Juan and Paula Diaz own and operate Cowboy’s Corner in Watsonville, California. They opened the cafe in 2009 and recently celebrated 11 years of being in business.
The cafe serves breakfast and lunch with everything from eggs to sandwiches. I frequent the cafe on a regular basis and think it’s one of the best breakfast places in Watsonville.
Corned Beef Hash & Eggs
One of my absolute favorite dishes is their corned beef hash and eggs. It’s on their special’s menu during the week. The fresh made corned beef hash has amazing flavors comprised mainly of bell peppers, onions and potatoes. And I always have my hash with sunny side up eggs. I throw the eggs on top of the hash and break the yolk and let it ooze down into the hash. So good!!
Scrambles
The cafe’s scramble specials are great! This one is a ground beef scramble with bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheese. Along with hash browns (or their house made potatoes) and a fresh made biscuit smothered in gravy. Throw some house made salsa on the food and you’re good to go.
Biscuits and Gravy
Speaking of biscuits and gravy…you can order it individually. When you do, you get two fresh made biscuits that they drown in thick sausage gravy. It’s good, hearty and a rib sticker. It’s a meal in itself. Or you can have them without gravy. Add butter and honey and it will taste amazing.
Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs
One of their daily specials is the chicken fried steak and eggs. It’s a staple of the cafe. Deep fried breaded steak, eggs, and potatoes is an awesome dish here. I like my eggs scrambled for this plate. That way I can scoop some of the gravy onto the eggs.
Fresh Made Muffins
Unique to this cafe is their daily fresh muffins. This one is a blueberry muffin. Juan and Paula craft different flavored muffins each day. Everything from apple to pumpkin spice and more.
Pancakes, Waffles & French Toast
If you are looking for fluffy pancakes, big waffles or a fancy fruit french toast plate, and you love sugary laden food…you came to the right place!
Breakfast Burritos
This burrito is named the Meat Lovers Burrito. The cafe has a variety of breakfast burritos on their menu. You can have it with Tapito, their house made salsa or without any sauce. It’s all good no matter what you put on it.
Skirt Steak and Eggs
Another popular plate on the special’s menu is the skirt steak and eggs. Skirt steak is a popular cut of meat on the West Coast, in particular, California. I like my skirt steak marinated in a teriyaki marinade or BBQ marinade. It’s a very hearty dish. Typically, I won’t eat again until dinner after eating this breakfast plate.
Linguica Sausage
I love lingucia sausage! You can have it on the side, or with eggs or as a scramble. Great flavor!
Bacon and Eggs
Sometimes, just a simple dish of bacon, eggs and potatoes is all you need! I prefer crisp near burnt bacon and my eggs over easy for this plate.
Currently, Cowboy’s Corner is open for outdoor dining, but space is limited, so bring your patience and be prepared to wait 30 to 45 minutes or longer for a seat.
Hahn Estates
One of the more beautiful wineries I have visited over the years is located in Soledad, California…Hahn Family Wines. The winery is family owned and operated. It’s about a 45 minute drive south on Highway 101 from Watsonville.
Up on the hillside of the Santa Lucia Highlands…Hahn’s Winery came into existence in 1979, when the Late Nicolaus Hahn and his wife Gaby purchased the property.
Nicolaus Hahn was a pioneer of Monterey County’s Santa Lucia wine region. He was born in Switzerland in 1936. He passed away in 2018. He was 81 years old.
The wine is good here! I’m a fan of red wines, mainly Merlot, some Cabernet and other deep, complex flavored, bold red wines.
Those stunning views, with wine in hand, makes for a very pleasurable day of sipping wine. It’s the views that keep me coming back here for more. It helps that the wine tastes good too.
Shmuel Thaler Photographer
Shmuel Thaler has been a photographer at the Santa Cruz Sentinel since 1987. His photos have been seen on NBC Nightly news, CBS Evening news, as well as many major newspapers and magazines throughout the United States.
Santa Cruz County was hit by a rare August lightning storm in the wee hours of the morning…that led to one of the county’s most historic wild land fires ever.
To date (9/2/2020) over 85,000 acres have burned and more still burning. Containment is about 46% as of this writing. More than 1,400 structures have burned to the ground…leaving thousands displaced and/or outright homeless.
Thaler captured the lightening storm and fires through the eye of his lens in an amazing gallery of photos. I leave you with some of the photos he posted on Facebook as the events unfolded.
Thaler can be found on Facebook under “Shmuel Thaler Photographer”. Or you can go to his website at: http://shmuelthaler.com
What's Next...
2020 has been a year to forget! What’s next this year for our small community of Santa Cruz County? Floods and an earthquake? Is the sky going to open up to an alien invasion from mars or beyond? Or will the wild kingdom take over and we become a version of Pierre Boulle’s Planet of the Apes?
Crazy times! But I have hope for us…and I have hope that I will be able to continue my travels, eat good food and drink awesome whiskey and other libations.
See you on the next Foodie Booze adventure…
I just have to go down there for breakfast!! Like you, I have hope. We are back home, and today is the first sunny morning.
Thanks Dave!
Thanks again ,Paul for a wonderful blog they are a breath of fresh air in this crazy time on this planet.
Thank you Kevin!
Cowboy’s Corner Cafe is a great place!
I remember going there once and looking to see what their specials were that day. On the list was Pork Chops. I thought, “Yeah, that’s what I want… with salsa!” The waiter took my order and soon my food arrived. To my surprise there was only one pork chop on my plate. Paula was in charge that day, so I explained to her that the sign said “pork chops” and I only got one. She replied, “Oh, would you like me to fix that for you?” I said, “Yes please.” She then walked over to the white board that had the specials written on it and erased the “s” off of “pork chops.”
Hahaha…I love her humor!