The Bay Area-born cafe chain, which filed for bankruptcy and closed all locations last May, reopened Monday, March 1, at 645 Ellis St. in Mountain View.
Specialty's Cafe and Bakery has reopened in Mountain View. Photo courtesy Specialty's Cafe and Bakery.
"Specialty's original founders, Craig and Dawn, missed the business so they've returned and they've brought their (now grown!) kids with them," the Specialty's website reads. "We've downsized to just one location and have updated the menu with new delicious creations. This will allow us to focus on the great food and customer experience."
The owners did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company, which Dawn Sandnes and Craig Saxton founded in San Francisco in 1987, once ran more than 50 cafes in California, Washington and Illinois. Specialty's was a work-day lunch favorite, particularly for its cookies. When the business announced it would give away frozen cookie dough before shutting down last spring, people flocked to Specialty's warehouse in Redwood City. According to a Facebook post, 2,000 lucky customers got boxes of frozen cookie dough.
The famed Specialty's cookies. Photo courtesy Specialty's Cafe and Bakery.
The reopened Specialty's has new sandwiches, salads and pastries — from a porchetta sandwich to a Moroccan kale salad and morning buns — but the "same cookies – we're not crazy!" the company wrote on Facebook. Cookie flavors include semi-sweet chocolate chunk, oatmeal wheat germ chocolate chip, chai snickerdoodle and salted rye whiskey dark chocolate. The cafe also serves Peet's coffee and has seating on an outdoor patio. Catering services are also available again.
The owners plan to reopen more locations "based on customer demand," the Specialty's website states.
Specialty's is open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Orders can be placed online or in person.
