Peggy Sue's and the Diner-saur Park

On my first trip to Vegas three years ago, I saw the signs for Peggy Sue's along the way. I wanted to stop, but when we drove by the giant dinosaur statues outside, I HAD to stop; however, the driver of the passenger van would have none of it. The next summer, former Dinerwood photog Charlie Chu and I had gorged on dim sum on our way out of town and were still bursting when we reached the exit. We declined to stop.

This year, I was going by hook or by crook. Fortunately, I did not need to use either of those tools as Burns was down for it. He's a good guy, I didn't want to hook him or crook him.

Peggy Sue's is definitely something you don't see a lot of in this day and age. It's as much a roadside attraction as it is a diner. It's an oasis for the weary traveler to have a respite, stretch his legs, munch a burger (or get some pizza at the adjacent pizza parlor), buy some junk in the gift store, and stand in the shade of a giant metal Brachiosaurus.

This phrase "eat to the beat" strikes me as really subversively dirty. On the surface it just means eat while listening to music, right? Hell, Disney even has a whole concert series at Epcot built around it. It's just too suggestive for me not to chuckle at it. Apparently, I am not alone in my way of thinking.



They have a handy history write-up of the diner. If you squint, you'll be able read it or you can go to the website. Spoiler alert: it's a love story.

The original diner portion of the restaurant is actually quite small. There is a row of booths on one side and the counter on the other. Our waitress led us through that crowded area and into the more expansive dining room...

...which unfortunately looks more like bar.

The menu isn't expansive--it's just that one sheet--but they put some effort into making it cute. It also looks like they printed it at a Kinkos in 1996.

I love Huell Howser. He has certainly been a huge influence on me and my blogging. That sentence I just typed kind of disturbed me. If you don't know Huell, let me educate you...nah, I'll just post a video.

Burns got the King Kong Monster Burger, which is just the Buddy Holly Bacon Cheeseburger with an extra patty and extra cheese. I feel like Buddy Holly would be offended by this were he alive.

I didn't really pay attention to the ingredients of the Mickey Mouse Club Sandwich. I just thought they had put a 50s name on the traditional club sandwich. Nay-nay! It arrived looking amazingly delicious just for the portions of bacon, ham and turkey. Then I saw it- cheddar cheese! "Ohhhh, now I get it." A little slow on the uptake sometimes' I'm not ashamed to admit it.

The addition of cheese and the thickness of the meats made this the best club sandwich ever. The curly fries were good, but the tiny side of coleslaw did taste like old cabbage and was kind of gross.



Peggy Sue's does have pie, but after both of our tremendous lunches, we couldn't even fathom trying to make that work.

In fact we wanted to walk off some of our meal, in the lovely dinosaur- er I mean DINER-SAUR park.

The Diner-Saur park is pretty fascinating. This handy sign helps you identify the different dinosaurs located around the park. It's also very educational. I had no idea that King Kong was a dinosaur.

Here's the majestic Brachiosaurus.



The mighty King Kong and the villainous Spinosaurus.



And finally, the playful Stegosaurus. Oh, there's also a pirate in that tree.

Peggy Sue's would be great just for the Diner-saur park alone, but you can see that from the highway. Now, when you add good food to equation, you gotta make a stop.

Food: Good.
Price: $7-$10
Service: Friendly.
Pie: Yes.

Peggy Sue's 50's Diner

35654 Yermo Road

Yermo, CA 92398

The park also has ducks. Ducks are not dinosaurs....well they were, but are not now.

Happy Pie Day! Pie 'n Burger

Pie 'n Burger is probably one of my favorite diners. I have selfishly kept it to myself since before there even was a Dinerwood. #1Diner Companion Antoinette and I go there to celebrate; we first went for her birthday a few years ago, and have gone to celebrate new jobs and opportunities, projects getting the green light, etc. Pie n' Burger is also where I proposed to #1DC Antoinette. It's a very special place.

March 14th is unofficially "pie day" (pi =3.14) and I had to celebrate, so of course I dragged #1DC Antoinette to our special place to do a mini-review.



