Ponderosa Flop

So my husband and I went to Ponderosa for dinner Friday night.We had dropped the kids off to my sister and the husband was hungry, so he asked where I wanted to go.I don't eat steak,ribs or things like that,while he loves them, so finding a place we both want to eat isn't easy.I like buffets so I don't have to settle on something I 'm not sure of..if I don't like it,I won't eat it and then I wasted my money.I chose to go to Ponderosa because I grew up in Wellston Ohio and the Ponderosa in Jackson has good food.I have eaten there tons of times in my years and never been unable to walk away stuffed.Even though this was a different city,I assumed it would be just as good.
My husband ordered a steak which came with a potato and buffet while I just got the buffet since their only entree options were steak,ribs,shrimp and chicken..no fish,burger or meatloaf,nothing I would eat.While we were getting seated the lady in the booth in front of us stopped and said,"I hope your steaks are better than ours were." Knowing I hadn't ordered a steak,I didn't care much but the husband raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything.While we waited for his steak to come,we went to fill our plates at the buffet.Now I am a little picky but I can almost always eat some things like pizza,nachos and chocolate.I approached the "buffet" which was really a section of small buffet tables with different types of items.I saw some extremely greasy spinach,fish that had dried up to the curling point,nachos and cheese sauce and wings.I don't like wings so I went for some nachos covered in cheese.The next table had what I guess was deep fried chicken..most of you know I work in a grocery deli/bakery and I hand batter and fry chicken as part of my job,I know what it should look like.This was dark and crumbly,the skin was showing in places and was brown and hard..so a no on that one.There was pepperoni pizza,which I grabbed a slice of,a fabulous looking buttery roll was added to the plate.They had browned mashed potatoes,lumpy gravy and some average looking mac-n-cheese. Skip those..on to the salad bar which was OK but not fantastic and the dessert bar.I did find a brownie with chocolate icing and a piece of chocolate pie.

Returning to my seat I prepared to eat.I went for the nachos first and discovered cold cheese sauce and very stale chips.I did manage to eat the roll,which was great,dipped in the cheese, since the roll was hot.The pizza ,I discovered was undercooked and had been sitting awhile.So far I had paid $18.00 for a roll dipped in cold cheese sauce.I did eat a few bites of the brownie,which was good,but it was too cold and the icing on top was thick and sticky.The chocolate pie was the pudding type with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.I ate a bite and the husband ate about half the slice so I guess it was at least OK.Finally  35 minutes after we started eating,his steak arrived and guess what..it was still pretty pink inside.Because he is gross,the husband will eat steak that way sometimes, so even though he ordered it done,he ate it anyway.

As I was getting ready to leave,the lady behind us was getting a refund for whatever she had ordered..hmm..3 tables in a row and all 3 were unhappy with their food.I promise I will never eat at Ponderosa in Chillicothe Ohio again..and neither should you!