By CJ
Avenue Café owner Salvador Diaz likes to keep things simple. Simple is easy and simple is happy. Happy is what you find when you venture over to Avenue Café for breakfast or lunch. This simply named cafe offers service and celebration. At the age of 54, ‘Sal” has done what Doree Steinmann, local author of Your Second Fifty Years describes as following one’s personal inspiration to find happiness and serenity. More than one review of Avenue Café notes that Sal is always smiling. Along with the wait staff’s cordial demeanor, one naturally feels at home.
There’s something about the pace and the service of the food business that feels satisfying to Sal. His father, Salvador Diaz, Sr., owned restaurants all his life in Mexico. When Diaz, Sr. passed away seven years ago at the age of 82, he was still happily active in his restaurants, serving a community he loved and his joy of life was obvious.
Sal has fond memories of working alongside his dad as a youngster. One of his favorite activities was making and selling tacos after school and recalls the wonderful feeling of people’s joy having a fresh delicious taco served to them.
Reflecting back on that experience Sal is clear that the ingredients for good food are important. Equally important, putting it simply as Diaz is skillful in doing, was the hospitality. Knowing people by name, recalling their preferences, and keeping the welcome mat out was a simple but effective formula for success.
Awareness of that feeling that good food served from the heart provides is the inspiration that keeps calling Sal to be a part of the culinary world. Throughout his life, he has kept his hand on the pulse of food service by offering his services to venues around the county.
While Sal makes it look simple, it takes commitment to learn how to make food service simple. Multi-tasking is definitely one of the many skills necessary in the world of food service. Sal Diaz enjoyed the challenges that required multi-tasking as he achieved success working for the Scotts Valley Water District for over a decade.
However, providing hospitality and good food in a comfortable setting was where his heart kept calling him.
Sal realized Capitola was ready for the kind of place he had in mind and when he found the cottage at the corner Capitola Avenue and Riverview, he knew it was the right fit for his dream. The community agrees! One measure of proof that the locals are delighted is the recognition in a recent issue of a local magazine in which Avenue Cafe earned the title, The Favorite Breakfast. A visit to Yelp – often a highly critical online qualifier of businesses – has Avenue Cafe in stars.
A sampling of comments from regulars:
“The Avocado Bacon Eggs Benedict was delicious … my eggs were perfectly poached and my hash browns were crispy perfection.”
“Breakfast burrito amazing, avocado eggs Benedict incredible, and country biscuits and gravy are just on point!”
Contributing to the authentic welcoming are the cottage style and the floor to ceiling windows enhancing the atmosphere with natural light. In the beauty of the sun’s rays, you can’t help notice that this busy cafe is spotlessly clean! The coziness is enhanced by the quaint fireplace — in use when the weather dictates — adding to the romantic ambiance.
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Avenue Café, 427 Capitola Avenue, Capitola is open Wednesday through Monday (Closed Tuesdays) Tel #: 831 515 7559. Website: www.avenuecafecapitola.com – Complementary Flan for guests celebrating their birthday! Breakfast served — 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with lunch served 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Enjoy the artist displays — which change frequently — that provides a venue for a variety of local artists