The restaurant, which is owned and operated by Texas State alumni AJ Napoles, opened in 2013 and serves a variety of American classics and barbecue dishes, including loaded fries, brisket, ribs, burgers, brisket nachos, sausage and more.
In 2019, Chartwells, a Texas State dining service, reached out to Napoles to ask him if he would be interested in partnering with them for university events. The partnership gave Napoles the opportunity to give back to his alma mater by supporting Texas State athletics.
"We have three booths at the football stadium, one at the baseball stadium, and we currently don't do the basketball, but we also have a contract for the basketball games," Napoles said.
In 2021 Chartwells reached out to Napoles again to see if he would be interested in adding a food truck to operate on campus during the semester, which now operates on campus Monday through Friday serving breakfast tacos and lunch.
Aside from involvement with the university, AJ's Ranch Road and Grill also caters and attends different community events, including weekly pop-ups at the Amazon Warehouse facility in San Marcos.
Napoles said the community and university feedback has been good, and he wanted to thank the San Marcos community for being supportive over the last 10 years. But he noted that the restaurant has been struggling since COVID-19.
"We'd like to try and get the restaurant back to prepandemic levels," Napoles said.
AJ's Ranch Road Grill plans to hold a grand reopening at the end of September.
www.ajsranchroadgrill.com
