Pepe Delgado's
San Luis Obispo, CA Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
Heading along Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo, check out the huge sombrero sign for Pepe Delgado's. Hard to overlook this invitation to stop for Mexican food. One side carries the restaurant name and the other gets right to the menu. The sombrero once revolved, giving passing motorists a look at both messages. Its spinning days ended after the city adopted restrictions on rotating signs in 1977. The hat stayed put afterward, still doing its roadside advertising without going around in circles.
Yvonne Poulsen opened Pepe's in 1971, taking over a building previously known as Casa Monterey. Inside, decorations collected on trips to Tijuana included ornamental parrots hanging in hoops. A little something else to look at after getting a photo of the big hat outside. One saying on the walls translated to “Full belly, happy heart.” Sounds like a fitting plan after a day wandering the back roads, especially when lunch somehow slipped past during the photo stops.
UPDATE: Pepe Delgado's closed permanently in August 2020 when Poulsen decided to retire following the pandemic shutdown. Benny's Pizza Palace & Social Club opened in the building in July 2021. The sombrero sign has been removed, so pizza now awaits where the big hat once pointed out Mexican food. 09-26
Mexicali Mexican Food
Bakersfield, CA Photo courtesy Devil Doll
Check out the giant red arrow pointing the way into Mexicali
Mexican Food in Bakersfield. With a green cactus worked into the sign, this roadside greeting is hard to pass up. Even if lunch isn't on the schedule, there's a good reason to pull over and get the camera out.
The arrow sweeps across the cactus toward the restaurant, making sure hungry travelers get the message. Quite a combination of color and shape to find while wandering downtown. This local eatery always seems to have customers coming and going, so the sign has plenty of company.
Santos and Trini Gamez started Mexicali in 1941 with a small stand at Baker and Eureka streets. Trini had already been making tortillas and tamales for wholesale customers before the restaurant venture. A little kitchen experience to bring along when feeding the public.
Mexicali Mexican Food
Bakersfield, CA Photo courtesy Devil Doll
The 18th Street restaurant opened on July 19, 1957. Inside, broad wooden ceiling beams and rustic chandeliers give the dining room its own look. There's also another vintage neon sign near the parking area, so don't put the camera away after catching the big cactus.
UPDATE: Mexicali remains open at its longtime downtown location, with the cactus and red arrow sign still pointing out the stop. Eighty-five years after the family's first venture, there's still Mexican food waiting at the end of the arrow. 09-26
Mi Casita
Taft, CA Photo courtesy Tony Craig
Wandering through Taft, check out Mi Casita and the painted mural above its front door. A little something extra to catch with the camera before heading inside for a bite. 04-06
The Virgin Mary mural earned the old location the nickname “Church” among local customers. Going out for a burrito could mean “going to church.” That's a lunch plan with a different ring to it.
UPDATE: Mi Casita moved up the block from its old storefront to 621 Center Street and remains open. The original mural is not there however the new location has a decent looking front. 09-26
Sinaloa
Mexican Dinners (Closed)
Bakersfield, CA Photo courtesy Devil Doll
Making the rounds through downtown Bakersfield, check out the red-and-yellow neon for Sinaloa Mexican Dinners. The tall roadside sign gave hungry travelers something to look for near 20th and P streets. A good stop for the camera, even before considering what was coming out of the kitchen. 03-05
The Muñoz family started the restaurant in May 1948 as Sinaloa Spanish Food on 19th Street. In 1957, they moved into this larger building, keeping the family business going here for another six decades.
The building had quite a different job before the enchiladas arrived. Opened in 1909 as the Kern County Children's Shelter, it housed children until 1930. Not the history you'd necessarily expect while stopping to photograph a restaurant sign.
Sinaloa
Mexican Dinners
Bakersfield, CA Photo courtesy Devil Doll
There were a few ghost stories on the side, too. Family member Sally Muñoz Santa Cruz described hearing what sounded like children running across the empty upstairs dance floor on quiet Sundays. Nobody was up there, according to her account. A little local lore to go with the old building's earlier life.
UPDATE: Sinaloa closed in January 2019 after the family lost longtime operator Robert Muñoz the previous year. The building was demolished in May 2021 for an apartment development, but the large neon sign was salvaged by a private collector. Its current display location hasn't been confirmed. 09-26
Pepe Delgado's
Mi Casita
Sinaloa
Mexican Dinners (Closed)
Sinaloa
Mexican Dinners
