Oldham's own 'taste of Texas' restaurant is celebrating once again with two more awards added to its hefty trophy cabinet while bosses tease even bigger plans for the rest of the year.
The Old School BBQ Bus on Alford Street has earned its stripes in Oldham - and the north west region - as one of the best ranches for its authentic 'low and slow' barbecued meat and 'moonshine' cocktails in its Texas-themed venue, equipped with an 1980s Arizonan yellow school bus.
Since opening in 2018, the restaurant has accumulated an impressive 16 awards to its name and its owner, Mark Fairley, and head chef, Dawn Draper, even made their TV debut when they appeared on Come Dine With Me: The Professionals.
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Readers of The Oldham Times joke that the bus was "robbed" of winning the show, having narrowly lost out by one point, and residents consider the restaurant Michelin-star worthy.
In October 2022, the Bus won four Restaurant Guru awards, earning it the title 'best romantic restaurant in Oldham', ‘best burgers in Oldham’, ‘best restaurant in Oldham’ and ‘recommended by Restaurant Guru’, followed by a further four in 2023 which include 'top 10 best restaurant in Oldham' and a 'top 10 best BBQ restaurant in Oldham' award.
Last year, it added a Good Food Awards 'blue ribbon' in the Takeaways category to its cabinet of trophies and another four Restaurant Guru awards, including 'best takeaway food in Oldham' and three repeats from 2022 and 2023.
The Bus has also grown in popularity as a live entertainment venue, hosting comedy nights to festivals, and has appeared in music videos while Mark contributed to a cookbook and was crowned finalist in the 2018 and 2019 Oldham Business Awards as 'business person of the year'.
Now, the bus has scooped another two awards - a Good Food Award 2024/25 for the second year in a row and an OpenTable Diners' Choice Award 2024.
Reacting to the news, Mark said: "Thursday morning started with an abundance of emails and while sifting through them, two little surprises were hiding, and what a surprise it was.
"Starting with the Good Food Award for 2024/25 for the second year and our first OpenTable dinners choice. What an accomplishment.
"This puts us to 16 food awards in three years.
"Myself and the OSB staff work so hard to try and maintain the quality of food and service and create memories for all our guests, and I can't thank the team enough.
"This has now given us inspiration to try and take the OSB to the next level and we are now going to try and head towards our first Rosette.
"This will be a very hard task to achieve, but we are ready for the challenge."
With their eyes on the next prize, Mark said the restaurant is not slowing down any time soon with "so many plans in the pipeline", including a sell-out lunch with Santa, a new themed bottomless brunch, a new hot wing podcast, a karaoke competition and movie screenings throughout Halloween and Christmas.
It had a huge party for its fifth birthday last year and is planning another extravagant sixth birthday for Saturday (January 27).
Some of Mark's grand vision for the premises has seen the Bus recently welcome a new games room for adults and an adventurous playpark for children, which once had 'race cars' around a track before the track was forced to close due to the high maintenance of the cars.
However, Mark said the restaurant is creating something "amazing" in its space for kids, adding: "When I say it will be amazing, I mean it will be amazing."
The chef also teased there is something else "brand new for Oldham" but said: "Our lips are sealed on this one, so watch this space".
Got a story? Email me Olivia.bridge@newsquest.co.uk
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