To the Taber Family (& the New Owners):

As a regular, frequent diner at Hobee's (lunch yesterday in Palo Alto, lunch today in San Jose), I want to express my appreciation for your dedication to wholesome food, honest value, and community mindedness (with your regular contributions of coffeecakes to worthy events and your "Kids Eat Free" on Wednesdays). I often hold business meetings and conduct interviews at all your locations, including Belmont and Sunnyvale, and have eaten frequently at the Cupertino restaurant, across from DeAnza college.

Whether it is breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I can always count on the consistency of your offerings and the ability to get anything substituted or put on the side. I love Hobee's tea and my two boys, both in the late twenties, still remember the "MIckey pancakes."

Thank you, too, for doing your best to continue the tradition by selling the business to people who have a real chance to do so. I remember the "Good Earth" restaurants from long ago that were sold to General Mills, I believe; that company promised to continue the existing restaurants, but within several years they were all gone, though the retail brand continues.

I wish the Taber family the best of luck in the future and I wish the Chijates success in nurturing the restaurants through the difficult obstacles of the Health Department, the Labor Department, and foody trends. Keep up the good work and I'll be back as a satisfied customer.

--Chuck Bernstein, 444 Oak Court, Menlo Park

Mystery solved. The Cupertino branch repeatedly disappointed us when we ate there before attending the Foothill Speaker's series at Flint Center; we finally gave up and stopped going there. We wondered "What happened to Hobees's?" It sounds like the "real" Hobee's are still the tasty, fun places we requested decades ago. Glad to hear and best wishes to the new owners.