Famous small-town Texas steakhouse to reopen in Denton County north of Fort Worth
Ranchman’s Ponder Steakhouse, a 75-year Denton County landmark and once among America’s most famous small-town cafes, has been sold to Denton County restaurateur Marty Bryan and will reopen as part of the Marty B’s empire. owner Dave Ross said.
The little back-road restaurant at 110 W. Bailey St., Ponder, has been closed nearly two years since Ross retired.
In its heyday, Ranchman’s was known for 32-ounce T-bones, chicken-fried steaks, burgers, pies and cobblers. It hosted celebrities from sports, TV and movies, including actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway during the making of the 1967 movie “Bonnie and Clyde.”
It was also where iconic Texas author Larry McMurtry was inspired to name his bestselling novel “Lonesome Dove.”
According to Ross, Bryan hopes to expand and convert the West Bailey Street property to a larger complex including a bar, concert space and coffee shop.
His Marty B’s Is a larger steakhouse, Tex-Mex and barbecue restaurant and entertainment complex at 2664 Farm Road 407 in Bartonville, with spinoff restaurants in Argyle and Flower Mound.
Bryan could not be reached.
Ranchman’s remodeled during the COVID pandemic, adding a new kitchen but keeping the same original oak-paneled dining room, a throwback to 1951.
Shortly before Ross retired, Ranchman’s was featured on an episode of “The Texas Bucket List” TV show for its contest-winning chicken-fried steaks.
The restaurant also has been featured on the Food Network national TV shows such as “FoodNation with Bobby Flay.”
Steaks, pies, cobblers made Ranchman’s fame
Ross was the steakhouse’s second long-term owner. It was founded by Grace “Pete” Jackson and her husband, R.L., in the late 1940s and became a gathering place for the county and a stopover for motorists taking a shortcut to Ponder, then a dwindling Denton County farm town 30 miles north of Fort Worth.
Ranchman’s was originally known for T-bones and rib-eyes cut in-house. But ever since the Food Network came to town, Ranchman’s has been better known for chicken-fried steaks and burgers. The pies and cobblers were still made from 30-year cook Evelyn “Granny” Stack’s recipes.
Ranchman’s was never more small-town than on one busy Friday night in the 1970s, when an overwhelmed Stack strode into the middle of the dining room and waved her spatula until she commanded attention.
“Y’all!” she shouted. “Can’t y’all see I’m gonna have to have some help?”
Customers started pouring tea, clearing tables or baking rolls.
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How ‘Lonesome Dove’ got its name
McMurtry, the quintessential Texas novelist, said that Ranchman’s was his favorite restaurant and that he would often make the 100-mile drive from his home in Archer City near Wichita Falls.
McMurtry told how he had just left the cafe in the early 1980s when he saw an old bus marked “Lonesome Dove Baptist Church,” from that old community in what is now Grapevine.
“If ever I had an epiphany it was at that moment: I had, at last, found a title for the trail driving book” he was writing.
“Lonesome Dove” went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and was made into a TV classic.
That was 20 years after Beatty, Dunaway and other actors visited during the Denton-area filming of the movie “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Their photos still hang on the dining room wall, along with those of sports stars, racing drivers and other celebrities who found their way to Ponder.
Until the 1980s, Ranchman’s didn’t even have indoor restrooms — only an outhouse. But “what’s important about this place is the unique sense of community it brings,” Ross said.
“People at different tables talk to each other. People from across the country come here and say, ‘This feels like home.’ “
This story was originally published June 28, 2025 at 9:28 AM.
