When COVID lockdowns began in earnest in March ‘20, many truckstop diners were permanently shuttered. The days of actually spending time in a diner and having a sit-down meal seemed done for.
Many family-owned diners were wiped out by the pandemic. Well-traveled highways such as Route 66, which once had diners in every town and crossroad, now have very few places to stop, stretch your legs, and have a bite to eat.
One of the few truck stop diners left in California going strong after COVID is The Outpost Cafe in Hesperia, California near the Pilot Travel Center off Interstate 15 and US 395. The old-fashioned A-frame cafe is still cooking up hot homestyle cooking having survived the pandemic.
Eater.com recently wrote about the truck stop diner, which sits in a very strategic location on the path to many West Coast destinations. Truckers going to and from Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Reno, Las Vegas, and Salt Lake City stop here for a good meal before heading into the desert or the big cities of SoCal.
Tourists and locals can stop by and grab a slice of homemade pie or meatloaf before venturing up to Lake Tahoe, Bishop, or Mammoth Lakes. First built in 1929, The Outpost originated as a gas station and six-seat diner.
In 1961, the restaurant moved across the road into its current building when the I-15 freeway was built. Mike Dandurand took ownership of the Outpost Cafe in 2010 and has now passed it on to his son, Ryan. The elder Dandurand passed away on Nov. 22, 2022.
Ryan and his fiancee, a waitress at The Outpost, plan to keep the diner up and running in the family. There are not many Mom-and-Pop diners left, and seeing this one approaching its 100-year anniversary allows drivers a chance to enjoy simpler times of counter-top storytelling and taking their minds off the road.
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