The Salty Pelican Restaurant was my first "real" job, and virtually my home, from 1985 until 1998. Like many other Salty Pelican employees, I considered the restaurant to be far more than just a job. It was a family, and a way of life.
Ed Coppola, the owner for 27 years, has been a great influence to me. I came out of his restaurant with a better understanding of what is important in the business world (and the world in general), which has been my guide in running Computers 76 for the past year or so. From him I gained my philosophy that anyone can give you a box and send you out the door, but it’s how you treat the people you work with (both customers and staff) that really matters.
On December 31st, 2000, the Salty Pelican closed its doors for the last time, and Ed will finally get to enjoy a long due retirement. After a two-year break, I returned for the last four nights of business for one final round of waiting tables and backing up the crew. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
With the closing of the Salty Pelican, Baywood Park has lost a landmark, and Second Street will never really be the same again. But like all the other changes in Los Osos since I moved there in the early seventies, we will have to learn to adapt.
Goodbye Salty, the 21st Century won’t be the same without you.
"…And so my friends, we’ll say goodnight
For time has claimed his prize
But tonight can always last as long as we keep alive
The memories of Paradise"
--Dennis DeYoung
Return to Computers 76.
