7 Things Ohioans Know About Bob Evans That the Rest of the Country Doesn’t

Buy Bob Evans mashed potatoes at the store, and they probably came from one plant in Lima, Ohio.

Elsewhere, Bob Evans is mostly a name on a package or a restaurant sign.

Here’s what Ohioans know about Bob Evans that the rest of the country doesn’t.

1. Homestead From 1820

Bob Evans Farm has a homestead that dates to 1820.

An Ohio historical marker says Nehemiah Wood built it, and his son, Harrison, finished an addition in 1822.

It’s over 200 years old.

You can find the property in the National Park Service’s register database as the Wood Old Homestead, a Federal-style building.

2. $1,000 Sausage Start

Bob Evans, who grew up in Gallia County, opened a 12-stool diner in Gallipolis in 1946.

Two years later, the business started when he began making sausage on his southeastern Ohio farm.

The Associated Press reported after his death in 2007 that he began with $1,000, a couple of hogs, 40 pounds of black pepper, and 50 pounds of sage.

3. Farm Festival

The Bob Evans Farm Festival began in 1971 and is held at 10854 State Route 588 in Rio Grande.

The 2026 festival, the 55th, runs Friday through Sunday, October 9 to 11, with gates open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

You pay $5 at the gate, and kids 5 and under go free.

Ride wristbands cost $5 for ages 12 and under and $10 for ages 13 and over.

There’s live music from bluegrass, country, and gospel musicians, along with handmade crafts and artisan goods.

Primitive camping is free, with no electric or water hookups.

4. 2017 Restaurant Sale

Bob Evans Farms sold its restaurant business to Golden Gate Capital in 2017 for $565 million.

That left the refrigerated food business, which Post Holdings bought on January 12, 2018.

The restaurant you pass and the sausage in your cart have had different owners since January 2018.

In February 2026, 4X4 Capital bought the restaurants from Golden Gate, which had owned the chain for nine years.

Terms weren’t disclosed.

5. Lima Potato Plant

If you buy Bob Evans Farms ready-to-eat mashed potatoes, nearly all of them come from one plant in Lima, Ohio, according to Refrigerated & Frozen Foods.

That plant turns out well over 100 million pounds of product a year.

It dates to 2009.

A fifth production line followed in 2020.

Post Holdings sells its refrigerated side dish, potato, and sausage products primarily under the Bob Evans brand.

The plant sends finished product about 80 miles south to a distribution facility in Springfield, Ohio.

6. New Albany Address

Bob Evans Farms moved its corporate headquarters to 8111 Smith's Mill Road in New Albany in October 2013.

Before that, its fiscal 2012 annual report listed 3776 South High Street in Columbus.

Coverage of the 2026 sale still calls the restaurant chain New Albany-based.

7. Shrinking Footprint

AP reported that Bob Evans had 590 restaurants in 18 states when its founder died in 2007.

By April 2012, the count was 565 restaurants in 19 states.

The company's fiscal 2017 annual report, covering the year it sold the restaurants, listed 523 restaurants in 18 states.

Each figure comes from a different source, so you can read them as snapshots rather than one running count.

A February 2026 trade report called Bob Evans Restaurants a 400-unit chain.

First Restaurant, Second Location

The first Bob Evans restaurant opened in 1962 as The Sausage Shop in Rio Grande, according to the company's history page.

The second opened in Chillicothe in 1968.

By the early 1970s, the company had restaurants across Ohio.

You can still eat at the original restaurant on the farm, which is open every year for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

Springfield and Bidwell Plants

Bob Evans Farms announced in May 2012 that it planned to close its food production plants in Springfield and Bidwell, Ohio.

In 2013, it sold both plants to New Mill Capital, a Los Angeles private equity firm.

A Dayton-area public radio report said 52 jobs would be lost when the Springfield plant closed, and the company's fiscal 2014 annual report dates that closing to February 2014.