Bob Salas, the founder of Bob's Burgers, celebrated 60 years of business in Albuquerque on Feb. 27. 

According to KOAT 7 Action News, it all began in 1963 when his father bought the restaurant on the corner of 6th and Copper in Albuquerque and passed it along to his son. Salas opened Bob's Grill when he was only 19 years old with no restaurant experience.

"My father has never been in this business; he's never done anything like this," Salas told KOAT News. "He tells me, son, I'd like you to go ahead and run that."

Bob's Burgers, a popular Albuquerque restaurant, is a family-owned business. The family worked each day to build the restaurant into what it is today.  Theresa Salas, Bob's sister-in-law, was a hands-on help from the beginning.

"His dad comes up and says, 'Do you want to help them?'" Theresa Salas told KOAT News. 

"The family got to work with the help of Bob's brother, Tom, and his wife, Theresa," Bob Salas said. "We were like the chef, the cook, the bottle washer, whatever had to be done. We did it."

In 1969, the family changed the name to Bob's Burgers. However, it wasn't until the 1990s that the business began to grow. Christina Salas, Bob's wife recalled her early earnings. 

"We would take in between $30 and $40 a day," Christina Salas told KOAT News.

"Christina and I worked without getting paid," Theresa Salas said. "Tom and Bob would get the salary, and we just helped them." 

They went through multiple recipes for their chili sauce until they landed on the one they serve today. "We would experiment at the house and make little blender foods of different kinds of chili," Christina Salas said, according to KOAT News.

Then in 1997, Tom's son Clifford joined, and the family started opening new locations across town. Today their family empire is a chain three generations deep with 11 locations across the Albuquerque metro area. Bob Salas explained their success with a short statement: "Family first. Business second."