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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Cupertino Hobee's Maggie Russell, left, recently won the restaurant chain's highest honor, the Paul Taber Award for Excellence. Cupertino City Councilmember Sandra James, right, was nominated as Hobee's best customer, but Palo Alto Mayor Gary Fazzini edged her out. Russell and James are pictured here with Michael Lashen, one of Hobee's owners.
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Hobee's manager gets top award
By PAM MARINO
The general manager of Hobee's in Cupertino, Maggie Russell, follows a very important rule: Everyone who walks in the restaurant's doors is to be treated like a best friend coming into her home.
It's part of the reason why the city's most popular spot for power breakfasts and lunches, family dinners and Sunday brunches has consistently been the No. 1 Hobee's in the 11-restaurant chain for many years, in both sales and employee performance.
Recently Russell was awarded the company's top honor, the Paul Taber Award for Excellence, named for the founder of Hobee's, at an awards ceremony that kicked off the chain's 25th anniversary year.
"For them [the company leaders] to vote for me as the recipient was a real honor," Russell said.
Russell came to Hobee's after graduating from Mission College with a degree in restaurant management. She said she came from a natural foods background in both cooking and catering.
She was hired at the Cupertino store as an assistant manager, but it didn't take long for her to be promoted to general manager.
For her, Hobee's is not just a place to work, it has become an extended family consisting of both employees and regular customers.
It was Hobee's people-oriented philosophy that drew Russell to the restaurant, along with the chain's commitment to community involvement.
The fact that Hobee's Cupertino had helped numerous civic groups was one reason why City Councilwoman Sandra James decided to make the restaurant her place to hold business meetings, both for her business and for city-related matters, she said. James was nominated as Hobee's best customer and was on hand at the ceremony when Russell received her award. James lost the best-customer award to Gary Fazzini, mayor of Palo Alto.
"This is my favorite restaurant," James said last week after yet another breakfast meeting. "It's like a home away from home." She usually sits at the same table every time. "A lot of important decisions have been made at this table," she said, including her decision to run for City Council two years ago.
James said everything about the restaurant is high quality, from the food to the service.
"Maggie, of course, is the one who makes it happen," James said.
Sadly, the Cupertino Hobee's will be losing Russell this year. Russell's dad is 86 and suffering form Alzheimer's disease. Her mom is 84. Russell will be moving to Rhode Island in November with her soon-to-be husband Larry Dunder so that she can care for her parents.
She said she's sad to be leaving her friends in Cupertino, but "you can't place a value on your folks."
Russell plans to train her replacement, trying to instill the same values of good food and good service, along with the desire to keep the family atmosphere.
"It is a unique place," James said of Hobee's. "Every city should have a place like this."
Hobee's is in the Oaks Center at 21267 Stevens Creek Blvd. The phone number is (408) 255-6010. The restaurant is open for breakfast Mondays through Fridays at 6:30 a.m.; it opens at 7:30 a.m. on weekends. The restaurant closes at 9 p.m. on Sundays and Mondays, 9:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, and 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
