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In 2025, we saw an encouraging trend: restaurants were opening instead of closing. Since July, we have gained some terrific new businesses, including Catch 25, Citas Cafe, Phở Nhà, and Inaka Fusion (to be reviewed next month).
Farmhouse Cafe and Suncoast Organic Bakery reopened for dining this year, and several places celebrated first anniversaries, including Cosmos and Jamrock Culinary Arts, with a second anniversary for Crave Wine Co.
The longer-lived Fairhaven Orchards and El Nopal Bakery celebrated impressive 50th anniversaries, while some comparative youngsters, like Country Rose Cafe and the Saddle Horse Cowboy Dinner at 23 years and Running Rooster at 21, also showed remarkable resilience. But Gabilan Seneca beat them all, holding its 69th annual Food and Wine Tasting at Paicines Ranch.
We covered Pinball Night at Paicines Ranch and hit the food truck scene with El Guapo, Mattia Pizza, Steak Stop, and a new addition, JJ’s Burgers. There were intriguing home businesses as well, such as the pastas of Salt + Peppertree and the prepared dinners of Zelia’s Mediterranean Y Más.
And finally, we branched out to Tres Pinos and Aromas for three places that became instant favorites: the Tres Pinos Farmhouse, with a great selection of locally made products; Flapjacks, with amazing chiliquiles; and the Aromas Grill, with a menu of tremendous depth for such a small town.
We talked to some local legends, lunching with motorcycle icon Mike Corbin in his Wizards Cafe, learning the history of the Motorcycle Rally from Peter Lago over a burger at Johnny’s Bar and Grill, and talking barbecue sauce with Jon Mansmith.
This is the 51st Eat Drink Savor of the year and, yes, I know there should be 52, one for each week. I have a good excuse, though: I missed one when my friends Harry and Helen Nguyen, owners of the Phở Hà Nội restaurants, took me with them on a ten-day tour of Vietnam.
Of course, there was fantastic food aplenty in the Southeast Asian nation, and I wrote two articles on the experience: A culinary journey through Ho Chi Minh City and The fine dining, street food and magic turtles of Hanoi.
The following is a short introduction to the top five Eat Drink Savor articles of 2025 in terms of readership. Two are brand-new businesses, two are longer-established, and the last, well, if you need a potato, go to Ivan’s.
Top Five:
5. Ivan’s defines “massive baked potato’’
I have been circling Ivan’s ever since spotting them at the Farmers Market about four years ago. But there is one catch to this series: each business has to be based in or connected to San Benito County in some way. And Ivan’s didn’t seem to fit.
Then I discovered that Laura Cosio, co-founder of Ivan’s and mother to Ivan himself, works at the local Lucky’s. Connection made. And I am glad it was—the massive potatoes are flaky and tender, and served mounded with a variety of toppings, like carne asada, bacon and cheese. Pure farm-style decadence in an aluminum tray.
I find it impossible that anybody could eat one in a sitting—it seems more suitable for two or three people to charge into at once. If you come early, right after they set up, there is a grand chance you can skip the lines that can stretch a half block or more, snag one, and disappear into the crowd, ready to feast.
4. Dunneville Market adds patio dining, breakfast and wooden spoons
Chef Sean Shelton is one of many restaurant owners in the area bringing breakfast back to their menus, but the signature item at the Market remains the almost-legendary tri-tip. The sandwich is almost a museum piece of perfection, with variations including horseradish, bacon, avocado, sautéed onions, mushrooms, and pepperoncini.
The recently introduced Chicharrón Crusted Pork Sandwich, which he describes as “one of our big ones.” And it might just lure some of the tri-tip loyalists away. A pork cutlet breaded with pork rinds and panko, the chef tops it with red onion, tomatoes, chipotle mayo, arugula and a lemony dressing. It is thin, tender, crunchy and irresistible.
3. Catch 25 brings fresh fish to Hollister
The classic “if you build it they will come,” Catch 25 owner Daniel Zubizarreta was already co-owner of a small cluster of City Fish restaurants in Santa Clara County. Moving to Hollister, he found nothing like their seafood formula anywhere around, sold off his share of City Fish and started looking for locations. It took him five years to find the exact spot, and now that he has, the locals have responded like, um, fish to water.
The fish and chips, made with a full and very fresh pollock fillet, is the signature dish and the best seller. But the half dozen other varieties of frilled fish, including salmon, mahi mahi, rainbow trout, catfish and tilapia, are terrific in their own right and, for those in your dinner party who are less enthusiastic about seafood, there is chicken, pasta, ribeye steak and burgers to choose from. You would have to go to Monterey or Santa Cruz to find a comparable place, but I think this beats anything I have had out there.
2. Phở Nhà offers authentic Vietnamese cuisine
After running a Vietnamese restaurant in Carmel for six years, Phở Nhà owners Angie Nguyen and Kenny Tran relocated to Hollister, not really planning to open up in their new hometown. But they did not count on all the locals who knew them from their Noodle Palace days pressuring them to give it another shot.
The menu has been evolving and expanding since the soft opening in July, with some offerings in limited supply, but there is enough to please anyone who loves Vietnamese cuisine. Their egg rolls are popular enough for them to staff a dedicated “Egg Roll Lady,” the Phở is outlandishly delicious and the huge Bún bò Huế, beef flank in a deep red broth, is enough to feed two. Maybe three.
1. El Nopal and a five-generation tradition
We covered El Nopal twice this year: first, writing about the bakery’s role in providing 1,200 packages of tortillas a month to the Community FoodBank, and then the article above, which tells the story of this iconic local institution, founded in 1967 as “El Gallo.” Owner Frankie Berlanga started working there at 13, stamping and sugaring conchas, and he still puts in long hours to ensure the product’s quality and consistency.
The tortillas, of course, are epic, and the bakery can produce over 7,000 in an eight-hour workday. The ovens also produce French bread, French rolls, hamburger buns, and torta bread for sandwiches, with 30% of the output going to local restaurants. The sweet breads and cookies, made with recipes dating back to Berlanga’s great-great-great-grandfather’s shop in Nuevo León, are primarily sold in the bakery.
The doors of El Nopal open at 5 a.m., and you will probably find a line of regulars already forming. But Berlanga and his crew work hard to keep the shelves stocked, so no matter when you arrive, you will be met with fully stocked shelves and an aroma you can almost taste.
Afterword:
It is worth noting that, in the 200 or so articles written for this series over close to five years, the common thread is how difficult it is for everyone to survive in the food-and-wine business. While we celebrate the new places opening, it is worth keeping in mind that several were able to do so only because businesses at those locations closed.
We started this series to encourage people to dine out again after the COVID-19 lockdowns, and we hope everyone will continue to show some love to their favorite restaurants, wineries and breweries, and maybe check out a few they haven’t been to yet. They are all worth supporting.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to:roberteliason@benitolink.com.
BenitoLink thanks our underwriters, Hollister Super and Windmill Market, for helping expand the Eat, Drink, Savor series and for giving our readers the stories that interest them. Hollister Super (two stores in Hollister) and Windmill Market (in San Juan Bautista) support reporting on the inspired and creative people behind the many delicious food and drink products made in San Benito County. All editorial decisions are made by BenitoLink.
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