Openings/ClosingsFirst Dish: Bobby-Q in Mesa
Fans of Bobby-Q in Phoenix will find some familiar flavors at the new East Valley outpost – wood-fired steaks, saucy St. Louis-style ribs, and the cheesiest, most gooey mac and cheese around (made with five different cheeses). The menus at the venues are the same, but the new Bobby-Q -- which opened to the public on October 3 -- has some fresh amenities, too.
The Feel: Like sitting in a really cool collage of Americana. Restaurateur Bob Sikora has a big personality and favors several seemingly disparate design elements that somehow comfortably come together. He’s big on lighting, and before the new restaurant opened, he sat in every single seat and booth to check the spot’s luminousness. There’s soft blue lighting under the bar and around the bar racks. He also loves big, leafy green indoor plants, and they hang around and over various parts of the massive restaurant, along with too many flat-screen TVs to count, custom-made sconces with bent silverware sculpture bases, and old timey light fixtures. The social lounge features gorgeous handcrafted juniper tables inlaid with turquoise and copper, custom leather chairs and sofas, and antique steel mirrors. Brick and wood abound. A DJ turns the lounge into a disco dance hall late at night, but during the day, classic rock rules the restaurant speakers.
