One of the things I love about taking to the open road are the grease pit diners you find just off the interstate. On our way to L.A. we found a good one; you may remember it from the 1985 blockbuster smash hit Pee Wee’s Big Adventure starring the infamous Paul Reubens. In the scene where Pee Wee’s freakish ride with “Large Marge” concludes, she drops him off at the Wheel Inn Restaurant.
The restaurant is only identifiable from the freeway by the gigantic EAT sign pictured on the right. Well, actually that’s not exactly true; there are also giant dinosaur statues that they keep around back (I haven’t quite figured that one out yet) that also give away the Wheel Inn’s presence. Maybe they are a representation of the colossal portions that this place serves up? Walking into the restaurant is kind of like going through a time warp without hitting 88 Mph; you have the gift shop in the lobby with a lot of retro inventory and Jesus stuff available, you have the fake wood paneling on the walls and ceilings, and best part… token roadside diner waitresses. These ladies are good though, they have probably been serving for about 150 years. I’ll let you in on a not-so-secret-secret: the fact that there were a lot of truckers and bikers here is a good sign. Before the corporate giants took over road trip dining, this was the indicator one used to gauge a decent restaurant.
We get seated and I examine the menu thoroughly, it’s about 10:00 AM so I’m still thinking about breakfast. I had previously been advised against the Eggs Benedict, as we were told that the Hollandaise sauce resembles fluorescent orange nuclear waste. My dining companion opts for the chef’s special, biscuits and sausage gravy (Special $5.95). I finally decide on the Short Stack Special ($8.95), which is a short stack, obviously, one egg any style, and either bacon or sausage. However, I’m held up with the question of whether to order the bacon or the sausage. I decide to consult our token roadside diner waitress, Flo (probably not her real name but she looked like a Flo). Flo recommends the sausage. Always trust your server.
Faster than you can say, “give me a second helping of lard,” Flo rolls out with our food. There’s nothing like diner food, and this place prepares it true “truck stop” style: everything on one plate, no doubt ably stemming back to the days when truckers mushed everything together and wolfed it down so they could get back on the road quickly. Maybe they still eat this way, who the hell knows? I’ll give you the quick and dirty… pancakes were nice and fluffy, the egg prepared correctly, and the sausage was greasy and delicious. My dining companion’s biscuits and sausage gravy were the real star of the show though; legitimately sublime. Flo had mentioned that everything served at the Wheel Inn is homemade and prepared daily. First rate greasy food.
BUT WAIT! It’s your lucky day! Today you are getting two reviews for the price of one!
Yes, it’s true, we also stopped at the Wheel Inn on the way home to sample some of their lunch specialties. This time I ordered the chicken pot pie and my dining companion ordered fried chicken with fries and corn. The quality was consistent with our breakfast just a few days before; everything was covered in gravy and delicious. The fried chicken was especially memorable, just like the kind that mom used to make at home.
So I’ll give it to you straight up, the Wheel Inn Restaurant is great road side stop – top notch food, reasonable prices, token diner waitresses, giant dinosaurs, and Jesus stuff. What else could you ask for?
Wheel Inn Restaurant
50900 Seminole Dr
Cabazon, CA 92230
(909) 849-7012
It is said that good things come on small packages. I don’t mind small packages but when it comes to breakfast (lunch & dinner) I like big, greasy portions. To quote Ed O’Neil in the movie Dutch, “Nothing burps like bacon…”
We pulled up to Matt’s Big Breakfast around 9:30 AM on a Saturday. Now normally in Arizona, it’s not unusual to wait outside in the sweltering heat to get a table at a popular restaurant. We had already experienced this when we visited Aaron May’s Over Easy breakfast joint some months back. The day I went to Matt’s Big Breakfast was quite the opposite experience. It rained all morning in the Phoenix Valley and was still raining when we pulled up to Matt’s. The restaurant is just a tiny building located in downtown Phoenix… I suspect at one time it was an old house. The wait is all part of the experience, however don’t come here if you have a time sensitive event scheduled for after breakfast. After about an hour and a half of soaking in the rain we were seated at the counter. Matt’s is a bustling establishment with bright decor, and the seating in this place is tighter than Joan Rivers’ face; just 5 or 6 tables and a counter that can hold maybe another 5 or 6 guests. Note: I incorporated the small slide show at the top of the post in lieu of most of the pics… just something new I am trying to shake things up.
