Bonanza Restaurant
Welcome to the Carpentersville Memories Bonanza Page. Our goal is to bring back some fun memories of growing up in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
We bring back Memories you didn’t know you had
Did you remember the Bonanza Sirloin Pit?
The History of the Bonanza Restaurants
Bonanza Steakhouse was a chain restaurant. This location took over the space that was vacated by Harvest House. This restaurant opened in 1970. In the early 1970’s, the chain was renamed Bonanza Restaurant. Bonanza closed in 1976.
In the 1980’s, they opened a location outside Springhill Mall, near Floyd’s Restaurant. This space had once been a Ponderosa Steakhouse. Interesting to note is: Bonanza and Ponderosa became part of the same company when there was a merger 1997.
In case you were wondering – Bonanza was started by an actor who starred on the television show of the same name. Dan Blocker played Eric “Hoss” Cartwright. In 1963, Hoss opened Bonanza Sirloin Pit. The location was in Westport, Connecticut. Based on his fame (probably), this grew into a chain that he owned until 1966. This is when he sold the chain to the Wyly Brothers.
Click on the links below to view the Newspaper Articles and PDF Files
1971 Bonanza Grand Opening Meadowdale Mall
Images and Articles from Big Boy
Bonanza
Testimonials
What People are Saying
“I love this place !”
“Lets me relive some of my childhood every chance I get“
Cathy D.
“Fabulous memories came flooding back”
“So much to see and so many memories, this is an amazing web site “
Dan K.
“Another amazing experience”
“Always something new every time I visit the site“
Clyde L.
“Speechless, worth every penny”
“Couldn’t believe all there was to see for such a small yearly subscription, and complete Yearbooks too !!”
Bob M.