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When Cosmos Bar and Grill opened last September, it took on a challenging San Benito Street location. The building most recently housed The Baler Bar & Grill. Before that, it was The Hollister House Bar and Grill, The Pendergrass and The Broken Wing. None of those restaurants seemed to find their footing in the neighborhood, and all closed after just a few years.
Cosmos looks to break that pattern with an interestingly varied menu, more moderate pricing, excellent service and a relaxed upscale atmosphere. It’s a steakhouse that doesn’t push the highest-end cuts. It’s a grill without lapsing into bar food. And it’s an Italian restaurant that knows there are classics beyond pasta.
Knowing the co-owners’ backgrounds and the variety of places they worked, none of that should be surprising. Elpidio Diego and his wife, Karla Lobo, have worked at several outstanding restaurants in Morgan Hill and Gilroy.
Diego started in the business when he was 18, working as a dishwasher at the Golden Oak Restaurant, where his brother, head chef Socrates Diego, was head chef. That family connection might have helped to get him promoted to doing prep work within two months of being hired.
“We used to do a lot of catering,” he said. “So that was my job, prepping all the stuff for catering. You have to put your attention into every detail. After 10 years of that, I jumped to Mama Mia’s, which was a very busy place.”
From there, Diego worked his way to The Ladera Grill, where he mastered, among other things, Italian cuisine and the art of grilling.
“I did pasta and sauces,” he said, “and then I did filet mignon and New York steaks. If you like what you are doing, you’re going to do it right. And I love what I am doing.”
For the last five years, before opening Cosmos, Diego dreamed of having his own restaurant and was developing ideas for it. He knew he wanted a steakhouse that took advantage of his experiences in varied cuisines.
“There is a lot you can do with American and Italian food,” he said. “You can create a new pasta dish every day. There are different chicken dishes, different salads. There is just a greater number of things you can make.”
One evening, all the pieces fell into place when Diego met Maritza Lopez, owner of Pupusa Loca in Los Banos.
“I told her what I wanted to do,” he said. “When she saw what I can do in the kitchen, she said we should try to get a place together. Then I met Raul Escareno, the owner of The Baler, and he said, ‘I think I’m going to leave this place.’”
Diego said that, with limited funds to start up, he moved as fast as he could—The Baler closed at the end of July 2024, and Cosmos opened a month later. Without even a glance at the previous restaurant’s menu, he quickly created a new one off the top of his head. All the ingredients are fresh, and everything is made from scratch.
“Everything is done by order,” he said. “Nothing is premade. I make the dressings and sauces, I cut my meat, I butcher my salmon. Sometimes, the food takes a little longer to get to the table, but my customers have been really good about it.”
According to Diego, the star of the breakfast menu is the Crab Benedict, which features fresh sauteed spinach, Roma tomatoes and Dungeness crab. His favorite appetizer on the lunch menu is the melt-in-your-mouth ahi tuna, served with fruit salsa, wasabi aioli and teriyaki sauce.
The lunch and dinner menus share many of the same dishes, such as the burgers and all the lunch salads and entrees. The preparation is identical, but the dinner portions are larger, and the dishes are priced slightly higher. For example, the Grilled Atlantic Salmon, served with rice pilaf, sun-dried tomatoes and a lemon beurre-blanc sauce, is $21 for lunch and $25 for dinner.
The ingredients for some dishes also change between lunch and dinner. The Garlic Scampi, with prawns, mushrooms, tomatoes, and a lemon butter sauce, is served with bell peppers, onions, spinach and capellini pasta for $22 at lunch, and with rice and vegetables for $26 at dinner.
Lobo began her cooking career working at a Taco Bell but learned to bake during her time at Garlic City Cafe. The skills she learned there put her in a perfect position to create all the desserts at Cosmos, including flourless chocolate tarts, tiramisu and bread pudding.
“The manager kept asking me if I wanted to help,” she said. “She would say, ‘Karla, we don’t have any cookies’ or ‘we don’t have cheesecake.’ So I was doing my regular job plus helping her with the bakery section.”
Lobo also designed the cocktail menu, leaning on the skills she learned from working at the bar at La Hacienda. Her Cosmos White Sangria is a nice place to start. Made with white wine, a mix of chopped fruit, pineapple juice and triple sec, topped off with soda water and served on the rocks, goes very nicely with the Blackened Chicken Caprese sandwich.
Having worked at high-end restaurants in Gilroy and Morgan Hill, Lobo said, she has grown to love her Hollister customers the best.
“I feel like they come for more than just to enjoy a dinner or lunch,” she said. “They appreciate what we are doing, and we have made many friends here already. We feel the love. They really like to pass the time here, not just come because they are hungry.”
Some items from the Cosmos Lunch and Dinner Menu
The Cosmos Burger – As I have no doubt written before, the signature burger at any restaurant I visit for the first time is one of my must-try tests. Much effort goes into producing a distinctive burger, which tells you much about what you can expect from the other dishes on the menu. And this is a great burger, juicy with good flavor and texture. It’s served on a nicely crusted brioche bun spread with a house-made Fresno pepper aioli that carries a great kick. This one stands up to the best in a town with some great burgers—I’m looking at you, Grillin & Chillin Alehouse, Harvest Time Roadhouse and Paine’s. Cosmos also makes a Prime Steakhouse Burger with a higher grade of meat seasoned with thyme, oregano, and rosemary, but this house burger is just as flavorful and perfect.
The Cowboy Salad – “If I have to pick a salad,” Diego said, “I am going for this one. I love meat.” It is impossible not to describe this as a feast for the eyes. The ingredients are laid out in little piles on a bed of spring mix: corn, carrots, cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions, cucumbers and sauteed mushrooms. Ten ounces of grilled New York steak is sliced and fanned across the plate, with an elegantly crafted avocado rose topping the whole thing. A fresh orchid completes the presentation. Happily, it is also a delight for the taste buds. The mix of tastes and textures, all tied together with a white balsamic vinaigrette, makes this a beautifully compelling and complete meal.
Osso Bucco – “We braise a lamb shank for about four hours in the oven,” Diego said, “which makes it nice and tender. It is a really good portion and one of the customer favorites.” The shank is accompanied by a medley of tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, and squash, then embedded in a bed of buttery garlic mashed potatoes with a thick wine-based gravy. The meat is tender and more than satisfying. The creamy potatoes and abundant veggies are a meal in themselves, rich and flavorful.
Cosmos Bar and Grill
500 San Benito Street, Hollister
Phone: (831)313-1177
Email: CosmosBarEnGrill@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/people/cosmos-bar-and-grill/61571787308141/
Hours:
Monday – Sunday 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Recommendations for future Eat, Drink, Savor articles can be emailed to roberteliason@benitolink.com.
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