Owner Candy Gehrke makes every effort to get to know all her customers, and her friendly, welcoming personality keeps Almaden residents coming back for more.

Gehrke's philosophy is to treat her customers like family and go the extra mile to make people feel comfortable at her restaurant, a place she calls a "neighborhood American bistro."

At her previous business, a coffee shop in Los Altos that she owned for six years, Gehrke says she knew everyone by name. "I gave them very good food with good service and we all got to know one another."

"I get a hug every time I come in," says Linda Timm, who eats at the casual yet classy Bistro Almaden with her husband, David, at least once a week. The Timms have been regulars since Gehrke opened her doors in February.

"Sometimes she even gives us dessert on the house," Linda Timm admits.

Gehrke considers all of her regular patrons part of her family, and her graciousness even extends outside the restaurant. When she learned that a regular customer is a tire retailer, she started taking her cars to his shop in return for his repeat business. Aware of the poor economy, Gehrke says that if she can help someone else out, she will.

"If someone owns their own business, I try to go to their business," she says. "In today's environment, we all have to help each other."

Gehrke works hard to build similar relationships with her Almaden customers. On a Saturday night, she visited each table several times taking orders, ringing up checks, and delivering plates of food. She said hellos and good-byes to each guest and hand-delivered take-out orders. There is no time for breaks while there were customers to get to know in the dining area, she says.

"We try to treat everybody as family ... so it's not just, 'Well, I'm just coming to work,'" says Bill Gehrke, Candy's husband.

Nestled between Hallmark and Postnet in the Almaden Via Valiente Plaza, the restaurant opened under different ownership in 2000 as Umunhum, and the owner changed the name to Bistro Almaden a year ago. The Gehrkes decided to keep the name when they bought the restaurant nine months ago, so many Almaden residents say they didn't realize the business had changed hands.

"We were here the night it opened [under Gehrke's ownership], and we've been coming back ever since," says Barbara Wadors. She and her husband, Ken, dine at Bistro Almaden regularly.

Gehrke maintained the original layout of the bistro, complete with a dimly lit, impressive wine cellar. The menu consists of popular new American cuisine, including Atlantic salmon, chicken breast, pork chops, pastas and even cheeseburgers. Daily specials may include ahi tuna and filet mignon. Accompaniments are seasonally appropriate, such as mashed potatoes with Japanese squash in the fall.

"You're not going to get this kind of food or this kind of service there," she says, adding that she hopes the downturn is only temporary. "This is not an upper-class restaurant. This is somewhere in the middle ... a comfortable restaurant serving comfort food and good service like you're eating in your own dining room."

Customers agree. Ken and Barbara Wadors regularly eat at the bistro, and shortly after meeting fellow Almaden residents Karen and Stan Watt, they invited them to the bistro for dinner.

"It's everything Barbara and Ken said it would be," Karen says. "A warm, friendly, welcoming place."

Barbara was so impressed with Gehrke's hospitality that she decided to host a bridesmaids' luncheon for her daughter Mary, an Almaden teacher, at the bistro. "I said this would be a great place for a bridesmaids' luncheon, and Candy said 'OK!'"

Gehrke noted that one of her biggest obstacles is that people don't know the restaurant exists or that the ownership has changed. However, word of mouth seems to be changing that.

"The business is growing," she says, adding that her list of regular customers is getting longer. "Many customers come in at least once a week. If we hang on, times will change."

Bistro Almaden is located at 6944 Almaden Expressway and is open Tuesday­Sunday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Call 408.927.8773 or visit http://www.bistro-almaden.com.