Ponderosa Steakhouse and Bonanza Steakhouse under the Metromedia Restaurant Group. The names of the restaurants were derived from the classic TV series "Bonanza", which was set at a place called Ponderosa Ranch. In 1963, Dan Blocker, who played Eric "Hoss" Cartwright on "Bonanza", started the Bonanza Steakhouse chain. The first Bonanza opened in Westport, Connecticut. Sam Wyly and his brother Charles Wyly bought the small Bonanza restaurant chain three years later. The company grew to approximately 600 restaurants by 1989, when the Wylys sold it to Metromedia. In 1965, Dan Lasater, Norm Wiese and Charles Kleptz founded Ponderosa in Kokomo, Indiana, moving the headquarters to
Bonanza Gift Shop Casino and Money Tree Casino. It was the "Las Vegas Review-Journal"'s online readers pick for "Best Gift Shop" in 2006. In 2016, the property was sold for $50 million to Haim Gabay, who had been operating the store as a tenant for a year. The shop was featured on the PBS show "Going Places". This store features in the 2016 Nicolas Cage movie "The Trust". Bonanza Gift Shop Bonanza Gift Shop is a landmark located on the Las Vegas Strip between the SLS Las Vegas and the Stratosphere Las Vegas. It is billed as the "World's Largest Gift Shop" with