Waukegan Ponderosa is closing??

[kellyann1293]

Okay, I haven't been there for quite awhile but growing up we went there a lot. I was half asleep but thought I heard on the radio this morning that our Ponderosa was one of the oldest in the country having been there 35 years. Is that possible??

What's the scoop?

The one in Sheboygan, Wisconsin is closing too... it was built in 1969.

Ponderosa Steakhouse, a fixture on Sheboygan’s far west side since 1969, will close its doors at the end of the week, officials said Wednesday.
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The corporate-owned restaurant, 3518 Kohler Memorial Drive, will shut down sometime Friday, said General Manager Joseph Meola. He said restaurant employees and management was blindsided by the closure, which he was informed of late last week.

“(Sales) were over last year. … It’s been getting better,” Meola said, adding that the store has struggled since Wal-Mart and other businesses left. “Everything has kind of moved south and north of this area.”

The steakhouse is one of 14 Ponderosa locations owned by Plano, Texas-based Metromedia Restaurant Group that will be closing Friday, including restaurants in Appleton and Milwaukee, Meola said. Franchise-owned Ponderosa locations, including those in Manitowoc and Green Bay, will not be affected.

The restaurant employs two salaried managers, three shift managers and about 33 hourly employees, of which 10 work full-time, Meola said. Only the salaried managers will receive separation compensation.

“It was a business decision. Our company went bankrupt,” said Shift Manager Dzenana Hadziosmanovic. “It has nothing to do with our performance.”

Metromedia filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in July, closing hundreds of Bennigan’s and Steak and Ale locations, the Wall Street Journal reported. A company filing at the time said its Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouse chains would not be affected by the bankruptcy.

A call to Metromedia’s corporate office was not returned. Meola said he was told only the stores were closing because of a new corporate direction.

Hadziosmanovic said employees have had a busy final week.

“We are running out of food really fast, so we might not even make it to Friday (night),” she said. “Ever since people found out, we’ve been getting more customers coming in.”

The restaurant opened in 1969, then was destroyed by fire in February 1972 and rebuilt, Meola said.

Reach Eric Litke at (920) 453-5119 and <!-- e --><a href="mailto:elitke@sheboygan-press.com">elitke@sheboygan-press.com</a><!-- e -->.

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