Had dinner at the new Bob's at the new Omni at the convention center a couple of weeks ago. Here's the gist: it's just like Bob's but in a new shinier packaging. The steaks are still covered in butter and you'll still get your carrot and choice of potatoes with your steak. It's a steakhouse and it does that well. The service was very attentive although his ragged shirtsleeves were not up to dress code (and, FYI, unless you are the Dread Pirate Roberts, using "As you wish" multiple times gets less endearing as dinner progresses). But I don't know if I will go back to this particular location and here's why:
1. The valet left our car outside, running, for 5 minutes before anyone moved it. Not the safest thing to do when you're down the street from the bus station.
2. It's just a little too shiny and new. There is nothing special about it. In fact, it feels just like Perry's. I think they may have used the same designer. I like the original Bob's. It reminds me of the banquet hall my grandparents used to own on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago where real Chicago "politicians" would make "deals." (I'll let you use your imagination, as I did growing up, what the quotations mean). Bottom line, if I'm going to go to Bob's, I will stick to the original.
3. It was just a bit sleepy. It was the second weekend so I thought the place would have been a bustling scene but, no. It definitely lacks the energy and warmth of Nick & Sam's, which is my preferred steakhouse, particularly during the winter.
4. The bar is small and there's no TV. This became a very important fact since we finished dinner right at the beginning of the 4th Quarter of the Oklahoma/Baylor game and we really wanted to watch the game. Since there was no TV at the bar at Bob's we thought the sports bar right next door would be the perfect place to spend the next half hour or so. There were people mingling in the front of the sports bar who we thought were waiting for tables. Well, mingling isn't quite the right word as they all looked very tired and haggard, like they'd been waitin for quite awhile. But, we didn't have to worry about that, there looked like there was plenty of standing room around the bar. We headed there, until we were stopped by the hostess. Oh, we don't want a table, we just want to stand at the bar for a drink and some game watching, we said. Sorry, we're told, there's a wait for that too. I'm willing to stand at the bar in fabulous, yet quite uncomfortable 4" heals and you are denying me that opportunity? I'm sorry, since when in the history of sports bars has there ever been a wait to stand at the bar? The bar appeared nowhere near capacity. So we left. Bob's wasn't an option since no TV so we headed to the hotel restaurant. It had teeny, tiny TVs in the bar area and the bar was actually closed but at least they let us sit and watch the game. And it was one heck of a game. I would have been perfectly happy watching it at Bob's but, alas, no TV. So am I being fair making this a reason why I won't go back to this Bob's any time soon? Probably not but the whole adventure just left a bad taste in my mouth. Sorry.
Cheers!
