By Shawn Nowlin, shawn.nowlin@ourvalley.org
Mac & Bob’s has ascended to the top restaurant in the state, according to the Virginia Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association.
Each year, the VRLTA Ordinary Awards recognizes the best in the hospitality and tourism industries throughout the Commonwealth. On October 4, during an award ceremony in Richmond, Mac & Bob’s won the 2021 “Ordinary Award for Best Restaurant.” The trophy acquired during the formality is now displayed in the restaurant, something that co-owners Joe Dishaw and Bob Rotanz as well as General Manager Keith Griswold all hold near and dear to their hearts.
It was Catherine Fox, Virginia’s Blue Ridge Vice President of Destination Development, who nominated the restaurant for the award. “I just felt that Mac & Bob’s was far and away an excellent candidate for this category. What separates them from other restaurants is their heart. They have found a way to be a fabric of Salem, and the fabric of this region.”
Mac & Bob’s Restaurant has persevered through a lot in recent years: a fire, COVID-19 and having to file bankruptcy during a class action lawsuit.
“With the pandemic, it was and is constantly changing to the current environment. Pickup only, half outdoors only, half capacity indoors and at the bar, checking employees every day for COVID symptoms, masks, employees quarantining due exposure, trying to get hand sanitizer, stuff like that,” Rotanz said.
Added Dishaw, “Our fire in August 2020 caused thousands of dollars in damages. The community’s response was just amazing. Not only were we flooded with text messages, but people wrote powerful letters that got us through the whole ordeal too.”
Perhaps the greatest example of the restaurant’s relationship with the community came three years ago when the business was sued by two former servers who alleged they had been unlawfully mandated to share tips with dishwashers.
To state the obvious, the immediate months that followed were extremely difficult.
“I belief in fate and I think this whole chapter in our business was meant to be. At 63, and working to build our business for 39 years, the thought of losing the restaurant and having our financial future up in the air was very stressful,” Rotanz said at the time. “Once we went public, the outpouring of the community, former employees, customers and friends and family was heartwarming and uplifting. Because of this whole mess, we found out just how much Mac and Bob’s means to our community.”
Dishaw says that every person who made a financial contribution received a personal “thank-you.”
Mac & Bob’s was established in 1980. Today, thousands of people visit the restaurant each week, a number that was unfathomable to both Dishaw and Rotanz when they first opened the business.
Kimberly Clark, a longtime supporter of the restaurant, says she was not surprised when she heard that Mac & Bob’s won the 2021 Ordinary Award. “When it comes to getting the most bang for your buck, it doesn’t get any better than Mac & Bob’s,” Clark said. “I’ve never had a bad experience here. Never. All of my family and friends who live out of town have been to this place with me at least once.”
Since the 1970s, Rotanz and his wife Wendy have lived in the Salem. Without question, he said, staying in Salem and working alongside Joe was the best decision we ever made. Located at 316 E Main Street, more information can be found at www.macandbobs.com.