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TURLOCK FOOD HISTORY
Red Steer was the place where you watched your meat being sliced for a sandwich. Its return inside Crust & Crumb brought back a familiar face, too—longtime chef Raul Miranda. But there is a recent ending to that comeback: Crust & Crumb closed on December 31, 2025, according to the Turlock Journal’s February 2026 report.
A sandwich shop from the late 1960s
Ray and Stan Maggard started Red Steer in the late 1960s. Its early advertising is still sitting in the Stanislaus Signal’s November 19, 1969 issue, page 6: sandwiches from 84 cents, plus hot plates and a choice of roast beef, pastrami, corned beef, ham or turkey.
The ad listed 401 N. Highway 99, at Center Street in Turlock. That address refers to the old highway corridor along Golden State Boulevard. The advertisement ran beside college sports coverage, pitching a filling lunch to the students reading it.
The counter was part of the meal
A May 10, 1976 Signal review, page 3 gives a better picture than a menu alone. Customers moved through a line with trays, picked the meat for their sandwiches and watched it being sliced before it went onto French rolls with dip.
Michael Rein poked fun at the surroundings and questioned the price, then acknowledged the steady stream of customers and families ordering smaller sandwiches for children. A sandwich cost $1.50; a dinner with potato, vegetable, salad and a roll was $2.75.
Watching lunch being made was part of what made Red Steer memorable.
The fire, then the empty building
By 2009, Red Steer operated at 203 S. Golden State Boulevard, Turlock. A fire on May 28 closed the restaurant. The City’s fire-department timeline records approximately $1 million in damage.
The fire heavily damaged the interior and roof, as the Journal’s 2009 year-in-review recalled. Parts of the building survived, but the restaurant did not reopen there.
The damaged structure stood vacant for three years before its demolition in July 2012.
Why Raul Miranda mattered to the comeback
During the pandemic, customers asked Crust & Crumb owners George and Ellen Kosmas to revive the sandwiches. Stan Maggard visited, and the family gave permission to use the Red Steer name. The bakery expanded into the former Jaureguy’s Paint & Décor space next door.
The crucial hire was Miranda, the former head chef. He had spent more than 19 years at Red Steer and later worked at Bistro 234. He adjusted the revival’s recipes.
As he told the Journal in 2022:
“If you’re going to do Red Steer, it has to be Red Steer.”
Some returning customers remembered his sandwiches from childhood.
The dates that tell the story
- Late 1960s: Ray and Stan Maggard establish Red Steer.
- 1969: The Signal advertises the shop at Center and the old Highway 99 corridor.
- 1976: A student review records the tray line and meat sliced to order.
- May 28, 2009: Fire closes the Golden State Boulevard restaurant.
- July 2012: The fire-damaged premises are demolished.
- Pandemic years: Crust & Crumb revives the name, sandwiches and counter service.
- 2022: Local reporting documents Miranda’s role in restoring the recipes.
- December 31, 2025: Crust & Crumb closes.
Where the revival happened—and what changed
The revived Red Steer was part of Crust & Crumb’s former 428 E. Main Street, Turlock location and its expansion next door. The 2026 closure report quotes George Kosmas describing weak downtown trade and margins that had disappeared. The downtown restaurant closed at the end of 2025, although its old menus and listings remain online.
For more of the restaurants people grew up with, read about Latif’s and Main Street Footers. The old highway and changing downtown storefronts also appear in our History of Turlock.
