Wooden Nickel Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Watsonville

Famished after a four mile hike at Mt Madonna I found this place via Yelp*. The pics of the food looked good, but the business itself looked...um..."suspect," but I decided to give it a chance.

Upon arrival I got a bad feeling after seeing some suspicious-looking locals exiting. Now, normally I'm not one to be deterred by a crummy location, but since I had the boy with me I felt a twinge of regret. Unfortunately I was being guided by hunger at this point and not logic. So enter we did and we were almost immediately greeted by a friendly barkeep who told us to sit wherever. A few minutes later Renee, the waitress, handed us menus and we placed our orders.

The Nickel Special ($12)

This eponymous house special is a 1/2lb of housemade ground beef―that was cooked perfectly medium―and was loaded with bacon, Avo, shrooms, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts and blanketed in a thick layer of cheese (one's choice of American, Swiss or cheddar). The burger, as a whole, was glorious! The beef had the perfect amount of greasiness and I loved the copious amount of toppings. My only qualm was the bun was a touch too "bready" for my liking. Otherwise a perfect burger. 4.75*

Fries

It's been a long time since I've had fries this terrific. Their shape reminded me of In-N-Out fries but had a much, much better flavor and a nice crispy exterior that was heavenly. It's rare that I'll eat fries without ketchup but these demanded to be enjoyed in all their greasy, naked glory. 5*

Iced Tea ($2.50)

Normally I don't mention iced tea as it's usually pretty standard but this was obviously brewed fresh and nice and strong. 5*

Chocolate cake (free w/ every plate)

The inner tumult about whether to order dessert or not can easily be avoided here. As they provide diners a small slice of chocolate sheet cake with every plate. Not a huge amount, but enough to whet your appetite and appease the sugar monster within―for now... 4*

Service and Ambiance

Renee was terrific, friendly and really reminded me of what a waitresses should be like. The interior was a mix of wood, nostalgic posters and regulars all intertwined into a fascinating quilt made of time. I could literally people watch here all day. 5*

Value

Huge terrific burger, amazing fries and cake for only $12?! GTFOH! 5*

Another classic example of not judging a book by it's cover; if I'd followed my instincts I'd have missed out on one of the best meals of the year, so far. Highly...

Usually its ok. But last week i went in with my niece and her friend. Ran in to a couple of friends i havent seen in a long time they were with a third woman. Well long story short the third woman(previously had been cut off three drinks before we walked in) started a fight with my niece so all parties are told to leave. Well i go back in about a week later with my son and grand daughter and have dinner. Following night go in with my husband and son and have dinner again. Next morning go in with my same niece, and get seated and the same bartender that was there for the fight , and Saturdays dinner comes and tells me " Oh your gonna have to leave till Leo talks to me" WHAT?? Who runs a business like that?? Come on now. My niece was the one that was attacked in the wooden nickel and we are being treated as if we started it. When in reality the bartender should know when his customers have had too much to drink. I have never given a review but this is ridiculous how we are being treated based on the way members of the staff feel that...

Our family of 3 visited on a slow Thursday night based on review. We ordered couple of Prawn/Fish/Chip and Grill snapper. Waited for over 45 minutes before our food arrived even there's not other customer during the first 30 minutes we were there. Fish&Chip were burn with an after taste as were fried in "over-used old oil" , Cole slaw portion is small enough for one bite. $24 Grill snapper supposed to be in lemon/caper sauce but no caper at all which was the reason the entree selected! Broccoli was so fresh that it's raw and not cut. Waitress never stop by to ask how's food or check if we need water! Mine was bone dry. There were several tables of people come and go but the only waitress there can't attend to us based on priority! Finally my husband had to stand up (the seat were so uncomfortable that hurt his back!) got her attention! It took another 30 minutes for the waitress to pick up the check for payment. I know there are many regulars that get services right away but service should be in timely manner. Very...