Bob’s Diner & Bakery In Greybull On ‘America’s Best Restaurants’ Tour

A couple on a cross-country road trip to find the best Reuben sandwich joints in the United States found one of their favorites in Greybull, Wyoming.

Bob’s Diner & Bakery, which opened at the end of 2020 right in the teeth of the COVID-19 pandemic, hit the spot for the couple, who had already been all over the nation in their road-trip Reuben quest.

Robbie Skillman, who owns the store with his wife Deanna, told Cowboy State Daily that making someone’s list of the best is always his goal no matter what the dish is.

Even if that particular item isn’t a personal favorite.

“I’m not a Reuben fan because I don’t really like corned beef,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “And I don’t really like sauerkraut either.”

Nonetheless, Robbie was told the only spot beating his Reuben so far was some place far away in New York.

“Now that’s a compliment,” Robbie said.

And the Greybull diner’s reputation continues to grow.

Soon, Bob’s will hit the spot on “America’s Best Restaurants” as well, which is a road trip across America to highlight the best, most unique locally owned independent restaurants in America.

“The CEO of ‘America’s Best Restaurants’ has worked with Guy Fieri. He’s done some interviews with him,” Deanna told Cowboy State Daily. “And sometimes you’ll see their show on Food Network, too. But they’re primarily a YouTube channel and, after this year, they will have made it into every single state in the United States.”

In Wyoming, the “America’s Best” roadshow has featured the Cowboy Café, Frackletons (now closed) and Weitzels Wings. 

Bob’s Diner & Bakery will be the fourth Wyoming place featured by “America’s Best Restaurants.”

That Famous Angry Sauce

While road trippers might rave about the Reuben at Bob’s, locals love the “angry sauce” omelets and burgers.

“In the summer, we’re making that sauce twice a week because people love it so much,” Deanna told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s just a jalapeño cream cheese sauce. I can’t tell you what else is in it, but we have an angry omelet called the Angry Bobelet, which is smothered in that sauce, and then the Angry Bob Burger.”

Those are the two top-sellers at the restaurant.

The menu, though, isn’t limited to just omelets and burgers.

“People are really in love with our chicken,” Robbie said. “And I feel like we almost sell more chicken than burgers.”

“Our pancakes are also very popular, and the French toast,” Deanna added.

Recently, they’ve added crepes to the menu because it’s an item not many places do. They’re also fun and quite versatile. They come in all sorts of flavors, and can be served hot or cold.

“We’ve got one that’s made with a cream cheese mix and whipped cream, so that one has to be served cold so it doesn’t melt all over,” Robbie said.

Now that people are used to them, the crepes have become a popular menu item, Deanna added.

“We have seasonal ones, so this summer we will bring back the Patriot crepe, which is a lemon cream cheese filling with strawberries and blueberries on top,” she said. “And the campfire crepe, which is a s’mores crepe.”

Starting During COVID-19

It took Robbie and Deanna 15 years to save the money they needed to start their business.

Then, just as they were ready to look for a place, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Businesses were reeling all across the Cowboy State. And in fact, the very business that was in the building the couple ultimately bought closed during that time.

“I saw the building in June and asked my husband about it,” Deanna recalled. “And he’s like, ‘Yeah, but I don’t think we should do that right now.’”

When the building was still there in August 2020, Deanna decided to mention it again, but this time she felt more certain.

“I was just like, ‘I think we will be really stupid if we don’t grab this right now,’” she said.

That turned out to be quite prescient. Because of the adverse business climate at the time, the couple was able to negotiate a really good deal.

The owners allowed them to buy their building with a rent-to-own model, and even went so far as to discount their rent during the remodeling phase.

“It was a big risk,” Deanna said. “But we knew we didn’t want to rent, because we’ve seen way too many restaurants go under because they rent, and someone purchased their building out, and then they’re no longer allowed to use the space.”

The owners gave the couple a runway of an entire year, which helped them save money to buy the building, as well as have solid books to present to a bank. That helped them make the case for their loan to buy out the building.

The building also is one of Greybull’s oldest, so it needed some TLC before it was ready to open. Fortunately, the couple aren’t strangers to remodeling a space. They knew just what to do.

One of the first things they did was triple the kitchen size by moving one of the walls. Then they scraped layer after layer of wallpaper from the walls, priming them for fresh paint.

Then it was time for a moment of truth. They had to peel up the carpet to get a look at what kind of floor was hiding underneath. It could have been anything, and Deanna was worried.

But once they got all the carpet up, the couple were given a pleasant surprise. Instead of a very costly job ahead of them, it was all wood under there, and it was completely intact.

That made the job of restoring the floors a nice little slam dunk. A bit of sanding, a bit of sealer, and it was all beautiful — a floor that would have cost thousands if they’d had to start from scratch.

Remodeling the diner was a lot of work and, if the couple are honest, there’s still some of that work left to do. They will just keep picking new projects until it’s all done.

“Our motto is ‘always be improving,’” Robbie said. “So, there’s always a new project going on.”

Someday A Franchise

For the future, the couple hopes to set up a franchise for their concept someday.

“People have approached us about franchising, and I’m like, ‘I just don’t think we’re there yet,’ because what we do is so hands-on,” Deanna said. “I would want the same quality in a different location that we have here.”

But down the road, if they find the right people who are as passionate about quality, from-scratch food as themselves, well, anything is possible.

Maybe at some point they’ll even get Guy Fieri of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” to come to Greybull. Fieri has already made stops at the TA Ranch and Piezanos in Buffalo, Sitti’s Table and 307Pizza in Cody, as well as several places in Laramie, and Pinky G’s in Jackson.That would help bring attention to Greybull, Robbie said, and that’s their whole reason for doing “America’s Best Restaurants.”

“Right now, we’re focused on how can we can be more successful where we’re at,” he said. “And it’s hard times. I mean, the economy’s not the best right now. There’s definitely restaurants that have been shutting down around us.

“We’re hoping that getting on a thing like ‘America’s Best Restaurants’ will, you know, divert people’s plans to say, ‘Well, let’s check out Greybull.’”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.