Published in the Jan. 8, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
Patrons can dine on paninis, sandwiches, hot dogs, soup and ice cream among other tasty fare
By Staff Report
BookSmart, downtown Morgan Hill’s popular independent bookstore, has a slogan that reads: “Mind Fuel for All Ages.” With its cafe serving a variety of meals and desserts, patrons can not only energize their mind with a volume on Shakespeare or Hemingway, but fuel up their bodies as well with a sandwich or bowl of soup.
“One of the things that we identified as a need for the bookstore before we got in the bookstore business was to have some food service and the cafe,” said Brad Jones, co-owner of the store with his wife Cinda Meister. “We thought that it goes well with the book environment. People want to slow down, see what’s around them. It’s well known that coffee shops and bookshops go together.”
Photo by Marty Cheek
Brittany Shores delivers up a freshly made chili dog with cheese at the BookSmart Cafe in downtown Morgan Hill.
The cafe is not a big component of BookSmart’s business, he said, and the majority of his customers most likely don’t even know that the store offers food service. But those aware of the cafe have grown into a loyal following who order a beverage and meal and work on their laptops at the tables or socialize with friends.
“Our service is quick service,” Jones said. “We offer food that is reasonably priced and filling — like our chicken panini is relatively healthy and quick. We serve hot dogs and hot links and those are made by Bay Area company Miller Hot Dogs and are really delicious.”
The menu includes a selection of basic lunch-time items including chili dogs, chili cheese dogs, tuna sandwiches, and soups. Every day, BookSmart’s five-star mushroom soup is served, its popular house soup. That kitchen daily rotates other soup flavors made by the True Soup Company including chicken noodle soup, abogados Mexican meatball soup, Italian wedding soup and the delicious “Thanksgiving every day” soup made with turkey, cream and rice.
BookSmart uses Santa Cruz Roasting Company coffee as its brew of choice. The cafe staff can make espresso, lattes and cappuccinos to order. It also serves Republic of Tea herbal teas, a top-brand organic and fair-trade tea.
Patrons hankering for a carbonated drink with their hot dog or chicken panini can find a selection of classic Jones sodas at the BookSmart Cafe. “They’re basically a boutique brand of sodas and they’re really good,” Jones said. “People really like them, especially the cream sodas. People really go crazy over that.”
For customers looking to slim down, BookSmart offers the Chris Powell brand of fitness shakes, part of a weight-loss diet program Jones recently started and has encouraged his customers to join. “We kid now that we have the fit cafe and the fat cafe,” he said.
For those not on a diet, the BookSmart Cafe has a wide variety of offerings to tempt the sweet tooth. It bakes scones and cookies daily fresh in the store’s kitchen. It also serves Treat Ice Cream, a tradition for downtown Morgan Hill. Many years ago, a shop called Scooters on the corner of Second Street and Monterey Road served Treat Ice Cream and cake. When BookSmart took over that location, customers told Jones and Meister that they wanted to continue getting their Treat at the bookstore.
“What’s special about Treat is that they use top quality ingredients and they’ve been doing it for a long time — since 1951 — so they know what they’re doing and they’re doing it right,” Jones said. “It tastes really good.”
