Finally made it to Lone Pine's Alabama Hills Cafe

For three consecutive return trips from snowboarding weekends at Mammoth, I've missed this pitstop on the way back. Who knew it would take me doing a summer hike at Mt. Whitney to actually make a visit here (twice!)

The menu is straightforward and void of the frou-frou you'd see in the "diners" of LA (good luck asking for quinoa or kale,) but the fare is solid and the portions are lumberjack-sized, and we can't imagine a better way to carbo load and recover before and after our mountainous trek.


For lunch the day before the hike, I ordered their special of the day cheesesteak (on their housemade jalapeno-cheese bread) and for our brunch before taking off, I followed FoodGPS' lead and got the chicken fried steak (FYI, if you're ordering breakfasty dishes here, for an extra buck you can swap your toast for biscuit & gravy -- totally worth the price & caloric guilt!)

As tasty as they both were, I finished neither, and for good reason...

... their triple berry pie a la mode, which had perfect proportion of flaky crust and filling that's not-too-sweet, bursting with ripe tanginess & just goopy enough for a little pie porn. Warmed up with a scoop of ice cream and you got a little slice of heaven right there.

I already can't wait for another excuse to make a re-visit, even if it means racing down the 395 to make it in before their 2 p.m. closing time.

Alabama Hills Cafe
111 W Post St
Lone Pine, CA 93545
(760) 876-4675