Cobos Ready to Rock in EaDo

Raul Jacobo’s mantra may be a simple one, but it’s one that has served him well since opening up Cobo’s, LLC. In 2017.

And he’s bringing it to downtown Houston later this year.

“That’s the thing about me – money has always just been a byproduct,” he said. “It just comes with what I do.”

Jacobo and his team are currently readying Cobo’s new EaDo brick-and-mortar location at 2012 Rusk St. – within easy sightline and walking distance of Minute Maid Park – which he said they are hoping to open on Oct. 1.

“I can’t tell you who all is going to be here, but that opening is going to be crazy,” he said. “People are going to be tripping out.”

It has been a long road to reach this point for Jacobo, but he’s ready to start the new chapter.

“I can’t speak for everybody,” he said. “But in my situation, it worked out the way it should have worked out.”

Catching the bug

Jacobo’s journey began way back in grade school, where he picked up cooking at the age of 8 from watching his mother in the kitchen. He said pretty much his entire life has been spent in a kitchen, and his love for the craft only deepened from there.

His first experience was with Little Smokies at the age of 12 that he saw at the Kroger his family frequented, and the train left the station.

“I was in the kitchen watching her, and finally she sat me up on the counter and said ‘You want to learn, so ahead and learn.’ That’s pretty much where my passion came from. My mom’s an exceptional cook, so it just kind of came from that,” he said. “For the next two years, everything was burnt and raw, but they kept buying food and said ‘Keep at it.’ I’ve been cooking my whole life…I’m pretty much self-taught.”

From there, Jacobo said he eventually wound up working in corporate logistics for 12 years for what he called good money and good benefits, not to mention a talent for it. And through it all, he continued to cook.

Eventually, he said he discovered a sense of fulfillment was still missing, though it wasn’t until an offer to cater an event for a friend’s mother – which wound up netting him $4,300 – opened his eyes to the possibilities.

“It was great money, great benefits, and I was good at what I did,” he said. “But I just didn’t like it.”

Later, he said he put in his two-week notice at the company after a string of incidents convinced him that the cooking route was best for his future.

Forged in fire

Starting out, Jacobo cooked out of his backyard – and quickly learned the perils of the industry through some trial and error. But he also came to discover a love for serving and loving people through food – and how quickly people were to support him.

“I didn’t have a plan in place, I just knew I wanted to cook. The first day was a total disaster, because I didn’t time anything properly…I had people wrapped around in my living room and outside the door,” he said. “I told them to come back next week, for free, that I was sorry and I had dropped the ball. And a lot of people were like ‘don’t worry about it.’ Everybody came back, and they’re still customers to this day.”

As he continued to refine his craft and forge ahead – which eventually led to opening of the Cobos Que food truck in Atascocita in 2017 – he said there was no shortage of potential roadblocks along the way.

But all roads have led to EaDo.

“There was a lot of dark that came along with all this – I didn’t plan it properly. If I could do it again, I would do a lot of it differently, but it is what it is. It got me to where I’m at,” he said. “Even with this grand opening, I’m not going to be completely ready for this – the good thing is that we’re not some five-star, Michelin restaurant in River Oaks. I know what y’all are coming here for.”

He also said his support system has played a major role in being able to run his business, which often consisted of days working from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. or sometimes later. Even though the food truck was only open Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, he said the preparation necessitated the routine every day except for Sunday.

“I had to eat a lot of crap along the way, man. That’s why it’s a pet peeve of mine when people say ‘It must be nice.’ But it’s not – I have no life. I haven’t had a life in a decade, and it’s not just about me,” he said. “None of this happens without my wife or my dad. All I do is cook, but I’m able to do so because I have a great support system. If I didn’t have that, none of this would happen.”

The search begins

About a year and a half ago, Jacobo said he began searching for a permanent brick-and-mortar location. He searched around the Houston region in places such as the Heights, and also considered moving it to Las Vegas.

He lost one of the spots to an investment firm, and another after a developer pulled out – a string of disappointments that he said began to weigh heavily on him.

“My passion was still there, but the motivation wasn’t. We were selling out and everything, but something was still missing. Then one Saturday, we didn’t sell out for the first time in lord knows how long. I was really demoralized that day,” he said. “I remember being out on my patio at 10 p.m. and saying “Screw this, I’m not doing this.’ I just got kicked while I was down. Mentally, I think that was when I was checked out with Atascocita.”

But in hindsight, the failures may have been a blessing in disguise.

“I wasn’t ready – I thought I was, but looking back, I wasn’t. Everything happened the way it should’ve happened. This is my time now, and I don’t apologize for that either. I’m going to let everybody know it. In my case, I have gone through a lot of disappointments and a lot of failures – just eatin’ crap,” he said. “But I’ve learned more from that than from any success I’ve ever had. At any of those times, I could have said ‘This is it.’ But I just pushed through with my mentality.”

So he kept pushing. And on July 5 of this year, pieces of the puzzle began falling into place.

Perfect spot

On that day, Jacobo said he told his wife and kids to jump in his truck, saying they were going to drive around Houston looking for a spot – a day on which he happened upon the strip center where Cobos’ new home now sits.

From the moment he walked in, he knew he was home.

“When I came to look at it, the manager showed us the place next door. I told him right away that it wasn’t the place, and asked him to show me this place,” he said. “As soon as I walked in, I got goosebumps – and I still get them. I told him right away, ‘This is my spot.’… I just zoned everybody out. I was seeing my logo here, my logo there, the line outside, all of that. I just knew this was mine.”

Eventually, he said a bid for the spot came down to Cobos, a Cajun restaurant, and an investment firm, among others. A week later, it was down to Jacobo and the investment firm – bringing a heavy sense of déjà vu from losing a previous spot.

All that was between him and the spot was an email detailing what Cobos represented and stood for.

“I said a prayer, I started typing, then I said a prayer before hitting ‘send’,” he said. “I pretty much let them know that I didn’t have their money, but they don’t have my following.”

A week later, he got the answer he had longed to hear.

“He said ‘I don’t know what you put in that letter, but they want you to have that spot.’ And that was it,” he said.

For Houston

The main reason behind Jacobo’s planned Oct. 1 opening, he said, is to coincide with a hopefully deep playoff run for the Astros. But he said it’s more symbolic than necessarily an attempt to grab the most money.

It is one of his goals as a business owner – but it has never been his driving force.

“To me, that opening is more about a connection and saying ‘We’re here.’ That means more than the money,” he said. “I believe in relationships more than I believe in money. It’s more symbolic – and people will remember that… People that just worry about the money, it’s not going to work – it doesn’t work that way.”

“I was born and raised here, and I just want to make Houston proud. I’m not trying to be on Texas Monthly. I really don’t care about all that. It’s not a goal of mine to be on there,” he added. “I just do what I do. That’s it. I just try to create a certain vibe, and I want everyone to feel welcome and comfortable.”

The reason behind all of that, he said, is because food is a lifelong part of him – one that he continues to long to share with Houston.

“Food, to me, is an intimate thing. It’s people through tough times, gotten them through celebrations – it’s gotten them through everything,” he said. “I’m literally giving you a part of me.”

And though he said the menu may be changing with the move, the main – and most important – thing will not.

“I’m Houston through and through,” he said. “And I’ll make this area proud.”