San Jose cafe 'Holy Cannoli!' gets long awaited grand opening amid COVID-19 pandemic

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- A grand opening is always something to celebrate.

In a pandemic, it's even sweeter for Holy Cannoli in San Jose and Owner Jamie Whitmire.

"Opening day has been awesome," Holy Cannoli owner Jamie Whitmire said. "We were supposed to open in March. Here we are fast forward to January in the pandemic and I've put all that I have into this café and this business and we're not going to give up."

Last week we introduced you to Holy Cannoli Bakery in Downtown San Jose as they prepared to open their brand new shop amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Today, that day has arrived.

The shop rolled out the red carpet to welcome in customers safely for a bite of breakfast, lunch and sweet treats, like their Italian style Cannoli made by hand, custom to each guest.

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"It's very hard to find originals out here in the Bay Area and California in general, these are mostly East Coast desserts," Customer Denise Verzosa said. "So when I found out that there was one closer here to my house, we were up early and out here."

Whitmire started as a home chef, eventually began a catering business and a food truck and worked here way to a shop of her own, a true success story.

But it's not the only one being written here every day.

The shop specializes in hiring people in recovery or just out of a work program to build their lives back up.

"My goal is to help them be successful and take whatever knowledge they learn here with me and my crew to the next level and be able to get that job that they really, truly dream of," Whitmire said.

Building a Better Bay Area, one cannoli at a time.

"I would love for anyone who visits here to just see the love that I've put into what I've built and what I've created," Whitmire said. "Holy Cannoli café is meant for people to come in and get their favorite treats, coffee and a nice pannini. We'd love to see you come in, bring your smile and we'll give you one right back."

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And in case you were wondering, the cannoli are delicious and you'll have to come down and try them out yourself.

For more information on Holy Cannoli, visit their website here.