For more than 75 years, Ranchman’s Ponder Steakhouse has been one of Dallas-Fort Worth’s most iconic out-of-the-way restaurants. Ranchman’s was worth the drive — or the helicopter ride for wealthy Dallas folks who’d land their aircraft in the grass out back, then walk in for a plate of chicken-fried steak
Ranchman’s closed in 2023, a month before its 75th birthday. Then-owner Dave Ross was getting up in age as the restaurant suffered under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, opening and closing amid renovations that took too long and cost too much.
For more than two years, the north-of-Fort Worth restaurant visited by Bobby Flay, Stevie Nicks, John Wayne and Don Henley sat vacant. Then Denton County businessman Marty Bryan, of Bartonville restaurant Marty B’s, stepped in.
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“So many people love the nostalgia of an old town,” Bryan said, standing in the old house that served T-bones and pork chops since 1948. He already owns restaurants in Argyle, Bartonville and Flower Mound. So he dug in on a deal in Ponder, to resurrect one of North Texas’ oldest restaurants
Ranchman’s, he knew, was going to have to do more than serve comfort food at lunchtime
Bryan hurdled three problems that could have killed the restaurant deal: The business was priced too high, he said. The dining room wasn’t big enough. And local laws wouldn’t allow liquor sales on the property.
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A shrewd businessperson, Bryan negotiated the price down on Ranchman’s, then bought seven lots near the original building. He installed a saloon and an outdoor music venue with room for 300 people next to the original chicken-fried steak house. Meanwhile, at Ponder Town Hall a few doors down, a local election went in Bryan’s favor, as the town changed from dry to wet in November 2025
The old restaurant looks eerily the same.
Wooden scalloped “curtains” top the windows, and a photo of Ranchman’s founder Grace “Pete” Jackson looks over the dining room, as if she’s still watching. Dozens of photographs of famous people who have visited, like supermodel Cindy Crawford, are hung exactly where Pete put them, flecks of dust brushed off the tops. Old newspaper clippings show off Ponder’s past life as the site of a Meat Loaf music video and the filming of Bonnie and Clydefeaturing Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.
Regulars might notice one new thing at the restaurant now called Ranchman’s by Marty B: Bryan’s team added an air-conditioner in the window of the old restaurant, near the Old King upright grand piano, to keep the back room cool
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“Would I ever put a window unit in any of my restaurants?” Bryan asked. “Never. But here?” He shrugs. It fits
The rest of the block in this sleepy town is now a bonafide entertainment complex, where a country singer whose name you know might play the brand-new stage installed in the backyard
“That’s how I made sense of this project,” Bryan said. “To justify buying this old steakhouse, I had to do more.”
The 300-person outdoor patio and music venue was inspired in part by the Gristmill, a restaurant and bar in Gruene, Texas
The saloon is the most upscale part of the new construction, with deer antler chandeliers and cowhide barstools. Customers who order off the newly-redone Ranchman’s by Marty B menu can eat in the saloon if the restaurant is full. Or if they prefer the country-chic look to the original restaurant
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Eventually, Bryan plans to open a speakeasy in the old white house on the corner. Maybe he’ll make an offer on the grassy property near it, for more space, he said
Yes, the historic Ranchman’s is changing in downtown Ponder. It had to, Bryan said. But the dining room is the same wood-paneled room of yesteryear
Ranchman’s by Marty B is at 110 W. Bailey St., Ponder. It opened July 1, 2026. Hours are limited to dinner only, for now
