Ever wondered if Morgan Hill is a good place to eat out? Does it offer everything the gourmet resident could desire? Or is it a Los Gatos wannabe that is still just a backwoods cow town? Let’s take a quick tour of the culinary options and see what conclusions we can draw.
We start our gastronomic odyssey early in the day with a choice of two eateries. There is Betsy’s, once again an appendage to the bowling alley on the south side, or Just Breakfast, right in the center of town on Monterey. Either will provide you with the eggs of your choice, newspaper, juice and coffee—transporting you back to the fifties with a flip of the hash browns. Or for a more fibrous bite on the go there is the Bagel Shoppe on 3rd St., which has endured for many years while the coffee shop on 2nd St. seems to change names and owners with the seasons. But then, Morgan Hill is replete with coffee shops, including no less than six Starbucks.
For lunch the possibilities expand considerably with eateries of every ethnic persuasion vying for your midday moolah. The Flying Dragon, China Orchid, Peking and China Palace offer the usual sub-ten dollar choices, while Maurizio’s and Sicilia In Bocca are open for their Northern and Southern Italian offerings respectively. Mexican fare can be had at Las Palmas, Jesus, Sinaloa or the outstanding, if tiny, El Rincon.
Rosy’s At The Beach, more or less a downtown institution, offers grilled seafood—indoors and outdoors—and a full bar, while their newer competitor across the street, Ragoots, provides upmarket deli plates. Four very different Asian eateries round out the daytime spectrum: Siam, with its satays and yellow curries, Creasian, whose soft shell crab sushi is as good as any this side of Shinjuku, Vietasia, a newcomer offering noodle bowls in an opulent setting, and Sitar, a welcome upscale Indian restaurant off Cochrane.
All of these (with the obvious exception of Just Breakfast) are open in the evenings too. There is also pub grub at The El Toro Brewing Company, grilled fish and steaks at Poppy’s, weather permitting, and The Trail Dust, whose unique business model is to start smoking ribs, tri-tip and chicken in the morning, then sell them until they’re gone. To round off your evening out there are two wine bars, D’Vine and The Reserve, and the excellent Morgan Hill Tobacco Company for cigar aficionados.
There are a few more owner-managed restaurants that I haven’t named. Please add them in with your own comments below.
However, the point is that although we have a good selection of different types of dining available, what we really lack is a signature restaurant, one that would be considered world class in any city anywhere, one that people would come from all over to experience. Morgan Hill lies at the intersection of Silicon Valley and an agricultural hinterland that boasts the mushroom, garlic, artichoke, strawberry and packaged salad meccas of America. There are dozens of wineries in the area. There is enough variety to support a locavore movement for sure. Isn’t there room for at least one Iron Chef caliber establishment here? Or are we well enough served as is?
Sean Kenny is the author of four novels and numerous essays. Born and raised in Ireland, he pursued a career in high tech which eventually led him to Silicon Valley. His most recent novel, The Memory Trap, was inspired by a stint at Apple. He is currently one of the founders and CEO of Fresco Solar, a renewable energy company that has installed the first wind turbine in Morgan Hill.
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- on 09/29/2008
Sean: Surely you didn't visit many of these restaurants you named... Describing Ragoots' cuisine as "deli plates" smacks of not even having read the menu: Rib Eye with chipotle butter or grilled salmon -- deli plates?? What about Golden Oak, home of the funkiest sign and best upscale dining in South County? This blog is a list of restaurants with no value-add to the reader for the time spent. I looked forward to learning something. These descriptions (where included) are about as accurate as writing that Manresa is "a funky seafood place!"
