Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Lucille Almeida is the assistant manager at Chevys restaurant in the Westgate Shopping Center.

Fun and fresh Mex is the winning recipe at Chevys

By Suzanne Cristallo

After diners read over the menu at Chevys, the walls are worth a look, too. The "fresh Mex" restaurant in Westgate Mall on Saratoga Avenue is full of artifacts from all over the country. There's an old Chevy truck door complete with side-view mirror and customized logo and half a truck over the bar. Photos depicting Mexican heritage cover the walls. Vibrant purples and reds provide a color background for the Mexican music, signature margaritas and milling bodies that fill the place.

Each of Chevys' 150 restaurants from New York to California displays authentic items collected by a crew of employees who follow leads from sources--mostly around El Paso, Texas--for items reflecting a farm motif, a southwest/Mexican look or an Old West connection. The Van Ness store in San Francisco has a suspended bi-plane and a swordfish chandelier, while one New York eatery sports a full-sized windmill. Tractors and plows from the San Joaquin Valley and customized Chevys labels on food crates represent the "farm fresh" motif the chain promotes.

The Saratoga Avenue restaurant, which opened in late 1998, accommodates up to 300 patrons in various rooms inside and another 150 patrons outside for good-weather patio dining. A crew of chefs headed by a company vice president in Emeryville designs the menu offered in the local Chevys. Entree prices range from $6.99 for two tacos to $13.99 for a pound of babyback ribs. The catches of the day go for $9.99 to $13.99.

At lunch, many of the entrees offered for dinner can be had for reduced prices: a two-item combo with rice and choice of beans, plus the automatic serving of chips with a freshly made house salsa, runs $5.99. Happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. brings half-off prices on most appetizers, beer and house margaritas.

Chevys is big business. Started 14 years ago in Alameda by Warren Simmons--who also developed Pier 39 in San Francisco--and his son, Scooter, the chain has grown to 53 stores in California alone. The name came inadvertently when the Simmonses went to City Hall to get their first permit but didn't have any special name in mind. The clerk mentioned he liked to drive Chevys, and the name was born. The restaurants still get calls from people attempting to reach the car dealership.

In 1993, the chain was bought by giant Pepsico, which four years later sold it to present owner, J.W. Childs of Boston, a funding company that owns Snapple fruit drinks and teas. It also owns the international noodle palaces, Fuzios--a concept started by Chevys.

The restaurant's aim is to provide "the freshest food in the funnest atmosphere," according to regional manager Borz Pourabbas. He says the place is appropriate for suit-and-tie lunch meetings, family outings or jeans-attired dates. On weekends, a balloon artist comes in to create animal shapes for partying groups or the waiting throngs. Servers gather to sing birthday songs and slap a hat on the celebrant, who also receives a free dessert.

"We're the highest sales, full-service restaurant in the U.S.," Pourabbas boasts.

But to new Assistant Manager Lucille Almeida, whose smiling face is there weekdays to greet customers, "Chevys has the best schedule for child-rearing. It's the kind of place I like to work in." She's able to work a schedule around day care for her 3-year-old daughter as well as practice the managing skills she has acquired in other restaurants over the years.

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Chevys, 1502 Saratoga Ave., San Jose. Open Sun.-Thu., 11 a.m.-10 p.m., and Fri. and Sat., 11 a.m.-11 p.m. 408.871.9110.

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