Grand Canyon Cafe marks 70th year

The Grand Canyon Cafe in downtown Flagstaff, Ariz., celebrated its 70th year on Tuesday, according to a feature in the Arizona Daily Sun.

Freddy and Tina Wong — who have operated the restaurant for the past 30 years — say their family has owned the Grand Canyon Cafe for all of its existence except for less than three years after it opened on Dec. 18, 1942.

The only substantial change since its opening at 110 E. Route 66 was an expansion — it removed a wall to a neighboring Harkey’s Cash Market shortly after World War II.

The restaurant certainly has the markings of a classic:

— It includes a  “liar’s table” for the hunting and fishing buddies of Freddy.

— Freddy’s been working at the restaurant since he was 6 or 7 years old. He’s 64 now.

— A homeless man is served three meals a day there.

— And it managed to survive during the interstate era:

The height of the Route 66 days, with droves of tourists passing through on the way to Vegas, sat the cafe pretty, with silver dollar payments from hungry patrons, Fred says. Then, Interstate 40 bypassed the city and much of the Route 66 tourist traffic moved.

The locals, and customers from the reservations, help keep the place going.

“People still tell me their grandfathers used to bring them in here,” Fred says.

And besides the locals, people from all over the world come to the cafe for the grub, particularly the chicken fried steak, Fred says. The cafe is regularly featured in cookbooks, news articles and has been memorialized several times in Arizona Highways. Scenes for two films have been shot inside the cafe.

“Somehow, we keep plugging along,” Fred says.

Freddy says may sell the business eventually, but says he has a few years left until retirement.

(Photo by sfgamchick via Flickr)

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