Amanda Franks reveals the secrets of the Felton staple, from pancakes to breakfast burritos. Photo by Chip Scheuer.
Amanda Franks started at Rocky’s Café on Highway 9 as a server at age 15. Seven years later, she’s managing the Felton restaurant in the mornings before going to class at Cabrillo College, where she studies business.
SANTA CRUZ WEEKLY: Was this place always a Rocky’s?
AMANDA FRANKS: It was originally a house. It was built in 1927. The owner actually lived here as a little girl. It’s been other restaurants. It’s been Dale’s Diner—lots of history. The owner always tells me that her mom built these walls herself because she owned a wood shop.
With a small kitchen, does everyone do a little bit of everything?
We work as a family. I’m willing to do anything. I’ll do dishes. I control the register. The only thing I normally don’t do is cook. We all pitch in here and there.
What do you like to eat here?
I skip around everywhere. I really like our tofu scramble option. Being in Santa Cruz and in this day and age, vegetarian options are not everywhere actually. It’s one of the things I take advantage of here. I love our pancakes, too. They’re nice and fluffy. We have a secret of coconut pancakes. It’s not on our menu, so it’s shredded coconut flakes, and it adds a whole new texture to the pancakes. A lot of people make combinations of blueberry coconut or banana coconut.
I usually take advantage of our specials, too. If someone asks “have you had that?” I like to be able to say a reflection of how it really tastes. Thanksgiving, we’ll do a roasted turkey omelet with cranberry sauce and cream cheese. I can say “it is strange, but it is really good.” Right now we have a goat cheese and broccoli omelet.
My friend says your breakfast burrito is the best ever.
A lot of people have been saying it’s the best in town, which is a compliment because we have a taqueria down the road.
He was really hungry.
It’s $7.95. It’s really good. It primarily comes with bacon as the main meat option, but again we do have a lot of vegetarians around the area, so we always offer a substitute of spinach instead or mushrooms. It has salsa fresca we make here ourselves, nice ripe avocado.
Are you vegetarian?
I’m a bacontarian. The only meat I eat is bacon. I’m not vegetarian, but I prefer vegetarian options. Except for bacon, because that’s my weakness.
