Robert Sambol, the man steak aficionados know as Bob of Bob's Steak and Chop House, is leaving his job at Trinity Groves to re-join with the original restaurant named after him.
You'll find him March 1 at Bob's on Lemmon Avenue in Dallas. As in: "At 5 o'clock, I'll be at the door," he says, just like he was for decades, at the low-ceilinged, carpeted steakhouse he founded in 1993.
Sambol and his partners are licensees at the Lemmon Avenue Bob's only; they are taking it over after Richard Carey and Jessica Smith, Sambol says. Bob's is owned in part by Omni Hotels, and about 15 restaurants have opened across the United States, mostly in Texas.
But Bob was there first.
For fine-dining customers in Dallas who remember when Bob's first opened more than 25 years ago, Sambol's return to his original steakhouse is noteworthy. It's "important," says fellow Dallas steakhouse restaurateur Al Biernat, for customers to know the person at the front door of a high-ticket restaurant.
"He's a great guy and a people-person," Biernat says of Sambol and his return to Bob's.
Sambol says the restaurant will eventually be renovated. "It needs to be spruced up," he says, agreeing that it needs to be competitive with other big steakhouses in the city like Nick & Sam's, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Al Biernat's, Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House and more.
Sambol has not been involved in Bob's for years after a legal incident in 2011. For the past six years, Sambol has been building restaurants in Trinity Groves, a business launched in part by entrepreneur Phil Romano. Sambol's job as president of Trinity Groves Support Group was to help young restaurateurs learn how to operate a business in a competitive climate. Romano says in a statement that Sambol "made a huge impact on Trinity Groves" and that "we are all better for having him as part of the team."
Sambol also helped open The Hall, a steakhouse-saloon in Trinity Groves, alongside other partners. (The Hall will remain open in Trinity Groves, confirms a spokeswoman.)
Sambol understands the risk of getting into the steak game in Dallas, saying, "it is so much harder to be successful today than it was for me in 1993. There's just a lot of young talent out there."
At 64 years old, Sambol also says he's "excited to challenge them a little bit. And to be challenged."
Interestingly, he told Mike Hiller at Escape Hatch Dallas that he considered doing his own steakhouse — one not named Bob's. But he ended up making a deal at the original Bob's, which Sambol says is "a special place for me."
The core menu at Bob's on Lemmon Avenue in Dallas will remain the same, as it does across all restaurants. Sambol and his team will be able to add some special dishes, but that will come later.
Sambol seems energized by the move. "I don't care how many restaurants there are," he says, "there's always room for another good one."
Bob's Steak and Chop House is located at 4300 Lemmon Ave., Dallas.
