{"id":365170,"date":"2026-07-08T10:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/365170\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T10:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T10:22:15","slug":"famous-texas-restaurant-ranchmans-reopens-with-bar-patio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/365170\/","title":{"rendered":"Famous Texas restaurant Ranchman\u2019s reopens with bar, patio"},"content":{"rendered":"

PONDER<\/p>\n

Ranchman\u2019s<\/a>, an 80-year Denton County landmark and one of America\u2019s most popular small-town cafes<\/a>, has reopened in spectacular fashion.<\/p>\n

Now named Ranchman\u2019s by Marty B, the historic cafe in Ponder, 6 miles west of I-35W, has added a sprawling new bar and patio.<\/p>\n

Denton County restaurateur Marty Bryan<\/a>, owner of Marty B\u2019s<\/a> in Bartonville and seven other restaurants and shops, bought the legendary Texas cafe where \u201cBonnie & Clyde\u201d<\/a> movie actors dined during filming.<\/p>\n

It had been closed most of the last six years since before COVID, so both old regulars and new Denton County neighbors were ready.<\/p>\n

On a recent weekend, the doors opened at 3 p.m., with a line by 3:20.<\/p>\n

The building at 110 W. Bailsy St. dates back to 1903. Ranchman\u2019s opened in the mid-1940s. (Dates vary from 1945 to 1947.)<\/p>\n

\"Denton Denton County restaurateur Marty Bryan has added a patio and concert stage to the former Ranchman\u2019s Cafe (the \u201cPonder Steak House\u201d), now Ranchman\u2019s by Marty B in Ponder, Texas, as seen July 5, 2026. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a Texas cafe that looks like it belongs in the Smithsonian, it\u2019s Ranchman\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Wisely, Bryan left the oak-paneled front dining room<\/a> the way it was remodeled in 1951. The memorabilia includes photos from the local filming of the Oscar-nominated 1967 movie \u201cBonnie & Clyde,\u201d starring Warren Beatty, Faye Dunaway and the late Gene Hackman.<\/p>\n

Bryan also bought seven adjacent lots to add a Western-themed saloon, a large patio with seating for up to 500 customers, a music stage and a future Marty B\u2019s Ice Cream.<\/p>\n

The food may have changed, but the tradition remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re basically cooking the food the way they always cooked it,\u201d Bryan said.<\/p>\n

\"A A new bar and dining area has been added at Ranchman\u2019s by Marty B, the reopened Ranchman\u2019s Cafe (the \u201cPonder Steak House\u201d) in Ponder, Texas, seen July 5, 2026. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

Steaks are still griddled Ranchman\u2019s-style. topped with a touch of roasted garlic butter and served in a satisfying puddle of juice and flavor.<\/p>\n

The new menu features similar hand-packed burgers and huge chicken-fried steaks, and adds more choices along with Bryan\u2019s mother\u2019s pies.<\/p>\n

Bryan said he had never visited Ranchman\u2019s before it closed, but Marty B\u2019s customers kept asking about it.<\/p>\n

\"Ranchman\u2019s Ranchman\u2019s by Marty B has reopened with all the wall photos and memorabilia from the original Ranchman\u2019s Cafe (the \u201cPonder Steak House\u201d) in Ponder, Texas, seen July 5, 2026. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com <\/p>\n

One day, he was shopping at Justin Discount Boots in nearby Justin and stopped by.<\/p>\n

Recent owner Dave Ross was retiring. He had worked at the restaurant for 20 years before he bought it in 1992 from co-founder Grace \u201cPete\u201d Jackson.<\/a><\/p>\n

It was the favorite restaurant of late Texas novelist Larry McMurtry, who lived 100 miles away in Archer City.<\/p>\n

The way McMurtry has told the story, he had just left the cafe in the early 1980s<\/a> when he saw an old bus from Lonesome Dove Baptist Church, from a community that is now part of Grapevine. He took the name for his 1985 novel, \u201cLonesome Dove.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The The Ranchman\u2019s Cafe in Ponder as seen in July 1971. Star-Telegram archives \"Ranchman\u2019s Ranchman\u2019s Cafe owner Grace \u201cPete\u201d Jackson paid tribute to actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in 1966 after the filming of the movie \u201cBonnie and Clyde.\u201d Denton Record-Chronicle
\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Bud Kennedy\u2019s Eats Beat<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the \u201cEats Beat\u201d dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 \u2014 that\u2019s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat.
\n Support my work with a digital subscription<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PONDER Ranchman\u2019s, an 80-year Denton County landmark and one of America\u2019s most popular small-town cafes, has reopened in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365171,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-365170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth","tag-fort-worth-headlines","tag-fort-worth-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365170\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}