Home | About | Contact
Custom Search

 

Coffee Shops Rocky Mountains
RM Eateries Main | Burger Joints | Cafe | Coffee Shops | Diners | Drive-in Eats | Mexican Cafe
Neon | Orient | Snacks | Sit Down | Taverns | Rocky Mountains Main

 

Hotel Whitman Coffee Shop
Pocatello, ID
Photo courtesy Dave & Debra van Hulsteyn

The Hotel Whitman Coffee Shop offered the sort of roadside promise that fit perfectly beneath an old hotel sign. Travelers could find a room upstairs and something to eat downstairs, all without moving the car. The coffee shop lettering added another layer to one of downtown Pocatello’s memorable signs. 10-06

The building began in 1905 as a two story fraternal lodge and gained two additional floors in 1913 and 1914. Its history includes the Hotel Nicollet and the Princess Theatre, whose name received a Hollywood mention in Judy Garland’s A Star Is Born. That’s quite a collection of stories behind one coffee shop frontage.

UPDATE: The Whitman was rehabilitated for apartments and commercial use. Its vertical sign was restored and moved to the rear of the building around 2009, with “Hotel” changed to “The.” The smaller Coffee Shop panel disappeared, but the main sign survived to advertise another chapter. 07-26

 

 

Flying V Coffee Shop (Gone)
Panguitch, UT
Photo courtesy Matthias Tippner

Panguitch, Utah is home to the Flying V Coffee Shop. This coffee shop was all decked out in neon when these photos were taken. Located near Bryce Canyon National Park, the Flying V would have been a familiar sight for both local residents and travelers passing through town. 01-09

The building featured extensive neon outlining the facade along with prominent "Coffee Shop" lettering that was hard to miss after dark. Signs like this were common along the highways of the West, helping attract motorists looking for a meal, a cup of coffee, or a place to take a break from the road. 01-09

 

Flying V Coffee Shop (Gone)
Panguitch, UT
Photo courtesy Matthias Tippner

UPDATE: The Flying V Coffee Shop is now gone. While the neon and coffee shop have faded into local history, photographs like these preserve a colorful reminder of the roadside businesses that once greeted visitors heading toward Bryce Canyon and southern Utah's scenic destinations. 07-26

 

 

QUICK LINKS

 

 

 

© Copyright 1998-2026 Syd Nagoshi. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, copied or revised without written permission of the author.