Pie 'n Burger is a very small restaurant. There are only about five small tables and a counter that seats about 20. That means it is almost always crowded. For some unknown reason, it seems like every time we are there there is also a single group of eight to ten people taking up most of the tables. Just plan to sit at the counter.



Why is Pie 'n Burger so beloved? It's not just us; it's a Pasadena institution. I will say unabashedly, for us it's not the food. The food is only okay and honestly limited in its offerings. Outside of their breakfast menu, it's just hamburgers and sandwiches. It's also overpriced. At $6.50 for an average sized burger with a moderate-sized side of fries for $3.55, you are paying over ten dollars for what you can get at any number of fine local burger stands for half the price.

The only reason to go to Pie 'n Burgers is the pie. The pie is damn amazing. I have tried almost all of their pies and have never been disappointed. They are either the best or the runner up. This is where I fell in love with ollallieberry (a hybrid of the blackberry) and butterscotch pie. Although I prefer House of Pies' peanut butter pie, the Pie 'n Burger version (meringue based versus HOP's cream base) is nearly as good.



Tonight, for Pie Day, I ordered the blueberry. This was after finding out rhubarb (one of the few I hadn't tried yet) was sold out and that they didn't have butterscotch (they alternate butterscotch days with peanut butter). The pie was amazing. The filling was sweet but not sugary and the tiny blueberries were all still individual and not completely mashed. The golden crust was thin and flaky. Probably the best blueberry pie I have had in recent memory.

Go for the pie, skip the burger.

Food: Okay
Service: Okay
Price: $6-$12 CASH ONLY
Pie: The best


Pie 'n Burger

913 E. California Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91106

(626) 795-1123

www.pienburger.com

Located next door:



"Nippers.... It's a salon."

Pete's Burgers Family Restaurant.- Burger stand or more?

We had driven past it several times. It says 'family restaurant,' looks like a burger place, but also touts its eggs and bacon breakfast and fried chicken dinners...but it looks like a burger place! Mysterious? #1DC insists that it must have been an old Long John Silvers with the bell tower and widow's walk on the roof. I maintain that it looks like a haunted Kentucky Fried Chicken thanks to the rundown and tattered look of the exterior and the red and white color scheme.



We finally decided to to try it out for lunch one day. When we walked inside, it was pretty squarely a burger joint: all booths, ordering at the counter, one giant ketchup tub dispenser, with no public restrooms to top it all off. I don't normally review places like this, but since we were here, I soldiered on.



I'm glad we did, but not because it proved to be a magical experience or anything. There was more to Pete's than just how it looked on the outside. It has a pretty extensive menu for what looks like a divey burger shack. They have omelets, burritos, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, pastrami, salads, and a selection of dinner specials.



While in line to order, I snapped this shot of the kitchen staff. Although most reviews of Pete's that I've seen have referenced its being cash only, I saw a credit card machine by the register. Maybe it is decorative? Or perhaps it's a haunted credit card machine that they don't like to use because of the y'know, haunting.



Antoinette says that all that she remembers about the tuna melt was that it was crunchy. Not good, not bad, just crunchy.



My hamburger looked nice and thick when I first unwrapped it. I then saw that this was because of the hunk of iceberg lettuce in the middle. The burger patty was a decent size, but the bun was toasted a bit more on the burnt side than it should have been. It tasted alright.



We agreed that the fries were the only really noteworthy part of our visit to Pete's. They were pretty good, came seasoned, and were just a little soggy.

So in conclusion, Pete's is a burger shack that also happens to have other kinds of food--much like Jumbo's Clown Room is a bar that happens to also have strippers. I can't imagine you'd want to specifically seek this place out, but if you are stuck in the area and need some variety, Pete's can supply it.

Food: Okay
Service- Serve yourself.
Price $4-7
Pie- No pie, but they do have milkshakes.

Pete's Burgers
2400 S. Hoover St.
Los Angeles CA 90007
6:00am-11:00pm