Not that I’m trying to ride the coattails of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives’ Guy Fieri, but yes he has been here too in one of his episodes (hey, can I help it that he likes to try the same places as me?), which no doubt ably contributes to some of Matt’s success. There is even the little signature homage to Guy on the wall inside.
Matt’s menu is small, but jam-packed with all kinds of breakfast goodness. He’s got a breakfast sandwich called “The Five Spot,” an omelet, a waffle, and pancakes just to name a few. Traditional breakfast beverages (including the rarely seen RC Cola) are also offered. He also keeps a special item on the board , which today was a three egg scramble, with Fontina, crimini mushrooms, and spinach. My mystery dining companion L. ordered the special, but today I was feeling like a big waffle with some greasy bacon($6). I had coffee and skipped the OJ today, although it was clearly freshly squeezed and looked delicious.
The food arrived about 15 minutes later: nice solid, heaping portions. I love big breakfast like this, it just sets the tone for the rest of the day. The waffle was made from scratch, fluffy, dusted with powdered sugar, served with warm maple syrup, and a big scoop of butter. My god who could eat such a travesty! I especially liked the bacon; it was that good thick cut bacon, not that wimpy crap you get at IHOP. L’s scramble special was also delicious.. the Fontina and spinach blended well together with the eggs – although I enjoyed the hash browns the best. They still hot when they arrived and they were nice and crispy the way hash browns should be.
Breakfast ran about $20 for the two of us, so we walked out of Matt’s with full stomachs, money remaining in the wallet, the rain had stopped, and the sun was shining on our shoulders. As I was walking back to the car I could see the famous Westward Ho off to my right and thought to myself this was shaping up to be a great day! One word verdict on Matt’s Big Breakfast: deliciouslygreasyheapinghomemadegoodness.
Pancakes! Pancakes! And more Pancakes! It’s been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day – I whole heartedly agree with that statement, nothing gets you moving like a good old fashioned greasy breakfast (especially after a night of drinking). While staying in Pittsburgh I asked around for the best cheap breakfast in the city, and received multiple recommendations for Pamela’s. In fact, when President Obama visited Pittsburgh he stopped at Pamela’s, and enjoyed it so much that he had the owners cater a White House event. But what does he know? It was time to put Pamela’s to the Good Greasy Eats test.
Pamela’s has 6 locations in the Pittsburgh area, I visited the location on Walnut Street in the Shadyside area. I liked the inside, it had that classic 50′s diner feel, checkered floor and everything. I went in on a Monday morning, so it wasn’t too crowded and it was just “seat yourself.” The menu was your typical diner breakfast menu, omelets, waffles, corned beef hash.. etc. But, what resided at the very top of the menu was my reason for coming in: Pamela’s Crepe Hotcakes.
They have a few varieties of these famous crepe style pancakes; banana walnut, blueberry, strawberry, and banana chocolate chip. The blueberry and strawberry pancakes have brown sugar and sour cream stuffed into them as well. I ordered the banana chocolate chip pancakes and coffee. The food came out lickety split, probably 5 minutes or less! Now, let me tell you this – if there is a way to inject crack in crepe style hotcakes, then Pamela’s has figured it out. First of all they were gigantic… Second, they were stuffed with chocolate chip and banana goodness; with whipped cream topping oozing out of each end… these things were awesome. Pamela’s crepe style pancakes also contain six mounds of butter, and they’re fluffy in the middle but get progressively crispy toward the edges.
The combination of chocolate chip and banana rolled up in a crepe pancake is totally divine! Prices are pretty good too – The crepe hotcakes were $6.75 plus another $1.50 for coffee. The only bummer about Pamela’s is that they take cash only.
Overall, Pamela’s is a standout. Lethally delicious, everything is prepared with butter, so leave your cholesterol numbers at the door and live a little. Their pancakes are just amazing and I would gather that they could not replicated anywhere else.
One of the things I love about taking to the open road are the grease pit diners you find just off the interstate. On our way to L.A. we found a good one; you may remember it from the 1985 blockbuster smash hit Pee Wee’s Big Adventure starring the infamous Paul Reubens. In the scene where Pee Wee’s freakish ride with “Large Marge” concludes, she drops him off at the Wheel Inn Restaurant.
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