PITTSBURG, Kan. — On Wednesday, Bob’s Grill, located at 1014 N. Broadway, was named one of the USAToday’s 10 Best Roadside Diners of 2026. The diner ranked number three on the list.

Bob’s Grill was one of many restaurants nominated by a panel of seven travel experts, and throughout the month of April, readers were able to vote for their favorite diner once per day.

“All of our regulars would ask each other, ‘did you vote today’?” Maggie Parsons, Bob’s Grill manager and daughter-in-law to owner Rick Parsons, said.

Maggie said she recalled two women from out of town stopping in one day and ordering chicken fried steak. The women kept raving about their meal, and then two weeks later, they received an email from USAToday stating they had been nominated for the 10 best roadside diners. The email specifically mentioned the restaurant’s chicken fried steak.

While they do have an excellent chicken fried steak, Maggie said, Bob’s Gril is best known for its omelets for breakfast and burgers for lunch.

Within the past two weeks, Bob’s Grill has experienced an increase in traffic and an abundance of new faces during the week, she said. Typically, the place is filled with regulars during the weekdays, and newcomers or families stop by on the weekends.

Maggie mentioned that it seems like people are staying and talking more rather than just grab-and-go. She attributes that to the nostalgia of Bob’s Grill.

“It’s a nod to history for a lot of people,” she said. “They come in and talk about the things on the walls and their experiences and it’s always a conversation starter.”

When the votes were tallied, Bob’s Grill came in third of the 10 Best Roadside Diners of 2026.

“Of course we wanted first, but to be third in the nation is pretty crazy,” she said.

Bob’s Grill was the only restaurant on the list that was west of the Mississippi River. Maggie said in the current times, most of the time, restaurants have to nominate themselves and fill out paperwork, so it was nice to receive unprompted recognition.

“It’s always nice to be rewarded even if it’s just a small reward or words of affirmation,” she said. “It’s nice to hear that we’re doing something right and keeping up with the times. That’s something we go back and forth on, keeping everything nostalgic but also trying to survive as well.”

Rick Parsons and his family have owned Bob’s Gril for 23 years, and the establishment first opened in 1964.

This reporting is made possible, in part, by the Support Local Journalism Project Fund. Learn more at: southeastkansas.org/Localnews.