My wife and I came back from Texas to visit family and Butler Ponderosa was one of our stops. It is not the Ponderosa we remembered. The wing dings were the main reason for going. Those slightly spicy golden brown wings were replaced with a pale imitation. We asked one of the servers about it, and they told us the supplier of the original wings went out of business during the pandemic. They didn't have the lava cake on the dessert bar, either, but no one knew why.

It's not so much the people from Brownsville or Uniontown needing to get to I-376, since they have 43/I-70 and 119 to get on the Turnpike, respectively. It's southern areas of Allegheny County that need access to/from these businesses and communities. West Mifflin, Duquesne, Whitehall, Jeff. Hills, etc. Century III Mall could've benefitted from the Mon-Fayette, but it couldn't hang on long enough. Kennywood has came out in public support of the highway and has admitted it's held back major expansion plans, like an indoor waterpark and hotel by the old Kmart property, until it's complete.

The Blue Flame in Jefferson Hills seems to have gotten their stuff together. My wife and I went there last week. First time for me ever, first time for her in over 20 years. The place had a bad reputation, but the food was excellent. It's diner-like comfort food. They have an ice cream bar in the restaurant with Hershey's varieties. They're only open for breakfast and lunch. I highly recommend the hot turkey and hot roast beef sandwiches.