The Rib and Chop House arrived in Laramie with its tenth expansion, welcoming residents to a casual yet high-end dining experience defined by high standards.
“The community really wanted this restaurant to be here,” Assistant Manager Greg Grisham said. “We’ve delivered, they’ve been very happy—we’ve gotten a really good reception from everybody.”
The steakhouse had a grand opening Monday, April 23 and is on a roll for its first week Grisham said.
Grisham worked as a manager at the Rib and Chop in Sheridan, Wyoming more than fourteen years ago before moving to Laramie and he was happy to answer the call when the new location opened up.
Natalia Rap, soon-to-graduate marketing and public relations major at UW, comes from a background at other Laramie establishments and as a server shares Grisham’s zeal for their new team at Rib and Chop.
“I’ve been bartending, serving here (Laramie) for four or five years,” Rap said. “They set the bar so high; it’s exciting for me to be challenged here.”
Many tables in the seating area are topped with butcher paper and each is equipped with a few crayons for the kids (or the kids within). Servers introduce themselves to patrons by signing their name upside-down—one of many skills acquired during an extensive week of training.
Rap also said she had high praise for Rib and Chop’s personal engagement in quality and its resulting prestige as a dining destination.
“They cut the steaks in back by hand, and then we even have Accomplice Beer, which is our brewery—that’s so cool, to get it from both sides,” Rap said. “It’s the perfect place for special occasions in Laramie, that’s what I’m excited about.”
Grisham said that while the price tag is higher than what you might see elsewhere, it’s not a presumptuous figure.
“You’re not going to ever feel like you got ripped off, it’s worth it,” Grisham said. “You want to bring your parents to this place, you want to bring your co-workers or your boss to this place, if you’re trying to bring in a client you’re going to be bringing them here.”
The staff credits the drive for high quality and success to the close connection each Rib and Chop restaurant has to its owners. Burke and Melissa Moran founded the first location in Livingston, Montana and have extended their reach across the Rocky Mountains.
“The owners are from Louisiana, they have that Southern charm, those manners—ma’am, sir and it’s contagious,” Grisham said.
The Morans are so dedicated to Rib and Chop that each customer has a line straight to the top via the ‘Text to Manager’ system, starting with a number displayed at each table.
“You want to talk to a manager—this number right here? You send a text to the manager—that goes right to the owner up in Montana,” Grisham said. “I’ll tell you what, he watches that stuff, if you say something like ‘I’m sitting at table 13, Sam is a great server, he did such a great job’—two minutes later, us managers are going to get a text, from the owner: ‘give Sam a high five.’ And on the flip side, if something was undercooked or a server was rude or something—there’s the boss, right there.”
The opening was personally attended by the owners, who were present in Laramie long before the event.
“Even ahead of that the owner was in here making sure the building was the way they wanted it,” Grisham said. “They really put their passion in and they really put their money where their mouth is.”
‘Rocky Mountain Hospitality’ is Rib and Chop’s slogan, and they’re already working to expand that hospitality out the doors and into the community with plans for charity donation, tailgating opportunities for UW sports events and sponsorships for local youth sports—complete with T-shirt cannons.
