Welcome to Hoover's 101

"Hoover" Hoover's Beginnings .....

ERVIN LEON SIMMONS 1916-1976

To help support his family, Ervin left the 4th grade and at the ripe old age of ten, started a long career in the restaurant
business. At a local cafe in Paducah, Texas he began at the bottom - washing dishes, scrubbing floors, and peeling
potatoes.

By the time he was 16, he was cooking full time: 6 days a week (earning $2.00 a day) and bringing home leftovers to help
feed his five sisters. Weary of the responsibilities and restless, he began to wander around the state of Texas cooking
here and there, picking up the moniker of "Lightening" for the speed at which he sent out orders.

Sooner or later he would always wind up back in Paducah, where he got his start cooking for the Jones'. It was here at
age 24 that he met and married Agatha Bell Lancaster - two days after setting eyes on her. Soon afterward, it was on the
road again. Childress, Dallas, Fort Worth, Amarillo - there was nowhere Ervin wouldn't go, looking for the right spot.

It was in Amarillo, working in a cafe at a private airport, where Ervin was stuck with the name "hoover", which stayed
with him for life. Playing cards with the locals, who included among others, L.B.J., our future president, Ervin was always
cussing about the job President Roosevelt was doing, stating how Hoover was the man who should be president.
Because of this, he was tagged "Hoover" and, much to her dismay, his wife became "Mrs. Hoover".

Following Agatha's family to California, Hoover went to work at the 101 Cafe in Paso Robles. At his wife's urging, he went
back to using the name Ervin, but it wasn't long before a passerby who knew him from Texas called him Hoover, and of
course, it stuck again.

Soon it was back to Texas, then onto New Mexico and Needles, finally settling down at the Red Rooster Cafe in Victorville,
California. Hover ran the kitchen for seven years before he was ready to move again. Coming to Atascadero in 1960,
Hoover worked at Cal Poly in the cafeteria until 1963. Then, at the urging of his former boss, he moved back to Victorville
and worked at the Red Rooster until it burned down in 1965.

In February 1966, Hoover came back to Atascadero for good, working with Doc Wooten at Wooten's Cafe and then in April
buying the restaurant and fulfilling a dream he had all his life: owning his own place, "The Hoover House restaurant".

In 1975, almost ten years later, he bought out Rosie's Cafe, renaming it Hoover's Hacienda, where he served Mexican and
American food until his death in 1976. Since then, with the exception of two years while leasing out the restaurant, his
family has been carrying on the tradition of feeding customers home cooking the best way we know how.

The reputation is with us today of old fashioned cooking and impeccable customer service. Hooever and Gaye's children
grew up in the restaurant business and have kept the family business growing since their father passed away in 1976.
George Larry Simmons, Hoover's second oldest son and his daughter, Deborah Marie Blair have created an awesome
opportunity to provide Atascadero with a new option for dinner downtown. Together, they have worked on maintaining
the comfortable atmosphere Hoover's is famous for, while introducing many new elements. A brewery and full bar, gift
shop, extended hours to serve dinner and a bar and lounge upstairs known as Hoover's LIVE, are among the new things
Hoover's now offers. This is a great opportunity for you to check out the excitement in downtown Atascadero. The staff
at Hoover's is here to provide you with great food, fabulous service and an experience you'll want to enjoy again and
again.

From fresh baked biscuits to grinding our own sausage to making our own country gravy, with very few exceptions we do
things the way Hoover did them: "The old fashioned way". And as he would say, "Don't ask a boy to do a man's job. See
the man at Hoover's".

P.S. Whatever you do, don't get caught sitting on his stool when he's ready to take a break!

YOUR HOSTS
THE SIMMONS FAMILY SINCE 1966

ON THE KING'S HIGHWAY
6900 El Camino Real
Atascadero, California
805-466-6900

Hoover's 101 Restaurant & Brewery

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