Stone Ranch Steakhouse opens in K-Bob's space

Stone Ranch Steakhouse, located in the old K-Bob's building in Tucumcari, had one heck of a soft opening Wednesday.

Faye Kolman, chief financial officer and vice president of Albuquerque-based 19twelve Holdings LLC that owns the restaurant, said it served 165 customers in three hours during its debut. She said about the same number dined there on Thursday.

"About 30% are travelers, and about 70% have been locals so far," Kolman said. "Being within walking distance to five hotels, that's been very helpful to us.

"People have bene very happy. We've had people who came in both nights. I was happy to see that," she added.

Stone Ranch, at 200 E. Estrella Ave., held its grand opening Saturday, with a ceremonial ribbon-cutting organized by the Tucumcari/Quay County Chamber of Commerce.

Kolman said most of restaurant's first customers were people "looking for a good steak."

She said Stone Ranch for now buys its beef from 1855 Black Angus Beef, sourced from cattle-growing regions ranging from Texas to North Dakota.

"That's the biggest comments we've gotten from our customers - the quality of our meat," she said. "We will continue with 1855 until we find a New Mexico source that has the same quality of meat that they do. That's our main goal - to buy local."

Kolman said another dish proved unexpectedly popular during Stone Ranch's first two days.

"For whatever reason, our fajitas are going like crazy," she said. "That was a surprise; we had to order more. We try not to do too much Mexican food because we didn't want to take away business from the other local restaurants."

Kolman said the soft opening exposed a few minor problems it rectified.

"The first night, we learned we needed a little better rhythm on the back of the line because the wait times were a little bit longer," she said. "We sped up our wait times a lot last night, and it was a lot smoother. We have a 72-inch grill; we can cook a lot of steaks at one time."

Kolman had planned to open the restaurant at 11 a.m. each day but moved that to noon because of the longer preparation time to make its food from scratch.

She anticipates hours will be from noon to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and from noon to 10 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Kolman said Stone Ranch employs 32 full- and part-time workers.

Stone Ranch has applied for a full liquor license to serve beer, liquor, wine and mixed drinks. Kolman anticipates having that in hand by March or April.

K-Bob's had announced earlier this spring it was returning to its same site in Tucumcari after the corporate office abruptly closed there in February 2019.

Kolman announced in September the restaurant would undergo a name and format change, citing a desire to have "more control over our product and menu."

Kolman, who owns 19twelve Holdings with her husband Joe, stated she is a fifth-generation landowner in Quay County and wanted "to invest back into the local economy as much as possible."