Growing up I always thought Olive Garden was “fancy” and now know it is not. Still love the place though. What about you? 

Ponderosa 

I would say Dairy Queen. Not even the best ice cream anymore.

My dad was an immigrant from Germany.  Back in the 1940's, he was looking for a second job to supplement his primary job as a musician.  He saw an ad in the newspaper for "White Castle".  He immediately thought that this would a high class waiter position where he would get to wear white gloves and make big bucks.  Boy was he surprised when he went for the interview!

Ponderosa and Ryan’s

Buffalo Wild Wings. 

Pizza Hut

On 12/30/2020 at 7:55 PM, Randy Parker said:

Ponderosa 

100%. It was such a special treat when I was younger.

Ryan's, or a local place called Rib Shack, which was in a building that kind of looked liked a barn (at least that's the way I remember it).

Ponderosa for me as well. My aunt and uncle would eat there once a week and always invited me when I was in middle school. I always got the sirloin and salad bar and loved both, but I wouldn't eat anything from there now. Honestly I don't do buffets at all anymore unless its seafood and thats just for the crab legs.

31 minutes ago, JDEaston said:

Ponderosa for me as well. My aunt and uncle would eat there once a week and always invited me when I was in middle school. I always got the sirloin and salad bar and loved both, but I wouldn't eat anything from there now. Honestly I don't do buffets at all anymore unless its seafood and thats just for the crab legs.

I haven’t seen a Ponderosa in years; I honestly thought they were closed. I’m with you on buffets... everything always tasted the same whether I was eating chicken or steak. 

7 minutes ago, Kenny Powers said:

I haven’t seen a Ponderosa in years; I honestly thought they were closed. I’m with you on buffets... everything always tasted the same whether I was eating chicken or steak. 

We still have one locally across the bridge in South Point, Ohio, though I don't know if it survived covid or not. My mother ate at that one a few years ago with my aunt and uncle and she ended up with food poisoning. 

I’m old Po Folks in Florence I thought it was cool to drink from a mason jar 

Pondersoa/Bonanza definitely fits the bill for me. Bonanza sponsored my summer baseball team when I was 16/17 and the end of the season party was always held there, and we thought it was a big deal. 

I hate to admit it, but my Grandparents always used to take us to Golden Corral when I was a kid, and we always thought that was a big deal too.

Ponderosa.

See a trend developing?