Ponder — After a lifetime of moving, one North Texas man found a way to put down roots in a big way: He bought a Texas landmark.

Dave Ross is owner of the Ranchman's Cafe, also known as the Ponder Steakhouse, as well as a soap company and an antique store.

A path paved with food, pies and bi-cycles led Mr. Ross from Air Force brat to Ponder institution before the age of 50.

No small feat for someone who did not even know where Ponder was until he was 21, an age at which many residents of this small city are looking for a way out.

"I had to buy roots so I could settle down," Mr. Ross said. His office is decorated with fishing memorabilia and frogs, two of his greatest loves.

While attending North Texas State University from 1971 to 1974, Mr. Ross would ride his bicycle from his dorm to the Ranchman's Cafe before dinner.

After the 10-mile ride to the restaurant, he would enjoy a slice of pie and a glass of tea before riding home just in time for dinner.

"If you're a cyclist, 20 miles is nothing," Mr. Ross said in the dining area of the steakhouse. The room is decorated with Old West memorabilia and signed photos of celebrities who have eaten here. The aroma of steaks — grilled and chicken-fried — fills the air while people eat their dinner.

The steakhouse has been hotbed of good cooking since 1948, getting accolades from magazines and plenty of business from celebrities who often make a special trip just to eat at the famous restaurant.

"When Cindy Crawford came in… I almost broke my neck," Mr. Ross said.

Other notables such as Larry McMurtry and Barry Switzer have been regulars of sorts, visiting the restaurant several times a year, Mr. Ross said.

In 1999, Cowboys and Indians magazine rated Ranchman's as one of the best steak-houses in the West.

For his part, Mr. Ross said he prefers a medium-rare T-Bone.

Mr. Ross bought the cafe from its original owner with a pledge to keep things the way they had been from the beginning.

Grace "Pete" Jackson opened the restaurant with only one dining room and no bathrooms, Mr. Ross said, it was because Ponder did not have a sewer system until 1978. After the sewer lines were laid, Ms. Jackson took the chance to add bathrooms and another dining room. Mr. Ross, who by this time was working at the restaurant baking rolls, helped with the remodeling.

Other than the bathrooms and the dining area, little has changed at the Ranchman's Cafe, Mr. Ross said. The kitchen has been upgraded to meet health codes and eliminate the greasy fog caused by the cooking meat, but that's it.

"People have eaten here for generations, but this place stays the same," Dave said.

The pies are still baked the way that Evelyn has made them since 1970, and the steaks are still cut according to the specifications of Cecil Wortman, who cut the steaks from 1971 until his death in 1992.

Operating a restaurant is nothing new to Mr. Ross.

He opened his first restaurant in 1974 in Lake Dallas after a few years managing eateries.

Crawdad Landing, as this first venture was called, closed' after six months because flooding destroyed the parking lot.

After a year roofing houses in Oklahoma to pay off debts from that restaurant, Mr. Ross went back to his first love: managing restaurants.

After working for the Black-Eyed Pea and single-unit restaurants for several years, Mr. Ross bought the Ranchman's Cafe the first time in 1985, but could not afford to keep it and sold out in 1986.

In 1992, he bought it again and promises to keep it this time.

The 52-year-old entrepreneur with a bachelors degree in speech pathology said that he hires many employees with mental disabilities, a practice he began during a short tenure at the University of North Texas Rehabilitation Center in the early 1990s.

In fact, he has hired several individuals he worked with at the center; Old friends returning to work together again, he said. His family, too, works in the cafe.

Wife Norma waits tables and daughter Pauline, 17, runs the cash register. His sons, 15-year-old Ben and 13-year-old David Jr., are also working. Ben is now grilling at the restaurant and David Jr. hosts and sets up tables as well as washing dishes.


Mr. Ross's relationship with his wife is what led to the Old Lumberyard Antiques and Gifts, a store operated on the same lot as the cafe. He met Norma through a mutual friend in Mexico City where she worked in an antique store.

Their courtship lasted several months, Mr. Ross said, during which he became fluent in Spanish.

Their shared love for antiques and a house full of items bought on day-long shopping excursions is what led to the store he said.

"It's a place we can put all the stuff from our house," Mr. Ross said.

This is indicative of Mr. Ross's personality: Take what you have and make it work for you. Mr. Ross has even found a profitable way to use the left over fat from the steakhouse making soap.

In 1985, while cleaning the potato boilers, he noticed a recipe for soap on a can of lye.

Never one to pass up a good idea, Mr. Ross said he began producing natural soap with the leftover fat.

Manana Labs, as the soap company is called, can now produce 600 bars of soap each day, Mr. Ross said.

With fragrances ranging from rosemary and mint to cucumber and basil, the soaps are sold at 80 stores throughout North Texas, he said.

Mr. Foster Baker, a friend for 30 years, manufactures the soap for Mr. Ross. Each bar has to dry for two months before it can be sold, Mr. Baker said.

Riding herd over three businesses takes up most of Mr. Ross’s time.

Having had only five days off since July, Mr. Ross said that he works 80 to 100 hours per week to keep the restaurant humming.

Occasional fishing trips with the kids is the only break Mr. Ross and his family get from their hectic work schedule.

Mr. Ross said there’s a very simple answer to why he works so hard.

“A dream,” Mr. Ross said, “of trying to keep businesses that relate to the old days.”

-Denton Record-Chronicle. June 3, 2001 Denton, Texas