A sequoia that stood for 1,700 years before lightning, wildfire and wind brought it down now forms the centerpiece of Benny Walker's, the new restaurant that has soft-opened in downtown Monterey from the husband-and-wife team behind The Butter House in Seaside. The restaurant currently runs daily from 4 to 8 p.m., with a menu that blends classic comfort food with Pacific Islander influences, from loaded Spam musubi to a full barbecue dinner plate.
Susan and Ben Mosqueda, who own and operate The Butter House in Seaside, are the owner-operators behind the new concept, according to Edible Monterey Bay. The outlet reports that the soft-opening menu retains a unique comfort-food identity while introducing island-inspired dishes. Benny Walker's occupies the former Britannia Arms space at 444 Alvarado St., a location the Mosquedas were already eyeing by June 2025, when Edible Monterey Bay first reported the move.
The couple partnered with their Butter House general manager, Jeff Walters, to launch the downtown Monterey spot, according to KSBW. The report notes the pairing of the Mosquedas' Seaside success with Walters' operational experience as the foundation for the new venture. Susan and Ben Mosqueda became local TV personalities after Check Please! featured The Butter House, the Edible Monterey Bay report adds.
A Menu That Mixes Comfort Food With Island Flavors
The loaded Spam musubi, priced at $14, piles grilled Spam, rice and nori with pineapple furikake, chili garlic crunch, spicy Kewpie mayo and scallions, per the same outlet's report. A Hawaiian dinner plate rounds out the island-influenced side of the menu with pineapple teriyaki chicken, kalua pulled pork, macaroni salad and white rice, while the barbecue dinner leans into Southern comfort with tender ribs, marinated tri tip, mac 'n' cheese, coleslaw and cornbread with honey butter.
Other dishes carry over directly from the Mosquedas' original restaurant, including Grandma's lumpia, priced at $7 for two and brought over from The Butter House in Seaside. A stone-fruit-and-burrata salad with prosciutto and fresh basil runs $18, and a half-pound smash burger with fries costs $21. Deep-fried deviled eggs, crusted in panko and Parmesan and topped with pork belly bits, paprika, capers and pickled red onions, are $12 for four halves.
The bar program includes house cocktails at $15 and designer mocktails at $10, among them the Seaside Sunset, made with Milagro silver tequila, orange juice, cranberry and grenadine. An introductory menu placed on the restaurant's bar thanks friends and family for supporting the dream, the article notes, a nod to a friends-and-family night during which Susan and Ben Mosqueda worked the line themselves.
The Story Behind the 32-Foot Sequoia Bar
Benny Walker's most striking feature is its 32-foot-long bar and matching wooden wall pieces, all carved from a single ancient giant sequoia that stood on the Tule River Reservation near Porterville before it was felled by lightning, wildfire and wind. The wood was shaped by Jeremy Vanderkraats of Old Growth Lumber Co., a Prunedale-based business that had been operating for 10 months at the time, according to Edible Monterey Bay's reporting.
Vanderkraats bartered an estimated $400,000 worth of signs and custom tables across five tribal council meetings to secure and craft the sequoia pieces, the outlet reports. He described the project as historic, saying the restaurant has something special and unique. Old Growth Lumber Co. is a sister business of Signs by Van, which has produced name plates for the Cannery Row Company and the cities of Castroville and Hollister.
Ben Mosqueda said the restaurant's aesthetic was designed around local landscapes — the ocean, the mountain, the forest, per his description relayed in the article. He called Benny Walker's a family restaurant, food-forward, with a bar. Vanderkraats, for his part, expressed strong belief in Susan and Ben Mosqueda's vision for the space.
What Comes Next for Benny Walker's
Benny Walker's retains the bright, friendly, diner-style feel that made The Butter House a neighborhood favorite, now reinterpreted for lunch and dinner service rather than Seaside's breakfast-and-lunch format. Susan and Ben Mosqueda wrote that reaching this point had been joyful and that they felt encouraged by customers' amazement and community support, according to Edible Monterey Bay.
The couple also posted on Facebook that they were looking forward to seeing how the Old Monterey Farmers Market energizes dinner service, the outlet reports. For now, Benny Walker's keeps to its 4-to-8 p.m. daily hours, though longer 11 a.m.-to-10:30 p.m. hours could start as soon as Nov. 11, 2026, according to the same report.
