Recently in Restaurants: Norco Category

Bob's Big Boy, 3521 Hamner Ave. (at Chaparral Center), Norco.

Bob's opened earlier this year in Norco -- motto: "Horse Town, U.S.A." -- with the proviso that the Bob statue out front sport a cowboy hat. And as you can see, it does. The only other quasi-Inland Valley Bob's is in Diamond Bar; there's another one in West Covina. Nice to see them coming back.

The Norco interior is the standard, overly tasteful Coco's-style coffee shop design, no branding irons or saddles in sight. The rows of seating are interrupted by a large salad bar. The booths are comfortable, the service friendly. The menu has sandwiches, diner classics like meatloaf and chicken parmigiana, and breakfasts.

Taking a tip from reader Jim L from a discussion here some time ago about chili mac, I went for the chili spaghetti ($9.49), which is chili straight (no beans) atop spaghetti. The Bob's version comes with melted cheddar-ish cheese and, if you like, chopped onions. (I believe chili with spaghetti, onions and cheese is what's sometimes known as "3-way chili.")

It's a filling dish, and tasty, but by the end I'd decided the melted cheese was too much. If I were to get it again I'd ask them to leave off the cheese and onions and to bring grated parmesan. Yep, 3-way is 2 ways 2 much.

Since the Bob statue isn't holding a plate of chilighetti, I'll have to go back sometime for a burger, fries and shake.