The South Pine Cafe Story (As George would tell it) –
It was August of 1995 and my wife and I backed out of our driveway, turned our heads and noticed someone had driven away with our boat. It was at that moment we made the decision to leave the city life behind and raise our family in a safe and habitable environment. A year later, we bought our Nevada City location. Over the last 18 years, we’ve bought several restaurants, some we’ve kept, some we’ve sold, but one concept is here to stay, South Pine Café. Our idea was to create a restaurant that would appeal to any type of clientele, from the biscuit and gravy connoisseur to the vegan, and anyone in between; the result is an eclectic array of specialty items that attract a very diverse mix of diners. With 18 years of testing, adjusting, changing, tweaking and perfecting, we’ve built two thriving South Pine Cafe locations.
So often we are asked about the pressures and challenges of operating restaurants. In particular, the challenge of high employee turnover. We take pause whenever we are asked because we have such a solid, dedicated staff; many which have been with us for 10 plus years! The reason, we believe, is twofold.
First and foremost, the regular local customer base we have established has become a crowd that we welcome as if they were coming to our home, as well as the out-of-towners that manage to find their way through our front door. Secondly, the staff at South Pine tolerates nothing less than perfection…not only from themselves, but from each other. The result is a happy busy environment where even in the most hectic of restaurant craziness, we all pull together, make a great living with reasonable hours, serve a fantastic meal at a fair price, and watch our customers smile as they savor the flavors of jalepeno hollandaise and sip on fresh squeezed, homemade juices. It just doesn’t get any better than that!
We are confident and dedicated to you, your friends and your family, in having an above average experience with us. We urge you to let us know in person, by phone, or email if your experience is anything less, as we are always looking for ways to do our jobs better. You can also visit us on Facebook – Grass Valley page, Nevada City page, Pine Street Burgers page). Feel the joy!