miss most

ROTHSCHILD − Earlier this year, we asked readers which former restaurants they missed most in the Wausau area. Readers suggested almost 40 restaurants that they miss in the community. Over the next several weeks, we will highlight the top six restaurants Wausau Daily Herald readers miss most.

We recently featured The Wright Place on 6th at No. 6 and Bill's Fine Food at No. 5.

No. 4: Ponderosa Steakhouse

Ponderosa Steakhouse opened in March 1978 at 1127 E. Grand Ave. in Rothschild, in front of the Shopko Plaza. The restaurant had seating for 212 diners and featured eight steak and three seafood entrees when it opened. The interior of the restaurant featured a contemporary-designed Western look with plaid chairs and booths and a carpeted dining area.

The restaurant chain was established in 1966 in Kokomo, Indiana, and at the time the Rothschild location opened, there were about 600 restaurants in 26 states and Canada, according to Daily Herald archives. Its philosophy was to "serve quality food at a moderate price."

In addition to the Rothschild location, there were nearby Ponderosa restaurants in Stevens Point, Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids.

Readers said they missed the "great food for great prices" and the "great salad bar" that was offered at Ponderosa with over 50 taste-tempting items and two hot soups daily.

In fact, one advertisement that ran in the Daily Herald in April 1984 boasted an estimated 2,349,060 salads could be built using combinations of five of the more than 50 items Ponderosa featured on its salad bar, which it branded as "The World's Biggest, Best Salad Buffet."

The restaurant's specials included a rib-eye steak dinner with baked potato, salad and roll for $1.79 as part of its Tuesday Family Night in 1978. In 1984, the restaurant advertised prices ranging from $1.99 to $3.19 for lunch and $3.69 to $8.99 for dinner.

In November 1984, the restaurant remodeled to provide "a more upscale dining experience." At that time, the restaurant employed 40 workers.

Ponderosa Steakhouse seemingly remained out of the news until January 2001, when it was announced the Rothschild location would close and undergo renovations to become a new concept: The Cider House. The center buffet and serving lines would be removed to accommodate the full-service restaurant, and a bar would separate the dining room.

The Cider House opened in February 2001.

“With what people want to pay compared to rising food costs, it’s just hard to make money from the buffet,” owner Dan Zajichek told the Daily Herald at the time of the franchise change. “We’re going to be targeting a mid-price market. We’ll specialize in steaks, seafood and pastas. The restaurant features a cider sirloin − a cut flavored with apple-cider butter. The restaurant also will serve lobster, shrimp, scallops, four pasta dishes and specialty salads."

The business quickly faced financial issues and filed Chapter 11 in Federal Bankruptcy Court in Eau Claire on April 5, 2001.

It wasn't much later that Kobe Teppanyaki & Steakhouse moved into the former Ponderosa restaurant, where it operated for several years.

The building was torn down between 2015 and 2020, according to Rothschild Village Administrator Ryan VanDeWalle.

History of the Shopko Plaza in Rothschild

When Ponderosa Steakhouse opened in March 1978 it was part of the Shopko Plaza development in Rothschild. A Shopko department store was the hub of the center and opened in November 1977. Shopko Plaza held the grand opening for its 18-business shopping center in May 1979.

The project also included two freestanding restaurants − Ponderosa Steakhouse and Hardees.

Shopko Plaza included Styles Unlimited, a clothing store; Home Boutique, a home furnishing store; Ross Menswear Ltd., a men’s clothing store; Fashion Villa, a hairstyling and cosmetic studio; Papillon’s Pizza, a restaurant; Geraldine’s and The Wardrobe, two women’s clothing stores; little dickins, a children’s clothing store; Saveway Shoes and Family Step, two full-line shoe stores; JoAnn Fabrics, a full-line fabrics shop; Schulz’s Dairy, a full-line dairy store; Taffy’s Hallmark Shop, a card and gift shop; and a branch office for Marathon Savings and Loan Association, according to Daily Herald archives. Wisconsin Fitness Center also opened at the development.

The former Shopko department store, which closed in 2019, is now home to the regional Wausau VA Clinic that opened in May 2022. Harbor Freight, Papillon's Pizza, Shopko Optical, Uff da! Sign Store and other businesses operate in the former Shopko Plaza.

Clean Slate Coffee House has been open in the former Hardee's building in front of the shopping center since 2019.

The site of the former Ponderosa Steakhouse building, which was razed between 2015 and 2020, remains vacant.

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Editor Jamie Rokus can be reached at jrokus@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter at @Jamie_Rokus.

This article originally appeared on Stevens Point Journal: Ponderosa Steakhouse in Rothschild offered 'great' salad bar, prices