The soft opening at Bronc’s was two weeks ago, and business has steadily picked up ever since. I spoke with two of the four owners, Jeff Cook and Andy Lella, who explained that the 1,500 square foot restaurant has been a labor of love built on a long tradition of Lella family restaurants. To create the interior, each piece of cedar was selected from the owner’s ranches, the metal work was hand-crafted by Gatesville artist Randy Patterson, and Cook can tell you about each piece of art on the walls. It’s rustic, y’all, and it was obvious throughout our conversation how deeply Bronc’s owners are invested in their product.
This is not new-fangled food: most of Bronc’s chefs have been with the Lella family for 25 years. The flavor profiles were developed with love and attention to detail. Two main themes emerged as Cook waxed lyrical about Bronc’s menu:
TRADITIONAL QUALITY
Bronc’s doesn’t put preservatives in the vast majority of their food. Cook said his personal philosophy is “if it comes out of a box, don’t eat it.” The beef is premium grade and the catfish is all-American. Potatoes are hand cut, mac-n-cheese made with real shredded cheese, meat smoked over pure mesquite, and biscuits baked twice daily. Cook swears that creamed corn, gravy, skillet green beans, bacon, and other menu items are made fresh, never frozen.
FAMILY-STYLE QUANTITY
The most unique thing about Bronc’s is that meals are served family style. Breakfast is "ranch style" tacos or omelet fixings for four. Pass the pico, please. The fried chicken entrée is literally half a bird. Their chicken fried steak is a ribeye rather than the traditional mystery cutlet. A meat loaf gets smoked on a rotisserie, which removes grease and adds smoky flavor. Warning: lunch will run you around $13 pre-tax, but the table shares four large bowls of vegetables, biscuits, and a house salad. I dare you to finish it all and not fall asleep at work.
In the words of Jeff Cook, “We want to bring something that's totally unique: fresh made, family style, huge servings.” Best compliment they’ve received so far: "I haven't had fried chicken like this since my grandmother died." ‘Nuff said.
COMING SOON: Online ordering, curbside take-away, and once they train more staff: a dinner menu with twice the number of current entrée offerings.
