650 San Benito St, Hollister, CA 95023
(831) 636-2952
First Impressions
From the moment you walk in, The Knife & Fork Cafe screams locally owned and operated. The rustic small town decor, and open dining area makes you feel comfortable and at ease. Large windows surround the entire outer wall, allowing a lot of natural light. The view from the right side of the restaurant is the outdoor eating area, and adjacent alley, but both are clean and decent to look at.
On the inside the paint is earth toned on both the sandwich preparation area, and the chairs are mismatched between high back and standard. There is a large mural of a vineyard, wine racks, and a bottle opener on the back and rear left wall, along with the restrooms and coin operated candy dispensers.
While the tableware doesn’t appear to follow any sort of standard, the cloth napkins, silverware, and plates were all clean and in good condition. The tablecloths are covered with paper for quick changes, and highly competitive rounds of hangman (if you’re my wife and I). In passing the sandwich bar everything seemed clean and in good order, with one woman putting together the sandwich orders. The soda fountain for some reason is on the outside of the food prep area, though the waiters take care of the refills for you.
The menu was an uncomplicated two pages, featuring breakfast, lunch, a single pasta, and dinner. None of which had more than an easy selection of items.
Dining Experience
Service was superb. We were greeted warmly and with a smile the moment we walked through the doors, and offered any seat we liked. My wife and I chose the high back chairs in the rear of the establishment alongside one of the large windows for a good view of the alley and outdoor seating. The bright sun through the windows kept us both warm, and enhanced the good feeling of an already beautiful day. Our waiter was with us within a minute or two, and knowledgeably told us the soup of the day, gave us our menus, and took our drink orders.
We were originally the only customers at 4:00pm, but shortly after arriving other patrons began to trickle in and get comfortable. After 5-10 minutes our waiter was back to take our order, and tell us the different kinds of bread they had available for sandwiches. My wife got the chicken salad sandwich on foccacia with a bowl of potato and leek soup, and I chose the tuna melt on rye with fries. The soup was out quickly with a small piece of delicious grilled bread, and was both hot and creamy.
I observed one of the owners as she came in the rear door, and greeted us warmly asking us how we were doing. She disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes, and on her way out the door asked if we had received our orders yet. While it hadn’t been long at all, I told her no, and she disappeared back into the kitchen briefly before wishing us a good day and exiting the same way she came in. Shortly after her departure the waiter returned with our food.
Danelle, being the carb conscious woman that she is, instantly liberated her chicken salad from her bread, giving me the opportunity to spy out the ingredients. The expected chicken and mayonnaise combo was accented with green onions, purple onions, celery, and cranberries, but was a little sweet for her taste. I didn’t detect an overpowering sweetness when sampling it myself, but I avoided the cranberries as I’m not a particular fan.
My tuna melt was fantastic. The cheese was perfectly melted, and as has become my new habit, I ate slowly and disassembled my sandwich to determine what was in it. Tuna, mayonnaise, green onion, celery, and thinly sliced sweet pickle rounds combined with the swiss cheese made for an excellent combination. Not overly crunchy, and just lightly sweetened by the pickles. The rye was perfectly toasted, and the cheese melted all the way through. The fries were long and thick cut. They were lightly browned, neither too crunchy or soggy, and completely devoid of grease. Very tasty. After helping herself to a bite, Danelle requested the waiter replace the chicken salad she wasn’t fond of with a tuna melt as well.
This seemed the throw the young waiter off a bit. He clearly wasn’t used to customers returning food, which is a good thing. I advised him that the food wasn’t bad in any way, it just didn’t meet her particular tastes. Still looking a little befuddled he told us he would have to ask his boss, and hurried over to the other owner who had slipped in the back door and taken a seat. After a conversation we were easily able to hear, he came back and told us he could offer the tuna melt at no cost, while the chicken salad would remain on our tag. Satisfied we agreed, and he walked off to put the order in.
After just a few minutes Danelle’s sandwich was brought out, and she was very happy with the new selection. Shortly thereafter we flagged down our waiter and settled the check. Throughout our meal our glasses were never empty for more than one or two minutes before the waiter refilled them from the fountain right next to us. Feeling full, and very satisfied, we thanked the waiter and let ourselves out. As a final measure of hospitality, the woman at the sandwich station thanked us and wished us a good afternoon with a smile and upbeat personality.
The Long and Short of It
The food was good, and not badly priced. The whole meal with drinks was $22, before adding my usual tip. In the end it didn’t cost us much different than it would have a chain restaurant, and I liked the meal and atmosphere much better. I’m also a huge fan of supporting local business, and will gladly visit this place again.
Final Score: 4.5/5
Recommendations: The only thing they need to do to to pull off a flawless 5/5 would be match the chairs and tableware. While the food and service was excellent, the mismatched decor looked just a little bit sloppy. Other than that it was all fantastic.
