Bates City BBQ

06/22/2026

06/02/2026

We knew we had to do something special to honor Mike’s legacy. 🤎

To our family, Mike is so much more than a business owner. He’s a dad, grandpa, uncle, brother, mentor, friend, and the heart behind so many memories made at the Que. While our family is celebrating 50 years of business, Mike has dedicated 43 of those years to helping build, grow, and carry on that legacy.

And if you know Mike, you know his smile is his identity. It’s the smile that has greeted generations of customers, welcomed friends, shared countless stories, and become a familiar part of this place we all love. 😊

This sticker is a small piece of that story and a way for us to celebrate everything he means to our family, our business, and this community.

We’ll have these Mike stickers available, and we plan on having some fun with them! If you love and appreciate Mike as much as we do, stop by and grab a sticker. Then snap a picture, post it, and tag us so we can follow your sticker adventures!

We’ll be continuing to share Mike’s story and our family’s journey as we celebrate 50 years. There are so many memories, stories, and people who helped make this place what it is today, and we can’t wait to share them with you.

The fun is just getting started… 50 years is just the beginning. 🤎

05/11/2026

Thank you for another successful Mother’s Day and thank you to our staff for making it possible every single year! 🤎

This Mother’s Day was another special one for our family business as we continue celebrating year 49, leading up to our official 50th anniversary this October! What an incredible journey it has been, and we are beyond thankful for our hardworking crew, loyal customers, and everyone who continues to support us year after year.

Mike and Jay are not pictured because they had already left for the day, but they were right there putting in the hard work with the rest of us!

05/08/2026

Congrats to one of our grads, Anna! 🎓💜
She’s graduating from Odessa High School tonight, and we’ve been fortunate enough to watch her grow here at the Que into such an amazing, beautiful young woman!

We know our time with her is limited once she heads off to college, but we couldn’t be more proud of everything she’s accomplished and the person she’s become!

BBQ fam loves you so much, Anna! 💜🔥

05/07/2026

Just like our dad/grandpa, Mike had a solid team of key employees during his prime years in the 90s — Iris, Teresa, Connie, and his sister Julie. It takes an army to run a business, and this was his army, along with so many other amazing employees throughout the years!

These people gave it their all day in and day out so Mike could catch a break here and there, or sneak in one of those morning or afternoon naps after those early starts and long days at the BBQ! Their hard work, loyalty, and dedication helped keep everything going, and our family will always be grateful for the people who stood beside us through the years. 🤎

To celebrate all the amazing employees who have helped shape our family’s 50-year journey, we plan to have our Employee Appreciation Party on July 6th, so keep an eye out for the invite coming soon! We can’t wait to spend time together, share stories, laugh, eat, and celebrate everyone who has been part of this legacy.

04/24/2026

In the 90s, Mike continued growing our family business, putting in long hours with very little downtime. He was—and still is—so passionate about the BBQ, our family legacy, and making our parents and grandparents proud. Working 60–70 hours a week was just part of the routine, and truthfully, he loved the journey. You’ll still see him working to this day… just not quite those hours anymore—but we’ll get to that part later. 😉

During the little downtime he did have, Mike made the most of it. He loved traveling, getting out on the golf course, and playing indoor soccer. One of his most unforgettable trips was to Europe in 1991 with his brother John and lifelong friend Craig—memories from that trip are still talked about today.

Family was always important, even when work made it challenging. Mike did his best to make it to family events, and when he couldn’t, he and his sister would trade off so someone was always there to keep the BBQ running.

One tradition that meant so much to our family was closing the BBQ around Christmas so we could travel to Colorado and spend time with extended family. This was especially important to our grandma—because as much as the BBQ meant to all of us, family always came first.

Mike was also incredibly present in his nieces’ lives during the 90s. Mondays were often reserved for stopping by to see them, and like clockwork, he’d take them out for a nice dinner and shopping trips on the Plaza a couple times a year. He always found time when he could.

And speaking of Mondays, that was also his time to have lunch with his mom. Our family may be small, but we’ve always been close—and that’s something we’re so thankful for.

04/11/2026

Today we’re celebrating Mike’s birthday, so it feels like the perfect time to share one of our favorite memories. Let’s rewind to when our amazing mom/grandma pulled off an epic surprise for his 40th birthday.

Our mom, Janice, was the absolute queen of surprises, and she really came through on this one. This would’ve been back in 1998…you guys can do the math from there. 😉

Mom planned a huge party in the back room of the BBQ—complete with a DJ and a whole room full of people ready to celebrate Mike. After Mike had finally left the BBQ for the evening, she called him and told him he needed to get back to the restaurant ASAP because the ceiling in the back party room was caving in.

Now, after a long day at the BBQ, the last thing Mike wanted to do was come back. It took a lot of convincing, but Mom/grandma wasn’t taking no for an answer. She got him back there…

And when he walked in expecting a disaster, he instead found a room full of family and friends yelling SURPRISE and celebrating his big 4-0! 🎉

Needless to say, the ceiling wasn’t caving in—it was just one of the many unforgettable surprises our mom pulled off that we’ll never forget.

Happy Birthday, Mike! ❤️