Latest restaurant to fill Gilroy’s high-end bar and food scene
already seeing ‘regulars’
Gilroy – It’s known as a “soft opening” in the restaurant business – no formal announcements, no advertising. Just let diners wander in and spread the news by word of mouth.
Despite such a low-key opening in mid-April, a steady flow of customers and quite a few regulars are already stopping by the Westside Grill, the latest restaurant to fill the void in Gilroy’s high-end bar and food scene.
The new restaurant is slightly cheaper and bills itself as more family-friendly than predecessor J.R. Brewskis, whose owners declared bankruptcy last summer after nearly three years in business.
The Westside Grill menu includes pasta, seafood and steak dishes, ranging from as low as $13 for veggie lasagna to as high as $27 for filet mignon. Burgers cost $9 and the menu includes family style dining priced at $21 for each adult and $11 each for kids younger than 12.
Melissa Schipper, a stylist at Hello Gorgeous Salon, said she and her co-workers stop in for lunch on a regular basis. The girls work a few doors away from the new restaurant, located in the business plaza at the northeast corner of First Street and Santa Teresa Boulevard.
“They’re just great people and it’s a good atmosphere and good food,” said Schipper, who said she already knows the owners and some of the staff. “It’s like Cheers – you walk in and you know everybody.”
And that’s exactly the type of atmosphere the restaurant’s four owners are shooting for.
On a recent night, bar manager and part-owner Bob Ortiz stops by one of the high-top tables in the bar, suggesting beers to customers and chatting about the restaurant business.
“That first day was a surprise,” said Ortiz, who previously spent 12 years at Blake’s Steakhouse in San Jose. He said the soft opening let the new owners work out the inevitable kinks early on.
Former Brewski’s patrons will notice a few things have changed since the restaurant was taken over by Ortiz, Sam Campagna, John Holder, Robert Ramirez, and chef Lou Zoulaica, once head chef at Cordevalle Country Club in San Martin.
In addition to the menu, the owners have spent $300,000 on renovations. Most noticeably, they transformed a closet at the entrance into a host’s stand and created a direct corridor to the banquet room, formerly accessible only by walking to the back of the complex.
The owners tipped their hat to local vineyards by featuring wines from Clos Las Chance, Fortino, and Solis, among others.
Teresa Glover, a bartender at the restaurant, said many patrons from northwest Gilroy are thankful to once again have a nearby restaurant.
“The feedback we’re getting is great,” she said. “People don’t want to drive over 10th Street to Chili’s.”
