By Roberto Hugo Gonzalez
As originally published by Texas Border Business newsprint edition June 2018
There has never been a steakhouse as good as Bob’s Steak & Chop House in the Valley. The evening dining concept was designed for larger cities, however not anymore at least for Edinburg. The city that is part of the metropolitan statistical area of Hidalgo County is the lucky city to host this extraordinary and unique eatery.
Bob’s offer is simple, they adopted a powerful combination that starts with prime steaks, big portions, and the wine, only the finest.
To give you a bit of the story, in July of 2017 when they first opened just for fine dining, it became the favorite for locals, but even then, people that visited always asked, ‘are you open for lunch?’
This continued with actions, patrons were showing up at noon with the idea of having a delicious lunch, but they had to return to their cars and leave.
Because of this, last month, Peter Higgins, Managing Partner of Bob’s Steak & Chop House officially announced the beginning of lunch services. Higgins said that they had conversations with the licensor since September of last year. “Bob’s is a tremendous brand.” He said, “We are lucky to have a license with them, but their model has been just for dinner service only.”
He pointed out that they have been doing quite well with dinner services, but the reality is, he mentioned, “We saw many customers get out of their cars to come walking in, and we had to turn down all these customers.”
What Higgins and his team have accomplished has no precedent and derives from their desire to give his customers what they want. These simple words, “give customers what they want” won the argument with corporate executives.
Higgins said, “In doing so, we’ve created jointly with their corporate chef and our chef Fernando, an exciting lunch menu.” He continued, “We will still have steaks on the menu and much more for our lunch clients.”
“Besides,” he said, “If last week is an indication of a good business, then we made the right decision.” He continued, “I think it’s something that Bob’s may entertain through all their stores in the future. I’m not saying that’s the case, but I think given the indications of our success, they might follow suit.”
Bob’s was opened for dining on July 19, 2017, and on April 30, 2018, started the noon lunch service.
Higgins is a businessman who understands and values the importance of location. He has always described the area where Bob’s is located as being in the middle of the entertainment corridor. “The Bert Ogden Arena, the HEB open-air soccer stadium and the IMAX theater.” He said, “But not just the entertainment category, the university is such a foundation, the medical school and the hospital complexes that are right down the street; I think the medical world is going to be a big part of our business.”
He added that they have served the pharmaceutical industry through private presentations. However, he emphasizes that their lead category business is entertainment.
Any plans of duplicating this business in some other area of South Texas? “Not specifically right now, we’re still in our embryonic stage.” “We do have the area development rights to the Valley, but one step at a time.”
Bob’s is in the middle of a multi-million-dollar commercial development called The Shoppes at Rio Grande Valley, located on Trenton Rd. and Expressway 281. This reporter was also present during the groundbreaking ceremony of this development. It was hot, windy and under a large tent that felt small, with so many attendees excited about what was coming. Now, it is a different story, everything is falling into place. Last year when I had the opportunity to talk to Higgins, we discussed the many opportunities available because of the vast land area around Bob’s.
He said, “Just take a ride down the road and look at all the development there. I see a new sign belonging to Bert Ogden Auto Group adjacent to our property, so something’s on the horizon there.”
The new lunch services are essential for the overall business plan of the venue, in this case, Juan Luis Mussenden, General Manager, gave us a few recommendations for lunch and wine pairing.
The question is, which wine to choose for lunch?“It depends on what you are eating.” For spring he tends to favor white wines, rose or light-bodied red slightly chilled at lunchtime. “However, if you are having one of our signature Prime Steaks for lunch, I would highly recommend a medium to full-bodied varietal: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Blends or Malbec. In this warm weather, we probably eat more salads and lighter fare.”
Mussenden provided Texas Border Business with a list of wines – Whites: Alpha Omega “Unoaked” Chardonnay Napa Valley 2015; Alphonse Mellot Sancerre Blanc Les Romans Loire Valley, France 2012; Reds: Nickel & Nickel “CC Ranch” Cabernet Sauvignon Rutherford, Napa Valley 2014; and Cuttings by The Prisoner Wine Company Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley 2014.
Deyanira Sepulveda, the event’s manager, said that Bob’s serves steaks, seafood, and tacos for lunch. Yes! tacos, great combination of ingredients with unique flavor, you should try them now.
To finalize, Peter Higgins said, “I would like to say; Rio Grande Valley and to the City of Edinburg, Thank You because we’ve been well received and we’re excited to continue our relationship.”
