This is among the best hole in the walls I have ever been to. This chef from LA came to this small TX town to build a dream. The hamburgers are insanely large and unbelievably delicious as was the steak fajita lunch burrito. He will make you anything to order though I was content to eat it just as he made it. I ate here every day I was in town on business. Not sure I will be back this way but will definitely stop by if I am. read more

Ponderosa - An article about his family's exodus from LA to Snyder and the restaurant. - Mexican Near Me - Snyder, Texas

Was in Snyder for work and had never eaten in this town before so I turned to YELP as I usually do in a new area. I saw that the Ponderosa had only one review and it was 5 stars. Like that Yelper, I too would have never stopped in this place when driving by. It's an old run down motel with a restaurant and really is not pretty to look at, almost kind of scary. I pulled up and stopped out front trying to determine if the place was even open. I have a CHL and almost drove away when I spotted to NO FIREARMS sign on the front door as I'm always legally armed. The owner saw me in my truck and walked out to greet me. I expressed my concern over his sign and he said it was no problem; the sign is intended for criminals. (It's a good thing he's got that sign because we know that always works, right?) anyway, I got the New Mexico burger and fries. OMG!!! The thing was HUGE!!! He hand cut a whole potato for the fries and everything was soooo fresh!!! He supplied chips and hot sauce as an appetizer which were really good too. I really should have taken half the burger back to the hotel for later but it was so good, I couldn't stop eating it. A local came in and ordered a burrito, that thing was as big around as a baseball bat and he did take half of it home. Even though this little hole in the wall is sore on the eyes, the food is awesome, you gotta try it! I definitely will be back and tell the guys on our job site about the place. read more

Ponderosa - This pic does no justice to the burger. It is very big with a 1"x5" patty. Freaking phenomenally good burger!!! - Mexican Near Me - Snyder, Texas

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This place is hard to find, but worth the effort. We had the blue cheese bacon burger. It was served on a ciabatta roll with Swiss, blue cheese, and spinach. The meat was seasoned and cooked to perfection. All of the flavors melded together to produce a unique unbelievablely good favor. Hand cut steak fries cooked perfectly to a golden brown. We will definitely stop again. read more

What a great place. Tasty homemade food, a husband and wife team running the place, and friendly personal service. You never would guess this nice restaurant is hidden inside. Thank you Yelp! read more

Everything is homemade when you order. Hamburger is massive and great meat. Fries are well seasoned. They will tell you that the menu is "only a suggestion" and they mean exactly that! Chef Luis is very hospitable, and encourages his customers to order exactly what they like, prepared how they like it. Awesome experience. read more

First let me say that I am from Houston, TX and I am never at a shortage of outstanding food but I can tell you that I absolutely wish the ponderosa was down the road from me. Everything I ever ate from this place was superb. Don't let the outside appearance fool you, or you will miss some of the best *insert the kid of food you order here* you have ever had! If I could give this place a better rating I would. Absolutely amazing! read more

This place is a restaurant that you should not pass up. I was slightly skeptical at first but wow, I was blown away. The food is amazing and the service was friendly. Chef Luis came out and talked to us, he even gave us a sample of the burger, which was amazing. Make sure you come hungry because the portions are massive! Highly recommended! read more

Absolutely DELISH!!!! We had the carne asada, breakfast burrito, Mexican plate, ham & cheese sandwich and bacon wrapped shrimp with fresh guacamole. Everything was amazing!!!! The breakfast burrito was huge, the fresh guacamole had the best flavor....don't judge it by its looks....it's a hole in the wall place that we'll definitely visit again. read more

Very inviting! Absolutely loved the food ... you definitely won't leave here hungry because the portions are so big . Would recommend stopping here to enjoy amazing food and great service. Chef Luis is very friendly and makes huge portions. I'm sure you will not leave hungry. Hey ya thanks Mr! read more

This place is INCREDIBLE. Unbelievable, authentic Mexican food on top of other things. From the Cali Burrito, to the Alfredo, it is all delicious. Best food in town BY FAR. (Pictured is the Cali Burrito "wetback" style.) read more

Ponderosa - Mexican Near Me - Snyder, Texas

Great hole in the wall joint. Highly recommend if your in search of great home made food to get a break from all that junk food you been eating In your road trip. read more

