The road to Mammoth Mountain was littered with desiccated elk burgers, habanero jerky, bacon-wrapped jalapeños and nut-crusted pullaway bread produced by a seemingly magical “dough finger,” but until we arrived at Alabama Hills Cafe, there wasn’t a definitive road trip meal.
Chef-owner Saveria Erickson was born in Redondo Beach, learned to cook from her mother and grandmother, and worked in restaurants for 25 years prior to joining her husband Terry in Lone Pine. He worked in water and power for 35 years and was transferred north. She previously owned a ’50s-style restaurant in Lancaster called Katzenjammers. About four years back, Saveria took over a bakery and sandwich spot and ran it with her daughters. As she said, “They left and I stayed.”
“A lot of restaurants are named after movie characteristics,” said Saveria Erickson, “but we went with something different, which is why they shot movies up here anyway.” She’s referring to the nearby Alabama Hills, named for a sunken Confederate battleship and featured on walls in an effort to encourage diners to visit.
On online reference to Chicken Fried Steak & Eggs ($10.99) convinced me and car-mates Elina Shatkin, Rob Takata and Hanh Nguyen to stop for our second lunch.
The steak came with a choice of hash browns or home fries, a made-to-order egg and a decorative orange slice. We were basically already getting home fries with our “skillet,” so we opted for hash browns.
Cooks capped Clint Eastwood’s flavorful mess with another over-easy egg, sprinkled it with scallions and shredded Cheddar that melted, more or less. The dish was good, but wasn’t especially spicy and didn’t come in a skillet. Did it do the badass acting legend justice? Questionable.
We certainly made plenty of other efforts, but Alabama Hills Cafe turned out to be the culinary surprise of the weekend. After two trips to Mammoth and back, it’s hard for me to imagine a better alternative along Highway 395.
Blog Comments
Andi
August 7, 2011 at 6:25 PM
Followed this rec on a trip up to Big Pine this weekend. It was a big hit in my group! It will definitely be a mandatory stop on future trips that way.
Joshua Lurie
August 7, 2011 at 10:40 PM
Andi,
Glad to hear you enjoyed Alabama Hills Cafe. What did you order?
Diana Davis
May 22, 2011 at 3:39 PM
Yum! My parents used to go to Lone Pine once a year and stay at the Dow Illa. I gotta get up there.