Mission West to stay local as Westside couple, industry vets take the helm

Quick Take

Mission West, a beloved Westside Santa Cruz bar, is changing hands as longtime locals Peter and Krista Cook, along with industry veterans Amy Di Chiro and Jamey Nelson, take over from owners Max Turigliatto and Grant Staudt in January. The new team plans only modest updates while preserving the bar’s funky character and its tradition of local ownership and community connection.

The new owners of Mission West, a former dive turned neighborhood hot spot, are carrying on the institution’s history of local ownership. The couple, with deep roots in Santa Cruz’s Westside neighborhood, said they were inspired to keep the pub in local hands, and don’t want to make any big changes.

In October, owners Max Turigliatto and Grant Staudt announced that, after six years, it was the last call for their tenure at the helm of the decades-old drinking establishment. In 2019, they purchased the former Watering Hole and updated it to attract a broader audience with quality liquor, craft beer and house-made cocktails, regular food trucks, live music and a new name, while preserving the bar’s funky character.

In January, Peter and Krista Cook, along with their friends and longtime restaurant industry veterans Amy Di Chiro and Jamey Nelson, will step behind the bar and usher Mission West into its next phase of life.

Formerly known as the Watering Hole, Mission West serves quality liquor, craft beer and house-made cocktails. Credit: Natasha Leverett / Lookout Santa Cruz

The Cooks met while they were students at UC Santa Cruz in the 1990s, and began selling real estate in Santa Cruz in the early 2000s. They founded Lighthouse Realty in 2007, with a headquarters around the corner from Mission West on Swift Street. In 2021, they purchased the building that Mission West is in as a commercial real estate investment. The couple was excited about the property because of the bar’s growing popularity in the neighborhood, said Krista.

Earlier this year, Turigliatto and Staudt told the Cooks that they were considering an offer on Mission West. When the Cooks met the potential buyer and realized they were from outside the Santa Cruz area, their wheels started spinning, Krista said. “We liked having this in our neighborhood, and what Max and Grant had done to it. What if we were to continue it?”, Krista said she and Peter thought at the time.

This fall, they decided to take the plunge into bar ownership and purchased Mission West.

With a strong business background, but little restaurant experience, the Cooks decided to hire their longtime friends and industry veterans Di Chiro and Nelson to handle the day-to-day operations at the bar. Di Chiro is currently the general manager at The Crepe Place in Santa Cruz, and previously worked at Aldo’s in the Santa Cruz Harbor and Linda’s Seabreeze Cafe in Santa Cruz. Nelson, her husband, bartends at The Crepe Place, and has worked at Makai Island Kitchen & Groggery and Riva Fish House on the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf, among other spots.

From left: Max Turigliatto, Amy Di Chiro, Peter Cook, Krista Cook and Jamey Nelson. Credit: Natasha Leverett / Lookout Santa Cruz

Nelson will handle daily operations and work behind the bar, and Di Chiro will be the office manager and events coordinator while balancing her managing responsibilities at the Crepe.

Di Chiro and Nelson will begin training with Turigliatto in December and are already connecting with current staff, said Krista Cook. “They’ve been in the industry for so long. I think it’s going to be a smooth transition,” she said.

The changeover during January is intentional, said Cook, allowing Turigliatto and Staudt to celebrate all they’ve accomplished over the holidays, while giving the new team a chance to take over during the typically slower start of the new year.

Customers shouldn’t notice any big changes, she said. The new owners plan on sprucing up the back patio, deep-cleaning the bathroom and adding more snack options, locally sourced drinks and nonalcoholic beverages such as kombucha and coconut water.

“We want to continue with what Max and Grant have done,” said Cook. “They’ve transformed it into a great place for locals to gather, and we want to continue the same.”

Krista and Peter Cook have lived on the Westside for more than 30 years, and raised three children. Being a part of the longstanding pub’s history is important to them, she said. “We were at the Halloween party at Mission West and an old friend pointed out that it’s always belonged to a local person — someone that people know,” she said. “That’s continuing on.”