Photograph by George Sakkestad
Cafe Wraps owner Woody de Mayo hefts a salmon wrap at his Cupertino restaurant.
By NATASHA COLLINS
"Great-tasting, wholesome ethnic food, served fresh and quickly" is how restaurant owner Woody de Mayo describes the food at his new restaurant Cafe Wraps.
De Mayo and his partner, Steve Rosenfield, have been in the restaurant business for more than 12 years. They have owned and operated several franchise restaurants including McDonald's, Carl's Jr. and Burger King in both Southern California and the Bay Area. They decided to break away from the franchise structure and opened Cafe Wraps last month.
"We wanted the independence to do our own thing," de Mayo said. "We wanted a place that would have quick service, but offer a nice meal. We read about the idea of wraps, thought it was a good way to serve food and found ways to improve upon the idea."
Cafe Wraps offers more than 17 kinds of "wraps," meals wrapped in a tortilla, from the four corners of the world, including Spain, Japan, China and the United States. "We wanted to have an international flare," de Mayo said. "We pinpointed the areas of the world we wanted our food to be from and hired a chef to come up with the recipes."
The food at Cafe Wraps is made to order, and all the produce and ingredients are prepared fresh daily. The restaurant also offers a variety of tortillas, including sesame, spinach and tomato.
"The colors help the presentation and add to the feeling of fun and liveliness in the restaurant," de Mayo said.
The restaurant has only been open a month, but according to de Mayo, business has been better then expected. "At times there is standing room only," he said. "The turnout has been great, and there have been a lot of return faces."
De Mayo attributes the restaurant's success to the ability to meet the clientele's needs and the quality of the food. "The customer deciphers the menu and the meal," he said. "We have the freedom to change to meet the customer's needs. Customers come here to get more then the traditional fast meal. They know they'll get quality, healthy food at a reasonable price."
The average wrap, which weighs about 25 ounces, costs between $3.95 and $6.25. There is also a kids menu that offers wraps for $1.99 and more.
The restaurant also caters parties and takes phone orders. De Mayo says he also hopes to be involved with Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit group that serves meals to the needy, by January.
Cafe Wraps is located at 10745 South De Anza Blvd. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 255-1700; fax orders to 255-7697.
This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, November 20, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.