Ana's Cafe - A Family Affair

by Leanna Lehman -- Fallon’s iconic Waterhole building has recently come back to life with the opening of a new restaurant, Ana’s Café. Ana Hardy, having been in the restaurant business for 17 years, finally has a place to call her own. After an extensive career at Jerry’s, Ana took her skills as a cook and restaurateur to the Fallon Livestock sale yard café for Tommy and Nora Lee. A Spanish-Basque, Ana (Mariezcurrena) Hardy, was able to bring her culinary heritage to the table and offer Basque style dining along with traditional American food. Before long, however, Ana decided she wanted to open a place all her own. With a tremendous amount of support from family and friends, Ana and her husband Dennis Hardy set out to make her dream come true. According to Ana, “things just fell into place when Jessie Segura purchased the old Waterhole building.” Working together, they were able to lease and remodel the entire facility giving it a new look and feel. “Jessie has been so supportive,” states Ana, “God is so good!” In December, Ana began working on getting health department permits and licenses. On February 1st she hit the ground running an opened her doors on March 11th. The combined efforts of family and friends brings a homey dining experience in what feels like an old style, Nevada family eatery. After interviewing over 50 applicants at her hiring event, Ana has employed a staff of about 15. Her new cook, Hunter Wilson, relocated to Fallon from the Reno area and is "doing a fantastic job," Ana states. “God even sent me a cook. I give him all the glory.” Customers are raving, even though a after just a few days in Ana said she had a lot more customers than they anticipated and her staff was a little overwhelmed. “I felt terrible,” states Ana when service slumped because everyone was overwhelmed. Since then, she has been working out the kinks and is determined to make sure that everyone that comes in gets great food and great service. “It’s a very family oriented business,” Ana says as she acknowledges the help and support of her children Zakkary Thomas, Gabrielle Hardy, Brianna Mariezcurrena, and Madison Hardy, along with her nieces Nicole and LaShae. Ana also received a good deal of help from her brother Augie Mariezcurrena and his Welsco crew along with Jay Cicchetto, Debbie and Larry Strange, and Manny Barrow. Ana serves Basque and American dining from 4-9 PM Friday and Saturday nights as well as breakfast and lunch seven days a week from 6AM-2PM. Her menu and more information can be found at https://www.facebook.com/AnasFallonNV. Ana’s is located at 111 S. Allen Road in Fallon. 775-867-2024   Support local, independent news – contribute to The Fallon Post, your non-profit (501c3) online news source for all things Fallon. Never miss the local news -- read more on The Fallon Post home page.