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Former De Anza basketball star Kendall Simmons went from shooting hoops to flipping burgers when he opened Clarkes with his wife, Jeaneé, last month.

Clarkes opens--just in time for football season

By Eric Drudis

Former De Anza baseball and basketball star Kendall Simmons opened a new Clarkes restaurant to heavy business Aug. 18.

"I went from shooting hoops and hitting home runs to flipping burgers," Simmons said. "We're excited to be here. People in Cupertino are more sociable and open."

Simmons, his wife, Jeaneé, and her parents, Gabriel and LeRoyce Oller, opened the fourth Clarkes restaurant in the Bay Area with the help of several former employees from their now-defunct Round Table Pizza in Palo Alto.

But Simmons said he doesn't plan on opening any more restaurants in the near future.

"First we want to make sure we please our clientele here," he said.

The restaurant, decorated with pictures of the San Francisco 49ers and various basketball and baseball shots, hopes it attracts even more business once the football season gears up.

"Sundays are football day. We recommend people come early so they can get good seats," Simmons said. Current customers are from nearby businesses, but Simmons said he hopes students from his former school try the new restaurant's food.

"When I was a student, we always complained there was no place to eat nearby," Simmons said. "Our burgers may be higher-priced, but they are worth it. They are very good and big," Simmons said. "No one has been disappointed."

The cost of a meal ranges from $3.50 to $5 during lunch; $9 to $11 for dinner.

Everything in the restaurant has a "sporty feel," said customer Andrea Duggan. "It's a very American, very traditional and a very good restaurant."

The menu--a barbecue-lover's heaven, according to Simmons--consists of burgers, chicken, ribs, steaks and milkshakes. As Simmons explained, "anything you can get at a barbecue we have here." Clarkes offers a condiment bar so customers can choose what to put on their burger.

"All in the name of customer service," Simmons quipped.

Clarkes chose to open in Cupertino because of its supportive business atmosphere and heavy traffic on Stevens Creek Boulevard.

"Our [Round Table Pizza] Palo Alto location had some continual problems. When we found this property we bought it quickly because we knew we wanted it," Simmons said. After two months of completely redecorating the lot--"everything is new," Simmons said--the restaurant opened in mid-August to 300 customers a day.

The restaurant management is currently planning to start a catering and delivery service for local businesses.

"You can count on good service here," he said. "Gabe [Oller] has been in the restaurant business for 15 or 16 years ... [and] I've worked with him for eight. It's a family-owned business."

Clarkes is located at 20950 Stevens Creek Blvd. in Cupertino. For more information, call 863-1334.

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This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, September 9, 1998.
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