The Hilltop Cafe was built in 1892, originally as a home for the Hayden family. It was first used commercially in the 1930s as a dentist's office. In the late thirties a restaurant called "Maison Marin." Looking at old menus reveals that Filet Mignon with a soup and salad cost $1.75, Veal was $1.90 and an Omelette was $2.00. (Can you help? We still haven't found out why an omelette was so expensive, with Petaluma, the chicken capital, so close.) Maison Marin had to close for the war. It opened, again, after the war and KGO radio broadcasted Sunday brunch from the Hilltop. In the 50s the building was used briefly for a smorgasbord called the "Sweden House." Later that decade, it became the "Hilltop Coffee Shop." The eleven years prior to The Hilltop Cafe, it was home to the Moose Lodge.
Finally, on August 15, 1979, it was opened as The Hilltop Cafe. In 1992 at the "Marin a la Carte" festival, the Hilltop Cafe was voted as "The Best Restaurant" and the same honor was achieved in 1993. In 1994, the Hilltop Cafe did not participate, but would surely have won again as you will discover when you dine.