K-Bob's making return to Tucumcari

K-Bob’s Steakhouse is returning to its old location in Tucumcari after a three-year absence.

K-Bob’s conducted a job fair Thursday at the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce office. John Rink, vice president of operations at K-Bob’s in Clovis, said its restaurants typically employ 30 to 40 full- and part-time workers.

Rink said if he found a local general manager quickly for its Tucumcari restaurant, it could be remodeled and reopened by mid- to late summer.

Rink said Sid Strebeck purchased the Tucumcari building shortly after K-Bob’s Houston-based corporate office abruptly closed the restaurant at 200 E. Estrella Ave. in February 2019. About 20 jobs were lost with the closure.

“They weren’t making the money to justify it staying open,” Rink said of the corporate office’s decision to close its Tucumcari site. “Me and my K-Bob’s team (in Clovis), we have the opportunity to be closer to keep an eye on things here.”

Rink said reopening the Tucumcari restaurant had been on his radar for a while.

“But we’d been so busy with other projects … I was busy with so many other things other than running one restaurant,” he said, acknowledging the COVID-19 pandemic also delayed plans. “It was all we could do to keep our other restaurants operating.

“Right now, we feel like it’s a good time to come back into Tucumcari,” he added. “I actually opened the K-Bob’s here back in 1997. We know the business is here, especially with it being next to the (Best Western) motel and all the traffic on I-40.”

Rink said the Tucumcari building still is in good shape but will need to undergo a few weeks of remodeling and bringing in new equipment. The Tucumcari K-Bob’s will bring back its salad wagon and its bar, just like before.

“I love the location where we were at and the people I dealt with back in the 1990s,” he said. “It was a great restaurant to run. The main challenge any restaurant will have is training and keeping a good workforce. The labor situation in Tucumcari is tight.”

In addition to Clovis, K-Bob’s also operates restaurants in Ruidoso, Raton and Las Vegas in New Mexico, plus four locations in Texas.

Prospective employees who might be interested in working at K-Bob’s are asked to call Rink at (575) 791-5680 or email [email protected].