Today, I drove the next leg of the Route 66 heading toward the Pacific Ocean from my home in San Bernardino. This brought me to the lovely town of Upland, California (motto: Gracious Living in Upland) which is located west of Rancho Cucamonga and east of Claremont.
After suffering through the bumper-to-bumper traffic of the very commercially successful city of Rancho Cucamonga, I was expecting the same congestion all the way to Los Angeles. However, I was pleasantly surprised by Upland: nice, wide open places with gorgeous views of the San Gabriel mountains.
The first stop that was recommended by my guidebook was at this Taco King, which has been serving up Mexican food for over 40 years.
The building is fairly non-descript and the menu is quite typical of what independent Mexican restaurants serve up in this region, but the neon sign was very interesting:
One book I have been reading about Route 66 ("Hip to the Trip: A Cultural History of Route 66", by Peter B. Dedek), argues that the Santa Fe Railroad used sterotypical images of Indians, Cowboys, and Mexicans to largely attract Eastern tourists to visit the Western states. This sign typlifies that steorotypical image of Mexican men that was common in earlier days. Also, I bet it looks really cool at night.
I got excited when I saw this McDonalds, because I knew that Upland is home to one of the few remaining McDonald's Classics - the old walk-up buildings. I took several photos of this McDonalds:
However, when I finished photographing it, I noticed the address: 100 E. Foothill Boulevard. Hmmmmmm. The guidebook says that the historic McDonalds is located at 5177 W. Foothill Boulevard. This McDonalds is a new building in a retro style.
I just loved this sign!
Here's a photo of the building:
I loved this mural on the side too of the classic Coco-Cola advertisement:
The Madonna of the Trails momument celebrates pioneer mothers who made the harsh trip west to California. I learned that the Route 66 follows the old Spanish Trail in this area:
After I complete my journey to Santa Monica on Route 66, I am going to come back and take this road up to Mount Baldy, a charming village in the San Gabriel mountains known for outstanding hiking.
This car looks right at home on historic Route 66:
Here's the real McDonald's Classic!
No drive through here, nor any inside dining room. This is strictly walk up the lunch counter and order and sit outside to eat on picnic tables. The neon sign is great. 
A drive through grocery store!
This is something that would really make my life easier on those days when all I need is a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread.
The building reminded me of the old 1920s gas station that I had seen down the road in Rancho Cucamonga.
Upland has two nice historic restaurants to choose from. If you are craving Bar B Q, you can not go wrong with this restaurant:
It wasn't open when I was passing through however. But, I will make a point to visit it someday because it looked really delicious:
They were cooking something on these barbeques while I was here, and it smelled so tempting:
My guidebook promised that the Buffalo Inn, established in 1929, was a not to be missed stop. I almost did miss it though, because the sign is almost covered in bouganvilla. The line of motorcycles and rows of cars parked on the gravel lot, gave me a clue that something was drawing in the crowds.
This is a biker's paradise:
The restaurant is just behind this wall. The inside is like a real beer garden, complete with woodchip floors and a lattuce patio cover. What a perfect place to relax on a beautiful Sunday.
The speciality of the house is buffalo burgers, but I was satisfied with a small hamburger and chips for $4.95.
A three-man band was playing classic rock songs, such as Sweet Home Alabama and Brown-Eyed Girl.
The regulars are mainly a biker crowd, but they were as nice and welcoming as can be to me. This truly is a must-stop on Route 66. You need to go in and order something to really enjoy the experience fully.
Of course, I liked all the neon signs at the Buffalo Inn too:
What a perfect ending to a beautiful day on the road.
Happy Traveling! Next stop is Claremont, famous for its seven colleges and art deco buildings.
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Comments: 38
Rebekka, that Alta Dena's was cool! It wasn't in the guidebook as something special, but I think the drive through dairies are something unique to California because I certainly never saw them when I lived in the midwest. I bet that was a cool place to walk to because it looked like it was pretty well stocked with snacks and yummy icecream bars. I can't wait to get to Griswold's and La Paloma's. I expected to do Claremont, Pomona, and La Verne yesterday all in one outing, but there is so much to see that maybe it is realistic only to cover one city a day. It may take me until Thanksgiving to reach LA - a one hour trip by freeway.
Susan, thank you so much! I decided to try to do the entire California section of Route 66 this year before Christmas. Luckily, I live right in the middle of it with LA about 50 miles from my house and the Nevada border about 200 miles (but no traffic!).
John, and Upland was famous for what????? hehehehehe Well, that Buffalo Inn in Upland is probably famous with Harley folks. Fame is not what I'm looking for here - I'm going for obscurity.
