The black and white Three Cooks Café sign that juts out over Petaluma Boulevard near the corner of Magnolia Avenue is all that remains of one of our city’s longest-running restaurant, which closed in 2013.
It’s difficult to determine exactly when the restaurant opened. “No one seems to be sure how long the café has existed under the Three Cooks name, although it has apparently been called that since the 1940s,” a 1978 Argus-Courier article stated.
That same article said the café’s name was inspired by the first chef at the restaurant, a man aptly named Cook, who allegedly worked the line with his two sons. “That’s just heresy, I don’t know that for sure,” owner Cornelius Laymond told the paper in 1978.
The first written reference to Three Cooks Cafe in this newspaper came in 1950, when thieves broke in and stole change from the cash drawer. In fact, every article written about Three Cooks Café in the 1950s involved burglaries. In 1957, the café was ransacked by a group of teenagers who seemed to throw a lot of food but otherwise didn’t cause much damage. A year later, someone broke in and stole $118 in rolls of nickels, plus the thief pried open the jukebox and pinball machines to steal all the nickels inside.
The café had at least eight owners over its six-decade history, no one seemed to keep it for more than a few years before throwing in the towel. But despite the turnover, the popular breakfast and lunch spot proved it had staying power. Open daily from 5 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., the small space was consistently packed with local farmers in the early morning, followed by housewives who liked to play cards and drink tea in the late morning, before local workers filled the booths during the lunch rush. In the 1960s, a hamburger was 50-cents while a sirloin steak lunch would only cost a diner $1.25.
In 1973, Laymond came out of retirement to purchase the café. He had been a somewhat noteworthy cook in the Bay Area, starting at San Francisco’s Palace Hotel in the 1920s. Although he was in his 70s, he was bored of the retired life and itching to get back in the kitchen. He bought the Petaluma café, and made a name for himself with crispy home fries and dark black coffee.
Tragedy struck in January, 1978, when a pot of grease caught fire in the middle of the night. Luckily no one was injured, but much of the restaurant was burned to the ground. Laymond told the Argus he couldn’t afford to reopen, but changed his minds when his loyal customers begged him to rebuild, even helping to fund the repairs. Three Cooks Café was back in business three months later.
In 1980 Laymond sold to Steve Burrus, who brought his Midwestern roots to the kitchen. He made Three Cooks known for Kansas-style barbecue, specifically ribs that fell off the bone. He famously hated any fried food, and told diners who asked for fries with their meal to “try the golden arches instead,” according to a 1980 Argus article. He also expanded hours to include dinner for the first time, but Three Cooks was always best known for its breakfasts.
It had a host of other owners over the years, but the restaurant finally closed in 2013. The new owners built Wishbone, which has also become a beloved neighborhood breakfast spot. The owners kept the sign to pay homage to the long history of Three Cooks Café.
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