T&A Cafe, no longer an ag industry secret, is serving up some serious barbecue.

The town of Spreckels is one of the greatest remaining “company towns” in America. Founded in the late 19th century by Claus Spreckels, the town was the original home of the Spreckels Sugar Company, which at that time was one of the largest sugar refining factories in the country, if not the world. It operated until the early 1980s, reaching its peak fame as a location featured in the 1955 movie East of Eden, based on the book by the factory’s most famous former employee, John Steinbeck.

About a century after the factory processed its first sugar beet, George Tanimura and Bob Antle started their own Spreckels-based company (Tanimura & Antle Fresh Foods) on that very same site along the bank of the Salinas River. As business gradually picked up and the company began to grow, more and more traffic was coming through the quaint little town of Spreckels, and the vast majority of them were road-weary truck drivers.

“The drivers were hungry,” says Brian Antle, executive vice president of sales for T&A. “That’s how the cafe got started. Just a few tables and a basic menu. It gave the drivers a place to eat and relax while they waited.”

The concept caught on almost immediately. Soon, it wasn’t just the truckers sitting down at the quick-serve diner for a biscuit and gravy breakfast or a burger for lunch. The cafe became popular among all T&A employees, from forklift drivers to the packing crew. Before long, the T&A Cafe was (some say) the coolest cafeteria in the industry.

“I just remember running around there as a kid, having fun, maybe causing some trouble,” Antle says. “Just really great memories about the cafe. Great food, great people.”

Although the cafe was always open to the general public, it remained a kind of unintentional secret.

“It was always kind of our little secret, but that all changed when the Kleinfeldts took over,” Antle says.

Husband-wife team Justin and Heather Kleinfeldt are the new tenants at the T&A Cafe. When the previous owners retired in 2020, T&A approached the Kleinfeldts, who ran a part-time catering business, about occupying the space. After some hesitations about Covid-related challenges, the Kleinfeldts went for it.

The restaurant opened part time in September of 2020, full time in March, and business has been steady. With Heather handling the advertising (mainly on social media), and Justin manning the pits, the formula seems to be working. The T&A Cafe is rocking yet again.

Complete with a full kitchen, indoor and outdoor seating, and more than enough outdoor cooking space, the T&A Cafe is now a full-scale barbecue restaurant churning out slow-cooked fresh meats on a daily basis, all in the shadows of the old sugar factory silos.

“This location is perfect for us,” says Heather. “It’s so hard to find a place that will allow outdoor barbecue pits. Plus it’s a large space in a great little town like Spreckels. It just all works here.”

The vast menu features favorites like the Mother Trucker Tri-Tip Omelette and the Swiss Sausage Sandwich, featuring locally made Zio Brand meats. On the lighter side, the T&A Iceberg Wedge is still popular, and one of the few remaining options from the original cafe menu.

“We try not to meddle too much with their menu, but we did make one stipulation,” Antle says. “They had to keep the Tanbro.”

The BBQ Chicken Tanbro sandwich is an original T&A classic named after the Tanimura brothers. It’s a generous serving (as is everything on the menu) of grilled pollo asado and pasilla peppers, topped with pepper jack cheese and spicy garlic aioli.

But make no mistake about it, customers are coming for the meat. Justin estimates that they’re doing between 300 and 400 pounds of tri-tip every week, all of it cooked fresh every morning on one of their outdoor barbecue pits.

“That’s one thing you can’t get anywhere else around here,” he says. “I think the word is getting out. We’re seeing a lot more than just truck drivers and employees coming in. It’s been great.”

T&A Cafe is at 1 Harris Road, Salinas. 225-0447, tacafespreckels.com