Hobee's What's New

January 2012 - Happy 2012 to all of our fans from Silicon Valley and beyond! As we begin the New Year, one thing is for certain: We will continue to provide the very best quality food and service to all of you. You're the reason we're still around after - can it really be? - 38 years! Here's what's going on in Hobeeland....

HOBEE'S CUPERTINO NAMED SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR

We're proud to announce that the Cupertino Chamber of Commerce has named Hobee's Cupertino its Small Business of the Year for 2011. The prestigious honor comes as our franchised location celebrates its 25th anniversary. Franchisees Gordon von Richter and Michael Lashen, who founded the restaurant located across from De Anza College in The Oaks Center in 1986, will receive the honor at a special ceremony in March. The Cupertino kudo continues an impressive streak for Hobee's, which also won Small Business of the Year awards for Mountain View (2009), Campbell (2010) and the 21st Assembly District (2010).

WINTER DINNER MENU FEATURES TEMPTING NEW OPTIONS

Quite often, our customers complain that the Hobee's menu is too extensive. There's simply too much to choose from! Our Winter Dinner Specials only add to the conundrum. (We suggest taking a deep breath and remembering that you can eventually try them all.) Ready? Here's what we're running this season:

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TWO FABULOUS NEW ITEMS ON THE PERMANENT MENU

Getting on the Hobee's permanent menu is no easy feat. We make sure a recipe is just right before we take up valuable real estate alongside the BDBIT and Florentine Scramble. We deemed the following to be ready for prime time: Grown Up Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Jack, Cheddar and thinly-sliced geen apple, and Wild Wild Primavera which melds two former favorites - Wild Wild Pasta and Palo Alto Primavera - into one spectacular recipe. Trust us, these two are ready for prime time!

We were incredibly honored to once again receive the Best Breakfast award from readers of both The Palo Alto Weekly (which also named us Best Restaurant for Kids) and The Mountain View Voice. This was our 21st straight year for The Weekly and the 18th consecutive year for The Voice. We never take these kudos for granted and work hard to secure your vote each and every year. Thanks for voting for us!

INTRODUCING OUR NEW GLUTEN-FREE MENU!

After repeated requests from our friends in the Celiacs community, we're pleased to announce gluten-free options at Hobee's. Our special menu was introduced in May and June. We rolled it out in stages to ensure that our staff was properly trained on preparing and describing our gluten-free offerings. (We even hosted Free Gluten-Free nights to give everyone practice.)

The Gluten-Free Menu will no doubt evolve over time. Here is our starting line up:

Breakfast

Eye Opener
2 eggs (any style), country-style hashbrowns and your choice of corn tortillas or Udi’s gluten-free toast $7.95
Add turkey bacon, ham, or chicken apple sausage    . . . . . . . $ 9.95

Gluten-Free Pancakes
Made with Gluten-free Pantry brown rice pancake mix and served with real maple syrup
Plain $8.25      with seasonal fruit $10.50

Lunch / Dinner

Pollo Supremo Tacos
Corn tortillas with chicken breast, mushrooms. Jack and Cheddar, brown rice pilaf topped with salsa, guac and sour cream.
Served with tri-color tortilla chips . . . . . $10.95
Redwood Burger
1/3 lb. Ground chuck patty, chicken breast, turkey patty or grilled Portobello mushroom with 2 slices of turkey
bacon and cheddar cheese on Udi’s Gluten-free bread. Served with tri-color tortilla chips . . . . . $10.95
Embarcadero Salad
An entrée salad with spring mix, grilled breast of chicken strips, pears, apples, walnuts, dried fruit and
Bleu cheese in a raspberry vinaigrette . . . $11.95
Gluten-Free Pasta
Hartland Gluten-free fusilli pasta (prepared in separate water than other pastas) available with
Marinara . . . . $ 12.95       Wild Wild (mushrooms, garlic, green onion) . . . $12.95
Pasta Pesto . . . $12.95       Salmon (mushrooms, spinach, capers, tomato) . . . $13.95

Just for Kids

Gluten-Free Mickey’s Pancake
Kid-sized pancake made with Gluten-free Pantry brown rice pancake mix . . . $4.95
Kid-sized Eye Opener
1 egg (any style), country-style hashbrowns and your choice of corn tortillas or Udi’s gluten-free toast $5.95
Add turkey bacon or chicken apple sausage    . . . . . . . $ 6.95
Kid-sized Gluten-Free Pasta
Hartland Gluten-free fusilli pasta (prepared in separate water than other pastas) with Marinara . . . $5.95

In addition, we offer several gluten-friendly items which are gluten-friendly but have been prepared along side other items in the kitchen. These items include vegetable soups (other than veggie pasta), salad dressings and turkey burgers.

