Step inside Bobbie’s Airway Grill

A grandmother’s recipes are sacred. Maybe they live in a bound journal, on a stack of notecards, or just in her head, a phone call away.

A sprinkle of this. A handful of that.

They aren’t easily duplicated. That was Robert Quick’s challenge when he opened Bobbie’s Airway Grill, a restaurant named after his mother and inspired by the recipes that shaped his childhood table.

“The convivial nature of dining was a big deal in our family,” Quick says. “(Bobbie) is an excellent cook.”

Several of the recipes come from her repertoire — or, as Quick says, were “stolen with permission.” Like the Bobbie’s Caesar, with little gem lettuce, crispy oysters, house-made croutons and Reggiano ($21) or the orzo salad, with roasted veggies, feta and herbs ($9).

Other recipes come from his wife’s side of the family, like the old-school horseradish-pimento “The Oaks Dip” served with Fritos Scoops – nonnegotiable, according to his in-laws.

“The Oaks Dip on this menu is actually my wife’s family’s recipe that they allowed me to use. It’s a very old recipe from my mother-in-law’s childhood of this horseradish, pimento dip,” Quick says. “We serve it alongside Fritos Scoops because that’s what her family demanded we serve it with.”

Sure, some of the menu items’ callbacks are a little niche. Guests have questioned ingredients like the Fritos Scoops before. But “there’s a tradition that we’re honoring,” Quick says. “It’s also a perfect chip for that particular dip.”

With family recipes come challenges. The carrot cake — Bobbie’s recipe — reportedly calls for three handfuls of shredded carrots. But a “Bobbie handful” isn’t a standard measure and not easily replicable for the masses.

“I had her weigh out 20 handfuls of carrots and then average them all out to get her handful of carrots,” he says. “We’re a very meticulously operated company. … There’s a lot of honor and pride in being inspired by those recipes and trying to be faithful to them.”

Originally a Californian, Quick moved to Texas to attend Southern Methodist University, where he met his wife. After graduating with degrees in psychology and business, he attended the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley and later joined Hillstone Restaurant Group.

But a promise to his in-laws — lifelong Preston Hollow residents — brought him back to Dallas. Even Bobbie, now 73, relocated to the neighborhood.

In 2019, Quick opened Il Bracco. And when Dougherty’s Airway Pharmacy closed in 2021 after over 50 years, Quick saw an opportunity to preserve a piece of local history and build something personal.

The old pharmacy, a midcentury made of 1940s milled steel, displayed neon signs that were a staple for generations. Now-grandparents recall coming to the soda fountain. Quick aimed to honor that legacy.

“The structure of this building is beautiful,” he says. “All of the old federal neon signs were gorgeous. There are obviously some restrictions on some of the RX signatures … but we worked faithfully with the landlord to try to incorporate some of those marks into our name.”

The original Airway sign hangs above the open kitchen, restored by one of the few neon craftsmen left in Dallas.

“We spent a small fortune restoring it. Preston Hollow has very much a pride in its past, and we wanted to make sure we did not look like or behave like some outside force coming in,” Quick says. “One guest hugged me because his first job was as a bag boy here. He said, ‘This is so cool. I can’t imagine that you guys put a breath of fresh life into this building.’”

That reverence for history runs throughout the space. The interiors balance bold blue hues with clean lines, carpeted floors, and original art curated by Quick and his wife, pieces that nod to Dallas’s deep art-collecting roots.

“My wife and I are the owners of all of the art in all of our restaurants, very much (a nod) to the pedigree that Dallas art collections typically have,” he says. “Dallas has an incredible art collection history, and we wanted to celebrate that with some of the pieces in this restaurant as well.”

The menu is a careful balance between Bobbie’s recipes, notes from Quick’s in-laws, Dallas diner staples and, unapologetically, a bit of California seeping in.

“Our tuna burger, if you close your eyes, tastes like just about the best fish taco you’ve ever had,” Quick says. “And the Turf Club is named after the Turf Club at the track at Del Mar, which I grew up going to.”

Bobbie’s Airway Grill’s version is curated with mathematical precision.

“The problem with a club sandwich is that it’s too much bread and it ends up being dry and unwieldy.”

A problem Quick has solved by baking a brioche bun, cutting each slice to 3/16 of an inch so that the cumulative total is nearly equal to two slices of bread. The bottom layer gets mustard, pickle and Swiss, “a top five sandwich in its own right.” The top is a BLT.

“We have this really neat-structured sandwich that’s a big sandwich but doesn’t feel like too much. The bread has sweetness and (there’s) acid in the mustard and a BLT and all of these wonderful things that play with one another,” he says. “I think it is one of the best sandwiches in Dallas.”

Quick is aware that Bobbie’s is not a cheap restaurant: Upscale isn’t cheap. Even so, the most expensive item is a $59 steak and salads range from $14-30.

“I hope that our guests feel as if, when they leave our restaurant, they got more than they paid for. The Moroccan salad is $23. That is an expensive salad by any metric. However, if you tried to make the Moroccan at home, it would take you three days and probably $100 worth of ingredients. When you pay $23 for this incredibly nourishing, complex, well-made salad, you should feel like you got away with something.”

Two years after opening, the reception from family and guests has made the journey worth it.

“They’re proud that we’re able to apply the consistency to family recipes while also having it still feel homemade,” he says. “There’s a balance in mathematical precision and trying to keep these recipes feel as if grandma’s hand is still there.”

Even if it means measuring out a “handful” to the gram.

Bobbie’s Airway Grill, 5959 Royal Lane, 214.272.8754, bobbiesrestaurant.com