MEET THE MERCHANTS

My love for Mexican food has taken me through the doors of virtually every single Mexican restaurant that has ever existed in the last 30 years in the Greater Vancouver area. When the border was free and easy to cross, the Mexican Village and Dos Padres were favourites stateside.

Imagine my excitement when I heard White Rock was getting a Mexican restaurant @ the famed Five Corners district of uptown. The “luckiest girl in the world” and I gave the restaurant the per functionary “2 weeks to iron out the bugs" grace period, and while out on an evening walk, stopped in for dinner.

The first two things we noticed as we entered Chicken Bob’s Cantina were the wonderful aromas emanating from the open kitchen design, and the tastefully decorated surroundings.

The menu offers a wide variety of the regular items one would expect in a Tex Mex restaurant, tacos, fajitas, quesadillas etc. With a nod and a wink to the Baja section of Mexico, the menu is distinctive yet manageable. Better to do a few things great, than a ton of items half hearted.

Chicken Bob’s Cantina is the creation of BOB LONG who cut his culinary teeth on the wildly successful Del Pollo in Aldergrove. LONG put his background in hotel food services management to good use with Del Pollo. “I think everyone should own a restaurant,” says Chicken Bob “you learn a lot about life and people by owning a restaurant.”

Interestingly enough the name for his new locale came from his early days of Del Pollo. “I came into work one day shortly after we opened and one of my staff had written on the sandwich board out front “Why did Chicken Bob cross the road? Well the name just stuck and people have always kidded me about it, so when I decided to open a new restaurant in White Rock the name just popped into my head. It is a name you never forget,” says Bob.

Many of the items on the menu at Chicken Bob’s were tried and tested over the years at Del Pollo. A couple of the items are personal favourites of Bob himself “Well I like chicken livers, so I came up with a great recipe that was a hit with my patrons. Another specialty came about from a trip down the Baja in Mexico. A bartender told me a great margarita is as simple as 1-2-3.” Having tested a Chick Bob margarita, I can attest it is one of the best I have had the pleasure of partaking in.

The decor of Chicken Bob’s is unique in that a number of the items used to tastefully decorate the restaurant are actually for sale. “When we started to furnish the restaurant I purchased a number of pottery items, wall hangings, pots etc from a supplier in Langley. Given they were only doing a wholesale business I decided I would actually become a distributor for them in a small way. Chicken Bob’s sort of acts like a showroom for some very beautiful and affordable items.”

BOB LONG is a third term Councillor for Langley Township, how he came to locate his new dining experience in White Rock is fairly simple. “ A buddy of mine named Jerry lives in White Rock and he gets his hair cut at the salon next door. He would walk by this empty location (former home of Jacques Tapas) and thought I might be interested in having a look at it,” relates Bob. “When I first had a look at it, the restaurant had been closed for a year and a half and it was in dire need of some TLC. The decor was dusty rose on dusty rose, with more dusty rose.”

Chicken Bob’s Cantina calls itself a “place where good friends meet.” Bob has discovered in the early days of the operation of his new venture, there have been a lot of customers that simply walk to the restaurant. “I have had some customers that have followed me over from Del Pollo but the majority of the traffic so far has been people that can actually walk to the restaurant, have dinner then walk it off on the way home.” Bob says, “It is a short walk to Chicken Bob’s, and sometimes a little longer walk home ha ha.”

CHICKEN BOB LONG has numerous plans for the restaurant including the redevelopment of the courtyard in frond of the restaurant. Last week was the first week for live entertainment on Thursday with further plans to showcase jazz music on The Peninsula.

wine "fresh sheet"

Chicken Bob’s Cantina is bound to be wildly successful. Great food, beautiful surroundings, free parking, great service, plus BOB LONG. Truly a man that is “leaning into it!” Welcome to The Rock Bob Long, here’s hoping your stay is long and prosperous.

#1-15223 Pacific Avenue

778-294-4443

www.chickenbob.com