HIGH FIVE: FREE WI FI!

WiFi

Since we owe so much to the movers and shakers of Silicon Valley, the least we can do is supply them with Wi Fi. Enjoy unlimited, unrestricted wireless hook up at any Hobee's location except Cupertino. Surf on our turf!

18th ANNUAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS HONOR HOBEE'S SUPERSTARS

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Sunnyvale's Misael Morales won Outstanding General Manager for the third time.

Over 200 employees, family members and VIPs came out to the Roosevelt Community Center to cheer on winners and runners up from every location at the 18th Annual Achievement Awards. As usual, we got started with an award-worthy video co-produced by Jose Valencia and Sergio Gutierrez. Many highlights followed as employees paid tribute to each other with touching remarks. Here’s a list of winners for 2010:

Outstanding Host – Alex Tafolla (Palo Alto)
Outstanding Manager – Roberto Diaz (Stanford)
Rookie of the Year – Mayra Nava (Stanford)
Outstanding Kitchen Crewmember – Carlos Ponzo (Pruneyard)
Customers’ Choice Award – Elena Perez (Sunnyvale)
Length of Service Awards (5 Years) – Maria Barajas (Montague Expressway); Jorge Jimenez (Pruneyard); Irma Rodriguez and Kristine Talbot (Stanford); and Jose Luis Bibiano, Angelita Castrejon, Carolina Rozo and Gregorio Vasquez (Sunnyvale)
Length of Service Awards (10 Years) – Salomon Santos (Cupertino); Louise Aurandt (Mountain View); Jesus Arellano, Juan Lopez and Lorenzo Lopez (Montague Expressway); Eliseo Moreno (Stanford); and Elena Perez and Jose Uriostegui (Sunnyvale); and Alba Romero and Jocelyn Flores (Pruneyard)
Supportive Organization Award – Stevens Creek Striders (Cupertino)
Hobee’s Hero – Janet Enciso (Pruneyard)
Highest Annual Sales Awards – Montague (2 Periods) and Stanford (3 Periods)
Secret Shopper Award – Stanford
Customer Hall of Fame Induction – Rex Baumgartner (Redwood Shores); Ree and Gary Dufresne (Palo Alto); and Carol and Jim Brush (Cupertino)
Length of Service Awards (15 Years) – Ernestina Vergara (Pruneyard) and Miguel Rodriguez (Cupertino).
Length of Service Awards (20 Years) – Tomasa Anaya (Stanford); Jose Luis Aguilar (Cupertino) and Misael Morales (Sunnyvale).
Length of Service Awards (25 Years) – Presciliano Melchor (Stanford)
Outstanding Kitchen Manager – Francisco Ramirez (Montague Expressway)
Outstanding Server – Carlos Quintero (Los Gatos)
Outstanding General Manager – Misael Morales (Sunnyvale)
Paul Taber Commitment to Excellence Award – Sergo Carlos (Stanford)
$ 500 Raffle Grand Prize – Sergio Carlos (Stanford….When you’re hot, you’re hot!)

Congratulations to all of this year's winners and finalists!

BECOME A HOBEE'S FAN ON FACEBOOK

If you're a Facebooker (and who in the Valley isn't?), make sure to become a Fan of Hobee's. Fans will receive frequent updates and become eligible for special discounts, contests and promotions, including exclusive offers on "Facebook Fridays". Click on the link below and share with all your friends!

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HOBEE'S NAMED SMALL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR
FOR THE 21st ASSEMBLY DISTRICT

Ruskin

Hobee's president Edward Fike (r) traveled to Sacramento to accept Hobee's award from Assemblyman Ira Ruskin.

