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Family car trips are the stuff of memories. “Are we there yet?” “That’s my side of the seat!” “When can we stop? I’m hungry!” The latter plaintive cry, usually indicating that collapse from starvation is imminent, leads the driver to review highway signs with increased vigilance, looking for a restaurant that meets the varied dietary demands of the vehicle’s occupants. If you happen to be traveling in one of the nineteen states from Kansas east to New York plus Mississippi and Florida, a Bob Evans Restaurant is the answer to your prayers. This chain of 590 great restaurants was started by Ill. Bob Evans, 33°, from Gallia County in southeastern Ohio. The Evans have always been farmers, so Bob knew about producing superior food, and his mother taught him to appreciate good eating. She served the family cornbread and beans during the Depression, but it was good food of high quality, even if they didn’t have much. In 1943, 25-year-old Bro. Evans bought his first restaurant for $3,200—$0 down and $500 every six months. The location of his first restaurant was near the Ohio River, just across from West Virginia, and led to his success. After World War II, there were few cars available, and Detroit factories shipped them on double-decker automobile carriers around the country. The state of West Virginia, however, didn’t allow double-deckers on their highways. Manufacturers thus dropped off their new cars in Gallipolis, Ohio, where they would be picked up and driven through West Virginia into the South. Bob Evan’s restaurant was near the drop-off point, and he kept it open 24 hours a day for the truckers. Bob’s wife, Jewell Evans, was his right hand when he started his restaurant. “I couldn’t have done it without her,” he said. “She’s the best cook and has taste buds like you wouldn’t believe. She can take one taste of something and tell you all the spices and flavorings in it.” Bro. Steve Evans, 32°, Bob’s son, said it took both his mom and dad to make a success of the restaurant, with his dad leaving the house before 4:00 a.m. each day for the restaurant, and his mom running the farm and raising the kids. One of the problems that Bro. Bob had at the restaurant was getting good quality sausage; most was fatty and made from scraps. To remedy this situation, he started making his own sausage in 1948 from hogs raised on the Evans farm, but unlike other sausage makers, he used prime meat, including tenderloins and hams. The quality of his sausage was a hit with his customers, especially the truck drivers. The drivers spread the word about the Bob Evans Restaurant and the quality of its food, especially the sausage, and they started buying buckets of sausage to take back home with them. Pretty soon the demand convinced Ill. Evans that he needed to get serious about producing sausage, but he would need financial backing for his factory. For this he turned to his father. Bob Evans’ dad, Bro. Stanley Evans, was a grocer and almost went broke during the Depression because he gave credit to people who couldn’t pay their bills. Bob explained to him his plan to sell high-quality sausage for $0.59 a pound—when regular sausage was selling for $0.19! His dad, with years of grocery experience, said Bob’s sausage would be too expensive, but he’d back the factory on one condition: it had to have large sliding doors on the end so it could be used to store tractors when the factory failed. The original Bob Evans sausage factory operated only from October to April, because he couldn’t afford air conditioning. He delivered his sausage in an old bread truck that cost $75 and was chilled each morning with blocks of ice. His modest equipment, however, was backed by an exceptional business philosophy: “Quality is long remembered after the price is forgotten.” And the success of Bro. Evans’ business philosophy had been confirmed over and over by his faithful customers throughout the eastern half of the country. Bob Evans believes in Masonic principles 100% and is proud to be a Mason. He said, “You don’t hesitate to trust Masons. Whenever they tell you something, you know it will be the truth.” His father and everyone he knew as a boy were Masons. Ill. Evans had a lot of respect for the fraternity, and he said it was just natural for him to join. He was Raised in 1940 Morning Dawn Lodge No. 7, Gallipolis, Ohio, joined the Valley of Cincinnati, and received his 33rd Degree in 1997. Brother Masons always ate at Bob Evans’ first restaurant, especially on their way to hunt, providing some of the crucial initial support for his business. This faith in brother Masons is illustrated by Bob’s story about Ill. Harlan Sanders, 33°, founder of the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants. The two Masons met at a food show where Bob was selling his sausage and Harlan was frying chicken. Bro. Sanders’ booth was so small that he didn’t have room to sit down, so Bro. Bob let him rest his feet in his booth. After talking with Harlan about his ways with chickens, Bob decided to purchase a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise from the “Colonel,” just the third one sold. KFC franchising was so new then that Harlan didn’t even have contracts prepared. The two Masonic brothers sealed the deal the way Masons have for centuries—with a handshake. Bob Evans agreed to buy his spiced flour from Harlan Sanders and to pay him $0.07 for each chicken fried. Bob Evans gave his support to a brother Mason at a critical time and helped launch the success of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Left to right: Bros. S. Brent Morris, 33°, G.C., Bob Evans, 33°, Steve Evans, 32°, and Howie Damron, 32°, outside Bob Evans Restaurant No. 1 in Rio Grande, Ohio. When asked what made his own restaurant a success when so many others have tried and failed in the same business, Bob Evans said he always watched the quality of the food, the meat, and his people. Bro. Jeremy Dewitt, 32°, Assistant Manager of Bob Evans Restaurant No. 1, added “Farming is physically hard, but running a restaurant is mentally hard.” Bro. Bob not only brought an obsession with quality to his restaurant, but also had the business sense that made it wildly successful. A good way to tell that you have achieved stature in an industry is when your competitors use your management philosophy to train their own employees. Bob Evans is very proud that one of his restaurant maxims is framed on the wall of McDonald’s “Hamburger University”: “The most expensive way to get rid of bad food is to sell it.” Bob Evans retired as president of Bob Evans Farms in 1986, and literally went out to pasture. He returned to his farm roots and started studying grasses and dairy cattle with Ohio State University. He’s working to breed cows that will produce milk ten months a year and then be idle for two months, thus giving dairy farmers two months relief from the constant care of their herds. He is also working to develop a grass that grows all year long and is green during the winter. This would eliminate the need for hay, barns, tractors, and fuel. Such a grass hybrid would revolutionize dairy farming! There can be no doubt that Ill. Bob Evans, 33°, is a success! “The Gallia County Farm Boy” Lyrics by Howie Damron, 32°
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