Best cheeseburger I have ever had!!!! Served with thick hand cut fries. Takes a little longer then an average restaurant but this is not an average restaurant! Food is amazing and worth the wait. read more

Small little place that I would never have noticed or considered without seeing it on here first. Great food and very hospitable. I ordered mine to go to take back to my hotel. Had the Carne Asada, which was fantastic. More than I could eat for dinner, so I'm having it for lunch today also. Don't let the location or appearance scare you off, the food is lights out. read more

I'm not from the area but it was recommended by a local. I can promise you I would never have stopped in this place if I judged the book by its cover. Inside we found and met the couple who runs the place. They were so friendly and their food was AWESOME! It takes a while to get the food and that's because they are making everything from scratch and fresh. You MUST stop by here and get a burger. You won't regret it. read more

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Huge portions and nice guy takes your order, cooks your food, and later delivers it. Great place. It's connected to an OLD motel.

Y'all ain't ready! Yelp did not disappoint. I would NOT have stopped here if I hadn't read the reviews. It looks like an abandoned motel. But there is a surprise treasure hidden inside- Chef Luis! You are now in his home, and he will cook you almost anything you want. He loves what he does, and you can tell. I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich, my husband got the chicken fried steak (by mistake). My husband tortured his way through the half a cow that was a "serving" until he was 3 bites into regret. It was 2 steaks!! The steak used was so tender- we heard him back there beating it into submission before he perfectly breaded it. That homemade gravy - it's the gravy you need, but don't deserve. I can't even talk about this grilled chicken masterpiece he brought out. The chicken was seasoned so well! Ive posted a pic of the HALF I couldn't eat. The homemade fries are just ridiculous good. They're a meal all on their own. Don't come here actually hungry and expect to make a happy plate- you'll hurt yourself. I don't know who this man is used to feeding, but if you leave here hungry or unsatisfied.... don't worry, you won't. . Thank you Chef Luis, you made the stop worth it. We'll hit this place every time we come back home to Lubbock from San Antonio. read more

Ponderosa - Go in the multi-paned door to the left of the white truck. - Mexican Near Me - Snyder, Texas

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A diamond in the rough. The portions are huge and the flavors are rich and unexpectedly satisfying. If you don't see something on the menu, just ask! They will make whatever you want, really! read more

If I had not found this hidden gem on Yelp, I would have never stopped in. The owner is great and very personable. Everything is made from scratch. I was told that the menu is just a suggestion, if I wanted anything different just ask. I had the New Mexico burger. It rates as one of the top 5 hamburgers that have ever had. It might not be much to look at but we'll worth eating at. read more

GPS led us here. Surprisingly excellent food and chef was great! Highly recommend this place.

Hands down. One of my favorite places to eat. I enjoy everything. Club sandwich is amazing.

We chose Ponderosa based on the reviews while in Snyder for a baseball tournament. I have to admit, we were a little nervous about the looks of the place! But, that quickly faded!!! We were told that the menu was a guide but he would fix us whatever we wanted if he had it in the kitchen. I had a combination plate with a carne asada enchilada, tamale, & chili relleno. My husband had carne asada. Our friend asked him for chicken flautas that weren't on the menu. OMG!!!! Everything from the homemade chips, salsa, & tortillas to the tea was excellent!! Don't pass this place up because of how it looks! You will be sorry if you do!! read more

Don't judge a book by its cover. Food is great and LOTS of it. If you're in a hurry go somewhere else but when you are ready to sit down and eat a great meal head I'm out there. read more

We pulled into the HOTEL at 6:45 pm. This time of year it was already dark. The open sign wasn't on & we turned around to leave. The owner happened to step out of a room across from the restaurant wearing his chef shirt. Luckily, he said he was open and we decided to stay. We were on the way to a game so we intended to pick a burger, order & go. We did, the Ponderosa for me & the New Mexico for my wife. A little hesitant when we saw $12 each. After a wait (other reviews already covered that) the burgers came out. H-U-G-E. Close to a pound of beef. And the fries had to have been a whole large potato. Flavor was excellent. Believe me, you got to have courage to walk through the door, especially at night, but the payoff is great. I'm a grown man & I'll be finishing the Ponderosa tomorrow. The owners were friendly. I was happy to spend my money here. read more

