Owensboro Restaurants: Bob Evans Review

If all grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and chicken gravy tasted like they do at Bob Evans, I’d never eat anything else.

We have quite a few great restaurants here in Owensboro, Kentucky – something that makes doing my Kentucky restaurant reviews a joy! You always have to pull for the home team, right? For a long time I’ve thought that one of the most underrated restaurants in our town is also one of its best. Bob Evans, on 54, is consistently delicious, consistently friendly, and consistently clean.. charming, even. It’s mind boggling to me that it isn’t packed at all times of the day.

I’ll let you in on a little secret – and possibly the reason more people don’t flock to Owensboro’s Bob Evans madly. When the restaurant first opened several years ago, it was… how shall we put this… horrific. Was that blunt enough? Seriously, it took forever to get your food, then when you did get it, you couldn’t give it back fast enough.

I had a fries incident that I still can’t talk about. However, it would appear that someone higher up the food chain (literally) got wind of the crimes against human decency that were going on and whipped everyone into shape.

By the way the restaurant is now, I’m thinking we should put these people in charge of the country. They GET THINGS DONE!!! I only bring up Bob Evans in Owensboro’s unsavory past in case anyone had bad taste in their mouth, so to speak, from an early experience. Times have changed and you won’t believe the difference.

Fast forward to the present. The servers and host/hostess are always very, very friendly and helpful, the food is exceptional (delicious, with a homemade taste), and you don’t have to wait long at all for your food.

I remember the first time I tried Bob Evans after my first negative trip (I gave them a year to figure things out). My food was brought to me so fast, I looked around to make sure I hadn’t gotten someone else’s. Then, after one bite, I realized that even if I had (which I hadn’t) – they weren’t getting it back! On that particular trip, I got bacon, which is frankly the best in town. Breakfast at Bob Evans is always a delicious and wonderful way to start the day.

A few nights ago, my husband Michael and I had dinner at Bob Evans. Great move. I had grilled chicken, mashed potatoes with chicken gravy, salad, and a hot fudge sundae for dessert. Well played, me, well played.

The grilled chicken was extraordinary. Grilled chicken is a personal favorite of mine, so I get it often. I’ve never, ever had grilled chicken in a restaurant any better than this. In fact, I’m not certain I’ve ever had any as good. The grilled chicken comes with special sauces, but you’d be crazy to put anything on this chicken except for your teeth. I chose one of the sauces – but I wasn’t sure if it’d be good or not (I’d never heard of it), so my server put it in a little dish to the side. THANK GOD! The sauce wasn’t good, so I never let it anywhere near my heavenly grilled chicken. When you order grilled chicken at Bob Evans – and you should do it as soon as possible – do not get a sauce. No, no, no, a thousand times no. This chicken is so tender, juicy, and grilled tasting that it doesn’t need anything.
The mashed potatoes were the bomb, but the chicken gravy was an absolute masterpiece. I can’t even begin to describe how delicious their chicken gravy is. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
We were served a big beautiful salad in a bowl a la Olive Garden. It was perfect and the French Dressing was very, very good.
The warm dinner rolls served at Bob Evans are some of the best rolls you can get out. They’re scrumptious.
The hot fudge sundae was as good as the picture makes it look. Michael got the strawberry sundae and it was also spectacular. Of course I snuck a bite.
They serve Heinz Ketchup. Yay!!! You know what that means to me. When I see off brand or cheap-o ketchup in a restaurant, I die a little inside. But when I see a bottle of Heinz on my table, I smile. Then promptly take a picture of it. People probably think I’m nuts, but that’s okay. Let’s not even pretend it’d be the first time.
Michael’s beef gravy and steak were also outstanding. Yes, another bite stolen. Maybe two. Bob Evans really, really, really knows how to make exceptional gravy. Man oh man is it delicious. You’ll see how wonderful it looks when you click through the slideshow below.
The macaroni and cheese was creamy and outstandingly good.