Grand Canyon Caverns near Peach Springs, Arizona, in early August will open a Caverns Grotto on an elevated platform as a specialty underground dining area.
Frank Kocevar, former owner of Historic Seligman Sundries in nearby Seligman, Arizona, had some details in an email:
A winding walkway takes you to the platform. The raised platform will seat up to 20 diners with reservations. The food will include a full dinner menu, dessert, beer and wine at an all-inclusive price.
According to John McEnulty, “no one will walk away hungry. If you want more food, they will be glad to accommodate you with more food.”
The meals will be delivered up to the platform by way of a pulley system. There will be an attendant to attend to all needs. A phone system is being installed to have phone service with the staff upstairs
The view from the platform is a spectacular, unobstructed view of the caverns. […] The Grotto will have 5 tables, lit with lanterns, that will seat 4 to a table.
Prices for such meals will be about $50.
Here is the view from the Caverns Grotto:
The Caverns Grotto is separate from the caverns’ underground cave suite that guests can rent for overnight stays.
The Grand Canyon Caverns complex features a regular motel, restaurant, RV park, gas station, gift shop, airstrip, rodeo facility, horseback riding, disc golf course, theater room and special cave explorations in areas not offered with the regular tours.
In the late 1920s, Walter Peck began offering tours to the caverns along U.S. 66. In 1935, the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration agreed with Peck to build a new entrance to the caverns. It’s been a Route 66 attraction ever since.
(Images courtesy of Frank Kocevar)