‘She’s been the heart and soul.’ Los Banos waitress retires after 43 years

For the past 43 years, Eva Silva has shown up to work at 955 West Pacheco Boulevard. She’s spent more than four decades working as a waitress in the same building.

Silva has seen the name on the building change from Sambo’s Restaurant (1970s) to Seasons Restaurant (early 1980s) to Ryan’s Place (1986-2012) and now Black Bear Diner.

Silva, who will turn 66 on Oct. 8, started in April of 1975 when she was 22 years old. Last week, she retired from the floor. After working as a server for more than four decades, Silva had stayed on as a manager the last couple of years. She will still help part-time with the bookkeeping.

“It’s weird because it’s like you turn around and the kids you used to spoil now come in with kids of their own,” she said. “It’s like how did that many years go by? It seems like it’s gone by really fast.”

Her customers and coworkers know her for her dry sense of humor and dependability.

“In many ways, she’s been the heart and soul of that place for many years,” said general manager David Alvarez, who has worked with Silva for over 20 years. “She’s very responsible and has cared about the business. She’s come in on her time off. When her kids were in school, she would leave and take them to school and then come back.

“She’s always been a hard worker.”

Silva came to Los Banos because her ex-husband was offered a manager position at Sambo’s. What was her first impression of Los Banos in 1975?

“I hated it,” she said. “It was too small. There were about 9,000 people who lived here when I moved here. I’m from Monterey. There was literally nothing here. Where is Los Banos? I had never heard of it before we moved here.”

“We had relatives in Hanford and Tulare. We used to pass right through Los Banos when we’d go to visit them and didn’t even know it.”

Silva grew up in a restaurant. Her mom owned a restaurant when she was little and she started helping out there when she was 9 years old.

“I was always telling the younger servers if you make them laugh you’ll make more money,” Silva said. “I raised four kids on my own just on tips.”

Silva says her dry wit sometimes gets her in trouble. She says she’ll often talk before she thinks.

If a customer asks for something while she’s busy, she’ll often reply ‘no,’ even though she knows she will get it. Although there was the one time she didn’t.

“One guy asked for a glass of milk while I was bussing a table,” she said. “I told him no. Of course, I was going to get it. I got busy and I forgot it. The next time he came in I got him a glass of milk when he sat down even though he wasn’t my customer.”

The customers like her. How else do you explain how she’s been invited to so many weddings and birthdays? To many of her customers, Silva is family.

“I’ve been to way too many funerals, too,” Silva said.

She’s seen kids grow up in the restaurant over the years. She’s waited on some customers hundreds of times and every chance she gets, she loves spoiling the kids.

She used to have the cooks make Mickey Mouse pancakes for the kids. Other times she sneaks whipped cream on the pancakes.

“I spoil them like hell,” she said. “Oh yeah, parents will get mad at me. The kids actually remember me when they come back as adults with their kids. Then I start on their kids.”

Customers can also be a pain.

There was the time Silva purposely spilled a pot of coffee on a patron.

“I had one customer who thought he was God’s gift to women.,” she said. “This was about 20 years ago. We were dressed up in costumes because it was Valentine’s Day and he raised his hand up my leg. I turned around and poured a pot of coffee on him.”

Then there was the woman who referred to Silva as “nothing but a waitress.”

“I had a lady once who was dressed to the max,” Silva said. “You could tell she had money. She said, “Can I ask you a question? Oh never mind, you’re nothing but a waitress. You won’t know.” I told her she can ask me the question. I may or may not know the answer, but it won’t be because I’m just a waitress.”

Over the years, Silva served celebrities passing through Los Banos. Actor William Devane, who starred on Knotts Landing, sat at one of her tables. She also served actor Jameson Parker, who was best known for his part on the television show Simon and Simon.

“I went up to Parker and asked for an autograph (for a coworker),” Silva said. “He asked how come I didn’t want one. I told him the only difference between you and me is that you have a heck of a lot more money. He left me a $100 tip.”

Three other employees at Black Bear have worked with Silva for close to 30 years.

“We talk to each other like family. We’re a team,” Silva said.

But Silva has taken her final order.

“She’s always worn a lot of hats for us.,” Alvarez said. “She’s been a server, manager and she’s our bookkeeper. What makes her special is her dry sense of humor. She’s different that way. She’ll get you. She’s always been very good at her job.”

This story was originally published October 4, 2018 at 7:00 AM.