CORTLANDVILLE, N.Y. – The Ponderosa Steakhouse restaurant on Route 13 in Cortland closed its doors Monday night.
The Old West-themed chain eatery is owned by Texas-based Homestyle Dining LLC, and is known for its steaks, seafood and all-you-can-eat buffet.
A spokesperson for the company told The Cortland Voice in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon that the managers of the Cortland restaurant had struggled to keep the business solvent.
"They've been working to keep that restaurant open for a long time, but it really just came down to financial issues," spokesperson Erin Peacock said. "They really had tried for at least a year to get it on track."
The restaurant opened its Cortland location in 1974, Peacock said. A vacant building formerly occupied by a fast food chain sits adjacent to the property.
The 19 employees working at the restaurant were given two weeks notice that the business would be closing, she said. Some employees will be working at the restaurant this week to go through closing procedures, she added.
Ponderosa locations in St. Lawrence County and Herkimer County also closed in 2014.
