Downtown Cotati’s Hot Spot aims to satisfy late-night cravings

Talk about listening to your customers. Reggie Slater turned a simple lament from his daughter into the Hot Spot in downtown Cotati - all within 97 days. When she said, “Dad, there is no late night food in Cotati,” Slater saw an unfilled niche and got right on it.

“A lot of places stop serving food at 9 p.m. around here,” he said. After a bit of investigation and discussion with Robin Pfefer, who owned Gravenstones Smoke Shop in the space that the Hot Spot now calls home, Slater and his wife hatched a plan to launch a late-night eatery that caters to those looking for a bite, a brew or maybe some dessert at odd hours.

The initial concept was a small space that would serve basics like burgers and fries, along with beer and wine and some comfort dishes. The result is a funky new eatery that goes the extra mile for its customers and its neighboring businesses.

“We didn’t want to be in competition with any of the bars down here,” said Slater. So he selects beers that the nearby bars don’t stock, such as Weltenburg Kloster, a German beer from the Weltenburg Abbey - by some accounts the worlds oldest monastery brewery.

Slater also offers to deliver food to neighboring bars’ patrons, delivering burgers to the 8-Ball recently, for example. He listens to his customers and follows through with their requests when he can. “One night some people asked if we had ice cream because the place next door had closed for the night,” he said, “so we decided to add milkshakes to the menu.” But he won’t compete with the variety of flavors and sorbet offered at the I-Scream Café, so he ordered only the standard flavors.

“Then someone asked why we don’t have floats, so now we do those too!” he chuckled. The Hot Spot also tries out recipes its patrons submit as “daily specials.” If they work out, they’ll become house staples, like the “Pizzawich” and the PB&J now on the menu.

Since the restaurant opened on Feb. 7, it has exceeded expectations. Slater is thrilled with the community’s support, and patrons enjoy the fun he and his family have had with the decor. The bar counter is covered with nickels under a clear varnish. “People love to count them,” he said, “and this way I will always have two nickels to rub together!”

The tables have Monopoly and Scrabble games embedded in them. The coasters are from Europe.

At 50, Slater is having fun ?with his new business, but he’s not leaving his “day job” of ?fixing X-ray equipment yet. After all, his eatery doesn’t ?open until 5 p.m.