Just off the heels of our Campbell Chamber of Commerce award as Business of the Year, we weren't expecting another major accolade. So, the call from the office of Assemblymember Ira Ruskin (D-Redwood City) came as complete surprise. Assemblymember Ruskin chose Hobee's based on our "outstanding contribution to the community". The award was presented on May 25, 2010, during California Small Business Day, a special event hosted by the California Small Business Association.

“I am proud to select Hobee’s as Small Business of the Year because of its continued support of our community, year-after-year since its inception in 1974,” Ruskin said. “The list of schools, clubs, community organizations and important causes assisted by Hobee’s Helping Hand program is extensive and inspiring. Within the first few months of 2010, the company has already donated more than $27,000 in sponsorship dollars, proceeds, food, and gift certificates to benefit many groups and people in our community.”

HOBEE’S PRUNEYARD NAMED
CAMPBELL BUSINESS OF THE YEAR!

BizPYGrp

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Hobee’s Pruneyard has been named 2009 Campbell Business of the Year. Campbell Mayor Evan Low and a delegation from The Chamber of Commerce delivered the good news in person during lunch on January 12.

Citing Hobee’s support of area charities including the Campbell Kiwanis Club and City of Campbell Recreation, Mayor Low said that Hobee’s was a model corporate citizen and a favorite destination for Campbell residents and workers. Hobee’s was honored at a special ceremony on March 26 at Villa Ragusa.

We are so fortunate that we continue to receive accolades like this as we begin our 36th year. We give our sincere thanks to the hard-working, dedicated Pruneyard crew for making this recognition possible. General Manager Felipe Zarate and Kitchen Manager Antonio Amaya lead a terrific team, many of whom have over a decade of service with Hobee’s. Their daily commitment to excellence makes us all very proud!

HOBEE'S PRESIDENT RUNS WITH THE ULTRAMARATHON MAN

Dean Karnazes has been called the greatest athlete on the planet. His legendary feats of endurance - like running 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states - have been well-chronicled in magazines and his own best-selling books. On August 23, Karnazes appeared at Books Inc. in Mountain View to speak about his latest literary effort, 50/50, a diary of his months of daily marathons across the US. When the talk ended, Karnazes and six other running enthusiasts - including yours truly - ran a 10k along El Camino Real to the Books Inc. in Town and Country Village. Prior to speaking, Karnazes joined our group for breakfast at, natch, Hobee's Stanford. The time spent with this running icon, who graciously answered everyone's questions (and we had lots!), was truly inspiring. Plus, Karnazes seemed very impressed with his first Hobee's experience. To top it all off, several people at the beginning of the event thought that I was the Ultramarathon Man. Best...day...ever!

Dean or Ed? (Don't bring me down, people!)

SJ BIZ JOURNAL INCLUDES HOBEE'S ON LIST OF TOP FAMILY BUSINESSES

The Silicon Valley Business Journal recently included Taber Food Services, Inc., in its list of top family-owned businesses. TFS, which owns all of the Hobee's locations except for Cupertino, came in at number 25 in revenue. Its rank for number of employees by a family business was even higher: Its 225 employees placed the company an impressive fourth on the list.

DID HOBEE’S HELP SAVE SILICON VALLEY?

Sarah Lacy's new book Once You’re Lucky, Twice You’re Good traces the emergence of online communities and social networks as part of a second dotcom boom in Silicon Valley, or a “Web 2.0”. In its June 11, 2008 edition, The Silicon Valley Metro featured an excerpt from Once You’re Lucky. According to The Metro, the book “explains the PayPal Mafia, the importance of Hobee’s to the tech economy, and how Silicon Valley got saved”.

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So, how does Hobee’s figure so prominently in recent high tech history? Lacy says it’s because all roads to Web 2.0 lead to PayPal and the idea for that company was launched during a fateful meeting at Hobee’s Stanford. Plus, she points out that Hobee’s locations “dot all the geeky corners of the fifty-mile stretch between San Francisco and San Jose. If you are an engineer and you live in the area, you’ve been to Hobee’s.” Finally, Lacy profiles our favorite tech titan who is such a regular that we inducted him into our Customer Hall of Fame. (He ate his way in fair and square!)

We’re thrilled to know that Hobee’s is part of a cultural phenomenon! We can’t wait to see what next great idea is hatched over coffeecake!