Name: Suzy Freitas
Country Rose Cafe
Address: 696 Fourth St., Hollister
Owner: Sharon Baker
Contact: 635-0252
On a busy day, waitress Suzy Freitas serves breakfast and lunch to more than 300 people.
But those customers aren’t just nameless faces, Freitas said. They’re her friends. Freitas estimated that she knows three-fourths of her customers by name, and sometimes they return the favor.
“When people see me outside work, they call out my name, or they say, ‘That’s the girl from Country Rose,'” Freitas said.
Those customers have also voted Freitas the best waitress in San Benito County. Country Rose owner Sharon Baker said that when Freitas found out, she was speechless.
“It’s a real honor,” Freitas said. “I really don’t know (why I was chosen). I just like to have fun at work.”
The Country Rose has some loyal customers, Freitas noted, including a few who will eat the restaurant’s “good, old-fashioned cooking” twice a day. Freitas said some customers trust her enough to order for them.
Freitas, 39, has been at the Country Rose for four years. Freitas said she’s learned a lot about business, but she doesn’t plan to leave anytime soon. After all, waitressing at the Country Rose can be wearying, but it’s still an easier lifestyle than the graveyard shift at Casa De Fruta. Freitas added that Baker has taught her lot.
“I think I’ll just hang out here,” Freitas said.