Rick, I wonder how much I'll gain with eating every weekend at these kind of joints? Well, it will all be worth every last calorie since these are real down-home places. I get so bored of all the chains we see out here. I know it's like that everywhere but since Southern California developed practically overnight, it's even worse here.
Larry, our local McDonalds used to have 10 cent hamburgers on Monday and we would each get a dollars worth and eat them all!
I wish you could really come, Michele. It would be fun having a friend to ride along with. I bet we would have had a good old time at the Buffalo Inn...
Madame Donna, I will! I'm borrowing most from the library, but I'll collect some information for you. You need a guide book because the Route 66 signage is mostly gone since the highway is officially closed and in some areas it makes strange turns and is very confusing. You can also get a ton of information on-line. LA is a great big freeway, as they say. I'm always lost. Don't expect to make good time on the Route 66: I had no idea that a little town like Upland would take the entire day! There are stop lights at nearly every single block.
I think I...never mind,,hmmhmm
I am really behind, I think I missed some of the others....see ya!!!
Jennifer...this was a great trip down Memory Lane for me. My mother lived in this area for many years and the kids and I used to visit her a couple of times a week (I lived in Glendale at the time) so some of these places are quite familiar to me.
I love Route 66. I have been on parts of it all the way to Texas. There are some great, forgotten places along the way and beautiful old neon signs. Great fodder for photographers!
Love and hugs in a plenty - S.
Another great job, I'm forgetting Charles Kaurault...
I always assumed drive thru dairies were everywhere!
Susan, I love the old-style McDonalds too! The first McDonalds was in my hometown and many of my friends who are now in the 50s and 60s tell of the fun times they had hanging out at McDonalds on E street. That McDonalds is sadly demolished, so it's great that a few are left standing on Route 66.
Jessie, thanks so much! I can't believe I forgot to select travel photos group again! The new upgrade is confusing me!
Corina, that is so neat! I love wondering what this area looked like in the past and Route 66 is just about the only way to get any feeling of that since everything else is so sterile and so standardized. Someday I will start traveling East on Route 66 and I'm really looking forward to see Gallop, NM and those other great places on the way to Texas. I'll have to do that trip in the winter, because it's so hard crossing the desert in the summer in a car!
Sveta, I never thought about publishing - I'm just doing this for my own fun and to show my dad because he wants me to find him a really good hamburger stand somewhere on Route 66 for his birthday dinner. Thank you so much!
Bradley, bean special sounds pretty good to me. I love how Mexicans prepare beans and rice and homemade tortillas - I could live off that kind of food. But, the Taco King looked a little iffy as to following modern health and cleanliness standards - but aren't those the places with the BEST food? I am looking for one of those original Ronald McDonald clowns. I wonder what happened to him and the rest of the McDonald's gang.
Dennis, thanks so much! I have just been enjoying our cool down in weather and get in the mood for some Sunday drives.
Mike, there is one of these drive through stores right next to my Jazzercise. I'm going to have to drive through it next time I'm there just to give it a try. I might find a new way to buy milk. Thanks so much!!!! I understand Bradley's fear of clowns - they are creepy!
Janice, that is so cool! What nice places to have grown up! I think McDonald's fries used to be a taste of heaven too. A regular hamburger and small fries was such a treat when I was growing up - now it's the kind of thing people grab all the time. I remember when the Big Mac was first marketed and that was the tastiest thing I had ever tried. It's been a long time since I had a Big Mac, but last time I had one, I didn't think it was as good as the original ones.
Jennifer, I never saw a drive-through dairy until I came here - I bet anywhere else in the country, the milk would freeze solid in those harsh winters. Ok, next time, I'm trying Joeys! It smelled SO GOOD but it wasn't opened when we were there around 2:30. Maybe I'll take my dad there for his birthday.
George, now I'm always looking at classic cars thinking: "Boy, that would be fun to cruise down Route 66 in...."
Marilee, those pioneer women were made of steel. I love reading about how they took the risk to come out here and changed their entire lifestyle to survive. I have never actually tried the milk drive through stores even though there is one near my Jazzercise studio - I'll have to try it and see how very convenient it must be. We go through tons of milk too - growing pre-teens.
I loved all those characters - thanks for reminding me of their names. I think its so hilarious how McDonalds is trying to appeal to soccer moms now with a "heathy" menu of salad and bottled water. Like you go to McDonalds for your health.
Thanks so much, LL d'Merle. I will! It was quite the scenic trip - complete with stop lights every few feet.
Thanks so much, Vivian!
Must check out your others now...
Layla, you are so lucky! I am looking forward to exploring more and more of Route 66 - it's so fascinating. I was sad that I missed my usual Sunday drive this weekend but we were having terrible Santa Ana winds and the foothills where Route 66 is located is just a wind tunnel in this kind of weather. I'm sure all my photos would have been of dust and debris.