BJ’s Restaurant and Bar expands with a second location in Stephenville

BY COPELAND WELCH / Multimedia Journalist

The owners of BJ’s Restaurant and Bar in Mingus have opened their second location in Stephenville.

The previous owner of BJ’s in Mingus owned the restaurant for 30 years before selling it in 2018. The faces behind the newly remodeled, modern restaurant, located just off the downtown square in Stephenville, are Marissa Marmolejos and Clint Gibson. 

Being raised in Strawn, Clint grew up eating at BJ’s Restaurant and Bar. While visiting there one day, he told the previous owner, “You can never sell this place, it’s just like when I grew up.” 

Her response was, “Well it is for sale.” 

So just like that, Gibson and Marmolejos gained the title of restaurant owner.

“Clint and I like to entertain, we enjoy people, and we just want to grow, and do so much more.” Marmolejos said. “In Mingus, we host comedy shows, piano shows, and we bring the entertainment to our customers; we have big dreams, and growing and expanding and opening a second location is all just part of our plan.” 

The biggest struggle the owners have faced since purchasing the Mingus location was the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020. To mitigate the struggles the virus brought about, they transitioned their parking lot into a drive-in-style movie theatre. For 17 weeks they delivered pizza to people’s vehicles – carhop style, played movies on a large outdoor screen, and transmitted the audio to viewer’s radios.

Opening the Stephenville location brought on its own set of challenges – the biggest being time. In 30 days, they ripped out a wall, repainted, removed all kitchen equipment and deep-cleaned everything with power washers. Additionally, they hired an entire staff and trained them. They moved into the building on Oct. 2 and had their soft opening on Nov. 1.

When deciding what atmosphere BJ’s would have, the owners were hoping to create a cozy home-like feel. 

“In Mingus, it’s a hole in the wall, it’s kind of a dive but people love it,” Marmolejos said. “So, it was important that we created that same atmosphere and culture [at our Stephenville location] where people walk in and it feels like home and comfortable, fun and energetic.” 

In the future, BJ’s Restaurant and Bar hopes to offer a lunch menu to provide a quick option for those who are on short lunch breaks. Although they strive to offer an atmosphere that encourages guests to hang out and chat with friends, they would like to offer options for those who need a more efficient choice too. 

BJ’s Restaurant and Bar prides itself in having a great team dynamic and each employee has helped to create a positive work environment. 

“We have an amazing group of people that work for us, everyone has a really positive attitude, and everybody is willing to be a team.” Marmolejos said.