The most-ordered dishes at local restaurants have earned their
popularity
Everyone’s done it. They walk into a restaurant, give the menu a perfunctory glance and order the same thing they always order when they go to that restaurant.
At South Valley eateries, most proprietors can easily list the most-ordered menu items at their various establishments. Though there doesn’t seem to be one common link among the dishes, it’s apparent South Valley residents value fresh food, comfort foods and ethnic foods that are properly prepared. Are your favorites on the list?
San Benito County
– Jerry’s Restaurant
111 San Felipe Road, Hollister
“For breakfast, the country omelet is really popular. It has bell pepper, onion, mushrooms, tomato, ham, bacon, and cheddar and Swiss cheese. We make it with three eggs. The omelet has pretty much everything you can imagine on it, so I’m sure that’s why people like it. For lunch, one of our most popular items is the bacon Swiss burger with mushrooms. People like bacon, they like cheese and they like burgers, so put them all together and it’s pretty good.”
– Matt Hart, manager
– Main Street Bistro
650 San Benito St., Suite 110, Hollister
“Our most-ordered item is probably the chicken breast sandwich, mainly because everything in it is really fresh and the herbed mayo is really good. The vegetables are all freshly grilled, so they taste really good. The spinach salad is easily our most popular salad. We get our spinach delivered every other day, the walnuts are cooked and candied here, and the salad dressing is the owner’s family recipe, so you can’t get it anywhere else. That makes it different from every other salad.”
– Matt Gratz, employee of more than three years
– Cozy Cup Cafe
380 4th St., Hollister
“Our potato works scrambler is pretty popular. It has scrambled eggs, ham, mushrooms, sour cream, potatoes, onions, cheddar cheese and avocado. It’s got all the goodies from breakfast, plus avocado, which a lot of people like, so of course a lot of people order it. We sell a lot of comfort food items here at the Cozy Cup – lots of potatoes, meat and gravy.
– Wendy Halayay, manager
– The Cedar House
7511 Pacheco Pass Highway, Hollister
“We have a lot of people order seafood. We have a seafood platter that comes with shrimp and fish and other fresh seafood. Sometimes it’s hard to find really good, fresh seafood around here, so I’m sure that’s why (it’s popular).”
– Lillyan Braga, a server who checked with the chefs
– Inn at Tres Pinos
6991 Airline Highway, Tres Pinos
“That’s easy. Our most popular dish is the roast rack of lamb that’s pistachio-crusted with a balsamic thyme jus. People order it because of our recipe and our cooking methods. We’ve been here for 15 years and it’s been the same for 15 years, so people know they’ll always get a good dinner. People come from all over to have our lamb, even Emeril Lagasse. He said this was his favorite way he’d ever had rack of lamb prepared.”
– Mike Howard, manager
Morgan Hill
– Sinaloa Cafe
17535 Monterey Road
“Our chimichangas and chile rellenos are our two most-ordered menu items. The chile rellenos because they’re really hard to make and not everyone does it the right way, but we do. The chimichangas look really good and people see it on other tables and order it. And it tastes good, too, of course.”
– Steve Pena, manager
– Rosy’s at the Beach
17320 Monterey Road
“Hands down the most popular are the salmon tacos. I think it’s because it’s an unusual dish. It’s not fried, the salmon is grilled, and with the salsa and cabbage, it’s pretty healthy and really tasty. We came on the idea during a trip to Baja. There are all these roadside fish taco stands, and we said, ‘We have got to do this.’ The other things that get ordered a lot are the fried calamari and the fish and chips. I think everyone likes fish and chips because it brings back memories of being on the coast, and the fish is always nice and fresh and crisp.”
– Rosy Bergin, owner
Gilroy
– Black Bear Diner
395 Leavesley Road
“Everyone likes our fresh homemade biscuits and our hamburgers, which we also make from scratch right here. We make them fresh, and people want fresh food. Our chicken-fried steak is big and it’s really good, so that gets ordered a lot, too.”
– Mike Gray, manager
– Eagle Ridge
2951 Club Drive
“Our tri-tip sandwich is probably the most-ordered thing we have. We barbecue the tri-tips daily, so everyone can smell it. People who have them say they’re the best in the world, hands down. It probably has a lot to do with the spices we use on the meat. It makes it taste really good. Our Kobe beef burger is also really popular because the quality of the meat is second to none. It’s a very nice cut and the meat tends to have less fat and more flavor.”
– Steve Kiyan, manager
– Victoria’s Mexican Restaurant
757 1st St.
“The cheese enchiladas are popular and the chile verde (is, too). They’re both delicious. We’ve been doing this for 22 years and our customers have a lot of their own favorites, but these two get ordered a lot. Everything here is homemade from family recipes, so it’s hard to find food like this.”
– Patricia Prieto and Carmen Mendosa, servers
Feel like giving some of these dishes a try at home? Here are a few recipes to get you started.
Lamb with Balsamic and Fresh Mint Vinaigrette
2-3 medium Australian lamb racks (7-8 bones per rack)
Seasoning blend
2 tsp. thyme, whole, dried
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground
Balsamic and Fresh Mint Vinaigrette Sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbs. mint, fresh, coarsely chopped
Step 1: Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Combine seasonings in a small bowl and sprinkle over the meat.
Step 2: Heat a large skillet over high heat and add 1 Tbs. olive oil. Brown lamb for 3 minutes on each side. Pour off fat from pan, but save any juices in the pan to make pan sauce later.
Step 3: Transfer lamb to roasting pan and roast, fat side up, in the middle of the oven for 14 to 16 minutes or until the internal temperature is 130 to 135 degrees for medium rare. Remove racks to a warm platter and let rest for 10 minutes while you make the sauce.
Step 4: Set the original skillet back on a burner. Add stock and scrape up any browned pieces from the bottom of the pan. Reduce to about 1 Tbs. Add vinegar and remove pan from heat and whisk in the remaining 3 Tbs. olive oil and mint to form a vinaigrette. Cut the racks into individual chops and serve, topped with the sauce.
Source: www.recipehound.com
Fish Tacos
1 pound white flaky fish, such as mahi mahi or orata
1/4 cup canola oil
1 lime, juiced
1 Tbs. ancho chili powder
1 jalapeño, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
8 flour tortillas
Garnishes:
Shredded white cabbage
Hot sauce
Sour cream
Thinly sliced red onion
Thinly sliced green onion
Chopped cilantro leaves
Step 1: Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Place fish in a medium size dish. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, ancho, jalapeño and cilantro, and pour over the fish. Let marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.
Step 2: Remove the fish from the marinade place onto a hot grill, flesh side down. Grill the fish for 4 minutes on the first side, and then flip for 30 seconds and remove. Let rest for 5 minutes, then flake the fish with a fork.
Step 3: Place the tortillas on the grill and grill for 20 seconds. Divide the fish among the tortillas and garnish with any or all of the garnishes.
Source: The Food Network, www.foodnetwork.com
Beef Spice Rub
2 1/2 Tbs. dark brown sugar
2 Tbs. paprika
2 tsp. dry mustard
2 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp. dried sweet basil
1 tsp. ground bay leaves
3/4 tsp. ground coriander
3/4 tsp. ground savory
3/4 tsp. dried thyme
3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3/4 tsp. white pepper
1/8 tsp. ground cumin
Salt, to taste
Step 1: Prepare the rub by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl. Store the mixture in an airtight container for up to four months. There’s no need to refrigerate it.
Step 2: Use the rub by massaging it into the meat thoroughly the night before you plan to grill. Wrap the meat well in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator until grilling time so the flavors will be absorbed into the meat.
Source: California Barbecue Association
