Saddle Ranch Chop House, the long awaited bar and steakhouse, known prominently for their mechanical bull and nightclub atmosphere, may be finally close to opening its doors at the Westfield Valencia Town Center.  Staff from Saddle Ranch corporate offices have contacted Santa Clarita Foodie John Romero after he had expressed interest in catering from the eatery saying that they’ll be opening their doors as of 4:00pm on Monday, October 9th.

The restaurant was originally announced at the State of the City address in 2015 with an intended opening date of Fall, 2016.  Construction first started in July, 2016 but appeared to stall out rather quickly.  Rumors quickly circulated that the holdup was City Council Member opposition to Saddle Ranch’s signature attraction, the mechanical bull. City spokesperson Carrie Lujan refuted that notion to eatSCV last July saying “[t]he City has  NO restrictions or holds on the project.”

Encouraging signals toward opening appeared this week as menu boards featuring prices arrived outside the front doors of the restaurant at the east end of Town Center Drive and shared by Blanca Rodriguez with the Santa Clarita Foodies.

Santa Clarita city records have shown a flurry of activity over the last couple of weeks with numerous inspections/reinspections to the facility taking place.  The largest step forward happened this week with the issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy on Monday, finally allowing the restaurant to open it’s doors to the public.

We’ve heard literally dozens of times from people “in the know” that Saddle Ranch was “opening soon.”  This time, with a certificate of occupancy having been issued, even if temporary, we’re confident that the opening is near.  We reached out to Saddle Ranch corporate for comment, but our messages were not returned as of press time.