We really liked the food, the owner and the atmosphere. Folks came in from around for a birthday. It is a Home Town place and the best for miles. When in that are we will stop in again. Food was good. We like off the beaten path good places with real food and real folk. read more

We found this place on Yelp and decided to give it a try. The owner was very welcoming and had a great personality. The Carne Asada Burrito was declious, especially with the added cheese and sauce. Great people and food. We will return. read more

This is not a place I would have ever stopped by had I not read previous reviews but I was definitely not disappointed. Once you get past the outward appearance of the place you will get great service and even better food. I will definitely be back read more

This place was SO amazing! So much food for the price, and all different types of food. From breakfast to hamburgers to Mexican it was all delicious. It looks a little run down, but the food is top notch! read more

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We were traveling home on a holiday weekend and called to see if this place was still open. The owner answered and said they had just closed, but the grill was still hot and to bring our family in. I insisted this wasn't necessary but he asked us to please stop in. When we pulled up, we were concerned with the look of the hotel and restaurant but after reading other Yelp reviews, we decided to give it a try and were so glad we did! We were greeted with a very warm welcome and were told that they could cook anything we wanted! We tried a bacon cheese burger and the chicken fried steak and everything was so good! The portions were huge! We honestly could've shared. The prices were a tad high but totally worth it! Such a sweet family that wished us week on our travels and made us feel so welcome. Give this place a try! You won't regret it! read more

5- 's!!! Just a hole in the wall place, but friendly people...and DELICIOUS FOOD!!! I wanted to try everything! My daughter had the grilled chicken sandwich with avocado and bacon, with chipotle mayo, lettuce and sweet onions! I had the chicken fajita wrap with grilled onions & bell pepper with homemade guacamole...off the chain GOOD! read more

This is the best restaurant in town. Like the menu says, Luis will make you whatever you want, however you want it prepared. My favorite is the traditional style chile rellenos. But everything I have had is hand made, fresh, and wonderful. I even brought a work group here for buffet-style catering in their party room. Everyone loved it. The only thing you should know is that, with everything made from scratch, sometimes it takes a good while to get your food. Definitely worth the wait, though. Also, you can BYOB. read more

This restaurant is nothing special on the outside, but Chef Luis prepares everything fresh from scratch. All the locals eat here and everyone greets you as you come in. They help themselves in the kitchen! The menu is extensive and you can get any Mexican food you wish. Be prepared to wait as homemade takes a while. My husband has beef enchiladas with cheese. I had the spicy chicken wrap. Both were enormous! We took the leftovers home for another meal. A surprise in Snyder, TX. read more

There is no way that I would have stopped here, but Yelp came through again. Luis had opened at 5:30 and we were the first people there at 6:00. We had our choice of the 5 bench tables. Luis handed us the menus and said, use the menu as a guide and order whatever you like. I fix everything from scratch." I had the Ponderosa Combination plate. It was one of the best combos I've had in my 60+ years. I had the marinated pork. BTW, it's the small building in the right as you drive into the motel. read more

Passing through and found this small hidden gem with amazing hospitality. Ordered the lunch burrito, asada and added French fries inside. So full and couldn't even finish half. read more

This was the best enchiladas, chips, & hot sauce I've eaten in many years (since I ate some in Juarez). The sauces were homemade from dried chilies, and the tortillas were homemade also, so the chips were amazing as well. Chef Luis prepares each dish fresh when you order, so it takes longer than your average restaurant, but it's well worth the wait! And you can ask for changes to the menu items (they're just suggestions), or he will cook something not on the menus if you ask as well. Don't let the hole in the wall place fool you--try it. You'll be glad you did! I'll definitely be back when I have time to wait on a treat again. read more

This place is amazing. We look for little out of the way places when traveling. Don't let the look of the place scare you away. It takes awhile but is sure worth the wait. Highly recommend. read more

First time here and I love it! Food was amazing!! Will definitely come back here. The Ponderosa grand slam is huge and worth the money. Don't let the building fool you! read more

Amazing food. It looks like a dive. It looks scary. Is it even open? I've heard them all. The food is amazing. It is a case of a total dive with some of the best food in town but no one realizes it. I send people here all the time. When I hear or see them again, they tell me how great the food and atmosphere is. Worth a trip for those brave enough! read more