The two-story-plus restaurant, named for a top-of-the-line baked-clay disk used in a trapshoot somewhere in the South, is built in three tiers descending from Big Basin Way. It's put together with peeled logs and rustic siding and a rural motif, complete with outdoor seating among the hillside rocks, all suggesting something from the movie Deliverance. It's also termite-free, according to its droll owner Terry Richardson.

What it does have, since Richardson took over the cafe from former owner Josh White in 2000, is a pool table, a jukebox and a karaoke night—magnets for an 18- to 25-year-old crowd. To feed them—plus their grandparents and tag-along kid siblings who love to share the atmosphere—he provides sandwiches of all kinds, pizza and "outstanding salads in absolutely large portions."

"The fare is not challenging as far as gourmet foods go," says the San Jose native, who is a graduate of San Francisco's California Culinary Academy and whose skills were broadened by an internship as assistant Cellar Master for the neighboring Plumed Horse restaurant. He's hampered, he says, by a kitchen so cramped there's no room for a stove—a sure-fire test of his creativity. "We're just trying to make simple food super."

Customers seem to appreciate it. As an example, the Chinese chicken salad is his biggest seller. At $8.50, the portion is so large folks rarely end up eating it alone. Sandwiches from vegie to pesto chicken with mozzarella run $4.50-$6.50. "The one called Ruth's BLT is named after my grandmother," Richardson grins. "Whenever I was hungry at her house, she made me a BLT—even though I never wanted one. She never asked."

Pizzas can be made with toppings of chicken, garlic, mozzarella, ham, pineapple, bleu cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and more. It's $4.50 for a seven-inch size and $8 for the 10-inch. There is beer, wine, coffees of all kinds and soft drinks to wash the pizza down.

"We're trying to expand," Richardson notes. "We're working on our salads and sandwiches—keeping the ideas fresh. I'm considering a real barbecue on weekends, but first I have to go through the fire department and all that." Meanwhile, he's giving a test run to a BBQ beef sandwich made without benefit of coals. "I figured a way to make them very tender," he says. "I cut the beef very thin, put sauce on it and nuke it." It works.

"Lots of people don't know we have a pool table," he points out. There's also the jukebox with songs spanning three decades. "The oldest stuff is probably by the Righteous Brothers," he says.

Thursday is karaoke night. A young crowd picks from classic songs made famous by Johnny Cash, John Travolta in Grease, or the rapper Eminem.

"I have the same group of kids here every week, all of them singing. Some of them are so bad, but it doesn't seem to bother them," he chuckles.

"At first I didn't care for karaoke, but when these kids are here, they're not out doing drugs or something. They're keeping out of trouble. That makes it good for me," he concludes. "I like that."

Blue Rock Shoot, 14523 Big Basin Way in Saratoga, is open Sunday and Monday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to midnight. For more information, call 408.868.1613.