The aromatic and hunger-inducing Kapalama institution Bob’s Bar-B-Que is heading to Kaneohe.
The restaurant will open in Windward Square, in the former Liang’s Kitchen space, possibly in mid-February, said Clayton Wong, Bob’s manager and son of owner Kevin Wong. Its neighbors will include Saigon Noodle House and El Mariachi.
The original Bob’s was established in 1978, according to its website. The smell of barbecuing beef, pork and chicken wafts temptingly through the community and into open car windows near the intersection where Waiakamilo Road meets Dillingham Boulevard.
After some 39 years the decision was made to branch out to the Windward side because “we hear what the customers tell us,” the younger Wong said. “They’re always telling us to open certain locations, so we decided to take the opportunity to try it out with a second location in Kaneohe.”
The Kaneohe Bob’s will be smaller than its town-side counterpart, with four tables and possibly some bar-stool-type seating. Also, unlike the original Bob’s, the Kaneohe location will have no outdoor seating.
The kitchen in Kaneohe will be the same as at the Kapalama spot. “Pretty much everything will be the same,” Wong said, with the same smoky, meaty smells tempting those in nearby businesses and passers-by.
The menu at the Kapalama Bob’s is vast, but the Kaneohe store is likely to start a little more conservatively.
There are 78 items on the original’s menu, from breakfast plates to New York Steak to chicken dishes, seafood choices, sandwiches, saimin, burgers — including a fried oyster burger — and a wide variety of side dishes to go with your ’cue.
A rotating slate of daily specials includes garlic chicken, meatloaf, roast pork, sweet and sour spare ribs, short-rib stew, chicken adobo, laulau, teriyaki spare ribs and roasted barbecue chicken.
Prices range from $2.70 for certain side orders to $25.50 for a super combo of beef and baby back ribs, kalbi, teri beef, teri chicken, three scoops of rice and two scoops of mac salad, though most plates cost under $10 and miniplate options are offered for many choices.
Wong said the menu for the new location is still under debate, but customers definitely will be able to order Bob’s most popular dishes, including ribs, burgers and sides.
The restaurant space is still undergoing renovation, and the company is awaiting arrival of kitchen equipment.
The Wongs are aware of the inauspicious closure of the previous tenant after a driver rammed through the front of Liang’s Kitchen, injuring some patrons.
“That happened here, too,” Wong said of the original Bob’s. A driver crashed through its takeout window last year during the lunch hour, though no one was injured.
Liang’s never reopened, and an ongoing lawsuit has no bearing on Bob’s work and preparations to open, Wong said.
Bob’s expects to hire 10 to 12 employees for the new restaurant, Wong said, and is accepting applications at the Kapalama location.
Bob’s Bar-B-Que
1366 Dillingham Blvd.
Hours: 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily
Call: 842-3663
Online: bobsbarbque.com
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