By Clyde Noel

A lot of oak and hickory wood has turned to ashes at Armadillo Willy’s over the last 20 years; and during that time, a lot of barbecue ribs were voted the best available by reader polls.

Los Altos resident John Berwald, founder and chief executive officer, opened the first Armadillo Willy’s resteraunt in Cupertino July 1, 1983. From that first 1,200-square-foot location on Highway 9, he has expanded to nine locations.

Berwald got the inspiration for the restaurants’ name from a headline in a Fort Worth newspaper heralding that “Willy” won the state’s annual armadillo race. Berwald returned with expertise in Texas barbecue and a catchy name for the new restaurant in Cupertino.

Most Armadillo Willy’s restaurants feature bare cement floors, corrugated tin walls, barbecue cook-off photos and Texas license plates — except the Los Altos restaurant, which started in 1984. In Los Altos, table service is featured.

“The Los Altos location has always been different from the ‘fast casual’ style of the other locations,” Berwald said. “We’re renovating and updating the Los Altos restaurant and changing the name.”

Berwald said too many customers came back to the restaurant and said they’d gone to another location and no one had waited on them. “That’s confusing, so we decided to make the change and celebrate our 20th at the same time,” he said.

In addition to a new menu expanded to include steaks, fish and chicken, a new logo will replace “Real Texas BBQ” with “Ranch Grill.”

“The old menu had no steaks,” Berwald said. “We are also replacing our old burner with an oak-wood broiler; all the steaks will be cooked there.”

All meats are slow-cooked without gas or electricity. The beef is Midwestern from Craig & Hamilton, and the pork comes from Curley’s Ribs of Sioux City, Iowa.

“The new menu will feature a 20-ounce cowboy rib-eye steak for $21.95 and includes a free doggie bag with the Texas Armadillo Willy’s flair,” Berwald commented, “You can go other places and you will pay $36 for this treat.”

After all these years operating the company by himself, Berwald has brought in a partner.

“I needed someone for the day-to-day operation, so I hired Bob Deagen as company president,” Berwald said. “My strength has always been marketing and food and his specialty works for both of us.”

Deagan started as a busboy in 1977 when Berwald had St. John’s restaurants in Sunnyvale and Cupertino. Deagan left in 1985 to attend San Jose State University. After graduating, he joined the Los Altos restaurant as the original general manager.

For the last two years, Sara Bailey has been the assistant general manager of the Los Altos restaurant. She is responsible for ordering supplies and scheduling the 45 employees.

“It’s a job getting good employees,” she said. “People come and go in the restaurant trade, and they require a lot of attention to keep them organized.”

Bailey’s main chore is interacting with the customers and taking care of complaints. “Sometimes the music is too loud or the place is too cold or too hot. Other times something isn’t right with the food,” she said. “It’s my job to keep the clients satisfied.”

All locations are now company owned. “We had a brief experience in franchising, but it took too long to develop the Armadillo Willy’s culture,” Berwald said.

To celebrate Armadillo Willy’s 20 years in business, the company has started a “next generation of ribs” contest. To enter the contest, get a form from any Armadillo Willy’s, fill it out and return it to any restaurant in the chain. First prize is a rib dinner for four every week for the next 20 years. Second prize is a Club Med vacation anywhere in North America.On the 20th of each month there will be complimentary birthday cake and balloons for every diner.

Armadillo Willy’s is located at 1031 N. San Antonio Road in Los Altos. For more information, call 941-2922.