12 Best Restaurants in The Mojave Desert, California

The extensive breakfast and lunch menus at this eatery just off the main drag include many vegetarian items. Sandwiches are served on homemade bread; choose from up to six varieties baked fresh daily, and get a homemade pie, cake, or loaf to go. Morning hikers can grab-and-go as early as 5 am. 

The short-order cook and his grill are literally center stage in this tiny, family-owned, Route 66 restaurant that has changed little since it opened in 1947. Pick a barstool, and settle in for big portions of traditional diner food—although the peach cobbler, Brian burger, and fried chicken keep locals lining up at the door, anyone wanting a glimpse of 20th-century Americana can get their kicks here, too.

A bustling stop for motorists traveling to and from Mammoth Lakes, this shop is crammed with delicious pastries, cookies, rolls, and other baked goods. The biggest draw, though, is the sheepherder bread, a hand-shaped and stone hearth–baked sourdough that was introduced during the gold rush by immigrant Basque sheepherders in 1907. That bread and others baked here are sliced to make the mammoth sandwiches the shop is also famous for. 

Stop at this small, old-world-style community bakery for fresh and healthy salads, soups, sandwiches (made all day), bagels, artisan breads, cookies, pies, and pastries. Savor your goodies indoors and listen to local banter (it's a favorite gathering spot), or take them along to eat at a picnic spot while adventuring nearby.

Breakfast is served all day at this spot known as much for its cheerful atmosphere as for its large portions—including a breakfast burrito so packed with applewood-smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, eggs, and potatoes that it requires two hands to hold. For lunch, consider the coffeehouse burger with candied bacon or the chickpea curry bowl with roasted chicken and garnet yams over brown rice. Even if you're just passing through, be sure to grab a coffee to go (perhaps the house favorite known as the Dirty Hippie).

There's no mystery why this place is a locals' favorite—the cozy eatery offers a mouthwatering breakfast menu that includes everything from chicken fried steak to a sizzling garden skillet brimming with fresh vegetables. Lunch includes sandwiches, salads, and hot plates such as meat loaf with potatoes, veggies, and cornbread. Top picks are the ABC burger (avocado-bacon-cheese) or the massive Paul Bunyan breakfast with eggs, potatoes, bacon, ham, sausage, and pancakes or French toast. The restaurant has four locations—one in Hesperia, one in Helendale, and two in Victorville. Parking at this, the original location, on Mojave Drive can be challenging since it’s next to a hotel, with occasional riffraff.

This boisterous family-friendly restaurant with six flat-screen televisions serves the best burgers—beef, buffalo, or elk—in town. The traditional diner menu also features country-fried steak, turkey dinner, Black Angus beef, and blueberry pie.

Checkerboard floors and life-size versions of Elvis and Betty Boop greet you at this funky '50s coffee shop and pizza parlor. It's the oldest diner on Highway 15, and the fare is basic American—fries, onion rings, burgers, pork chops—with some fun surprises such as deep-fried dill pickles. If you're heading to nearby Calico Ghost Town, it's worth a stop to grab a milkshake or shop for souvenirs and sweets in the five-and-dime store.

This inexpensive pizza place off Interstate 40 is a local favorite and offers a range of specialty pies, hearty appetizers, subs and pasta. Top it off with a mug of cold lager, or a glass of wine out on the small patio.

In addition to all kinds of traditional American fare, this inviting, country-style diner also serves unique dishes, such as medallions of Cervena elk, smothered in port wine, dried cranberries, and toasted walnuts. Try the the Baileys Irish Cream cheesecake or the Grand Marnier crème brûlée for dessert.

Open for three meals a day, this small restaurant next to the Dow Villa Motel is a convenient place to stop for a break while driving along Highway 395. The extensive menu includes everything from omelets and French toast for breakfast to sandwiches and burgers for lunch to grilled steaks and fish for dinner.

Off-roading enthusiasts and locals tend to congregate at The Joint, considered the center of the action (or maybe the only action) in town—with live music on weekends, pickleback shots, and a chalkboard menu reading “Soup of the Day: Whisky.” Dating from 1905, the adobe building originally served as a German steam bakery, and today the bar/restaurant is operated by Neil and Hollie Shotwell, the third generation to keep the family-owned saloon alive since 1955. Stop by on Saturday for guest vendors serving tacos or burgers on the grill. Picnic tables line the dusty road, or you can grab a barstool indoors where flags and currency cover the walls and ceiling.