DOMINIC ARMATO

Phoenix fave Bobby-Q to open in Mesa this fall

Dominic Armato, The Republic | azcentral.com
Pork ribs are smoked using Mesquite wood at Bobby Q's. The restaurant is expanding to the Southeast Valley, opening it's first branch in Mesa.
  • Bobby-Q, the popular Phoenix barbecue restaurant, will add a second location this fall, in Mesa
  • The new branch will offer a similar feel and the same menu, with the addition of "Bob's Social Bar"
  • The social bar is a casual indoor/outdoor lounge that will offer craft beers and cocktails

Barbecue fans come from all over the Valley to visit Bobby-Q, where owner Bob Sikora and executive chef Mark Hittle sling their signature style of spice-rubbed, fall-off-the-bone meats smoked over almond and mesquite.

Soon, however, Bobby-Q’s East Valley fans won’t have to drive to northwest Phoenix to get it.

This fall, Sikora will open a Bobby-Q location in Mesa, at U.S. 60 and Stapley Drive, across from the AMC Mesa Grand 24 theaters.

“We get a lot of people coming from the East Valley,” Sikora says, “and I thought, well, it’s time to look for a location there.”

A seven-month search led Sikora to 1610 S. Stapley Drive, the former site of R.T. O’Sullivans. The 7,800-square-foot building is undergoing renovation, inside and out, in preparation for Bobby-Q’s arrival. Sikora anticipates a late September or early October opening.

Bobby-Q has developed a large, local fan base and garnered acclaim from national sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor and OpenTable, which named Bobby-Q one of the 30 best barbecue restaurants in the nation in 2014. Bobby-Q also made Yelp's list of "Top 100 Places to Eat in the U.S. for 2016"

RELATED: Arizona restaurants are getting national acclaim | Other great barbecue spots to check out around the Valley

“(Bobby-Q) has been here 11 years, and sales over the last four years have really escalated,” Sikora said.

Barbecue pork from Bobby-Q.

Gross sales at Bobby-Q now exceed $10 million per year, he said, allowing him to parlay the restaurant’s success into the second location.

While the Mesa Bobby-Q is modeled on the original, it will introduce “Bob’s Social Bar,” a casual indoor/outdoor lounge with a patio where he hopes diners will relax, have a drink and socialize or watch some sports.

“I’ll have craft cocktails, craft beers,” Sikora said. “It’ll be pretty loose.”

But Sikora isn’t messing with a winning formula. The new restaurant will feel familiar to fans of the original, and save for the addition of a veggie burger and a couple of new salads, the menu will remain unchanged. He knows what has made Bobby-Q so popular.

“When they think of barbecue, they think of me,” he said. 

Details: 8501 N. 27th Ave., Phoenix. 602-995-5982, bobbyqphx.com. Coming to 1610 S. Stapley Drive., Mesa. 

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