A Whimsical Stop

In 2015, Nikki Rodriguez moved from her hometown of San Antonio to Hondo. While living off-grid in Hondo, she met Sabinal native, Rube Rodriguez. 

Embarking on sharing a home with four people increased the want for air conditioning so Nikki and her two daughters moved into Rube’s Sabinal home after their marriage three years ago.

Rube’s family owns and operates R-BBQ on a large tract of land, on the north side of Sabinal. One of his brothers decided to develop the back section of the property into short term and AirBnB rental homes. This left one section of the property for Rube to utilize.

A Pit Stop snow cone with all the extra trimmings!

Rube’s mother often talked about her dream of opening a snow cone stand underneath the beautiful oak tree on this section of the property.

Seeing all the high season traffic headed through town on the way to Garner State and Lost Maple State Parks, Rube and Nikki decided to save up and go for it – but a little bigger than a snow cone stand.

They would open The Pit Stop, with light fare for to-go orders or for dining at picnic tables under the oak tree.

Nikki found and purchased a commercial pizza oven and bought a bigger building than they had initially planned to accommodate the oven.

Nikki and her father-in-law worked together to finish the inside of the building, wired electrical, and plumbed it.

Not long before opening day, the building was completed and the pizza oven was plugged in. …and nothing happened. The pizza oven didn’t work! 

Nikki drove the oven to a commercial repair shop in Knippa, where she learned that the oven worked just fine and that there are three phases of electrical power. The building was wired for a lower voltage and the oven needed the highest voltage.

AEP quoted over $10,000 to run the needed voltage to the building.

One of The Pit Stop’s whimsical hot dog creations, the Dirty Dawg, smothered in peppers and onions with a side of ribbon fries.

Determined to stay the course and open on time, Nikki created whimsical hot dog menu items for opening day. The hot dogs did really well; so well, that there were long, patient lines. During some of the early days, ice cream orders exceeded the gallons of ice cream available for the day!

The whimsical hot dogs stayed on the menu for months, allowing Nikki and Rube to save up for a commercial pizza oven with a smaller electrical requirement.

The highly popular Bomber dogs, hot dogs smothered in a cheesy, jalapeno, and bacon sauce, were reinvented as pizza and fries topping and, with chicken added, a delicious winter chili. Their popular brisket and street dogs were also reinvented as pizzas.

The business is in its second year, meeting Nikki and Rube’s goals as well as reaching the customers they wanted.

“My goal was to have a business with more freedom than a 9-5 job. I wanted the freedom to see my kids and participate in their school events. Being able to look over the numbers and close for a family weekend trip without worrying is exactly what our family needed with this business,” Nikki said and continued, 

“Rube’s Mom’s dream of a snow cone stand was the initial start to wanting a place for school kids to go. The Pit Stop gives them a safe place to hang out and enjoy themselves since we are a short walk from the schools and the basketball courts in the park.”

The Pit Stop has hosted a hot dog eating competition and a pumpkin carving contest to build upon their kid friendly business.

Nikki wants to remain a family-friendly environment and has taken note of the high number of requests for margaritas and beer. A majority of those requests have come from people passing through so it is something that may be added to The Pit Stop offerings in the future.

Additional future plans include introducing three RV hookup spots that can be reserved through HipCamp, a mobile cart for events, and potential events such as an Eclipse watch party in April 2024, another hot dog eating competition, and/or another fall event.

Whatever comes next for The Pit Stop, we know to expect whimsical fun and great treats for people of all ages!

Sit and enjoy the shade of the oak tree the next time you order from The Pit Stop!