Blazing Bob’s

Spokane: Nationally known destination for chili and tamales.

Huh? No ahora.

Yet for most of Spokane’s history, Bob’s Chili Parlor, 612 W. First Ave., was a haven for those seeking a steaming bowl of red. This bargain eatery was opened around 1905 by Robert (Chili Bob) Cleary and operated more or less continuously in the same location until 1961, when the final bean hit the pot.

“There were no Mexican restaurants in Spokane then, and this food was not only savory, but unique,” wrote Carolyn Hage Nunemaker in her book “Downtown Spokane Images, 1930-1949.” “… Both inside and out, the little structure could have been characterized as nondescript. Not, however, the food. Featured items were the chili, which came in three varieties, hot (and it was HOT!) medium and mild, and the delicious tamales.”

Yet Bob’s had a reputation that spread far beyond Spokane. In the national restaurant guide “Adventures in Good Eating,” author Duncan Hines said of Bob’s, “For their tamales, they use two carloads of cornhusks a year and ship as far east as Montreal and all over the country. I assure you they are quite unusual.”

Hines’ influential guide listed only three Spokane restaurants in the late 1940s: The Davenport Hotel, the Silver Grill (at the Spokane Hotel) and, yup, good old Bob’s.

Cleary, a Spokane boarding house proprietor, started the restaurant in 1905 (other accounts say 1907 or 1909) by roofing over a tiny alleyway between the Victoria Hotel and the Mecca Bar. It was called simply R.E. Cleary’s.

“The space was just four and a half feet wide and about 50 feet deep,” said H.L. Steenberg, his later partner. “Bob was cook, waiter, cashier, boss and everything else in those days. He had seating room for just eight people.”

At first, Cleary served only chili. Yet a restaurant across the street, the B&M Grotto, did a brisk business in tamales. Cleary soon lured their tamale cook, H.R. Atkinson, over to his kitchen.

When Prohibition arrived, Cleary and partner Steenberg took over the Mecca Bar space and expanded the restaurant. By 1923 it had acquired the name “Bob’s Chili Parlor.”

It was famous for selling chili for cheap – and it was also famous for giving it away. Beginning in 1915, Bob’s held an annual Christmas Day feast, free for all comers. In 1932, at the height of the Depression, The Spokesman-Review reported that 800 people lined up around the block for a dinner of soup, chili, spaghetti, cookies and even after-dinner cigars.

Cleary sold out his share to Harry Nobles in 1927. Nobles went on to buy out Steenberg in 1940.

Cleary, meanwhile, headed off to Seattle where he opened a new chili and tamale parlor, although he returned in 1932 to open another cafe, the Thin Dime Cafe, which sold a “a square meal for a round dime” on West Trent Avenue.

Yet the original Bob’s Chili Parlor, operated by Nobles, remained Spokane’s favorite. The building underwent a major remodel in 1950 and finally closed in 1961. The building itself was razed in 1968 to make room for a parking lot. The entire block was demolished in 1979 and is now a parking garage.

Yet, clearly, Bob’s chili was not forgotten. In 1979, Spokane Chronicle columnist Jim Spoerhase lamented the demise of Bob’s chili – and readers deluged him with requests for the old recipe.

Several recipes were offered. The most authentic one – endorsed by the daughter-in-law of Harry Noble – begins with the words “run 120 pounds of meat through meat chopper” and includes the addition of “one quart of red,” without explaining exactly what “red” might be.

In any case, any attempt to re-create Bob’s chili is probably in vain. It would never taste the same, divorced from that vanished time and place.

However … if someone wanted to open a quality chili parlor in Spokane, they should definitely, undoubtedly, name it Bob’s.