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| Rock Springs Cafe serves up perfect pastries | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| By Chris Hansen Orf, Get Out | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| July 26, 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
He told me of a little place, the Rock Springs Cafe, located in the desert off Interstate 17 on the way to Prescott, that had the best pies he'd ever had. As a pie lover extraordinaire, I was intrigued. The way he described it, the pies sounded mythical — huge slabs of cherry crumb, German chocolate, lemon meringue, etc. That weekend, almost eight years ago, I made the trip, and it was like a chocolate lover finding a mountain made of fudge — it was pie nirvana — and I became a regular. Rock Springs Cafe, located about an hour’s drive north of downtown Mesa, opened in 1918, when the original owner, Ben Warner, served travelers out of a canvas-covered tent before the building that houses the cafe and saloon opened in 1924. But it was 21 years ago that Rock Springs Cafe started selling “Penny's Pies,” and the legend of the cafe's pastries was born and continues to grow to this day. The late former Sen. Barry Goldwater was said to drop in from time to time for a slice of blackberry crumb, which former owner and current manager Eric Exum of Scottsdale says is the cafe's most popular pie, and the restaurant sells on average of 150 pies a day during the summer, which Exum calls the “slow season.” “During the three days leading up to Thanksgiving we sell 8,000 pies,” Exum says. “We have to keep them in refrigerated semis, and the line goes out to the parking lot all day.” The cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday) and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Menu items include eggs, pancakes, Mexican food, burgers and hot sandwiches, pork chops, fried chicken, shrimp, catfish and steaks. But it's the pies that keep the customers coming back. Exum tells the story of a couple of businessmen who drove up for a pie a few years ago. “These two guys were in a meeting in Palm Desert, California,” Exum says. “They decided they wanted some pie, so they got in the car, drove all the way up here, got a pie, then drove all the way back to the meeting.” Rock Springs Cafe's motto is “Worth the drive from anywhere.” And it is. Getting there Take Interstate 17 north for 28 miles to Exit 242. Turn left onto Rock Springs Road, then turn right onto Old Black Canyon Highway. Rock Springs Cafe is located at 35769 S. Old Black Canyon Highway. Info: (623) 374-5794. Contact Chris Hansen Orf by email, or phone (480) 898-5684 |
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