Bonanza Family Restaurants T-Shirt

Dan Blocker, who you might know better at Eric "Hoss" Cartwright, opened the first Bonanza in 1963. Two brothers, Sam and Charles Wyly bought the small restaurant chain 3 years later. By the late 1980's the Wyly brothers had opened roughly 600 locations. At this time both Bonanza and their rival Ponderosa were purchased by Metromedia. In the 1990's the two chains were unified as a single restaurant concept, but still operated under the Ponderosa or Bonanza name. There is currently 13 Bonanza locations still open.