Courtesy Coffee Shop (Closed) Photo courtesy Matt Bamberg
Driving through Blythe on Hobsonway, check out the tall Googie sign for Courtesy
Coffee Shop. With its sweeping shapes and space-age angles, the marquee looks ready to launch itself across the desert. The earlier photo shows a funny little object sticking out of the crown, while the later view shows the same sign without its mysterious thingy on top. Where it went is anybody’s guess.
Courtesy opened in 1964 and became a familiar stop for travelers making the long drive between Los Angeles and Phoenix. Inside were vintage booths, original light fixtures, and the Celebrity Room for Dining and Cocktails. Steaks, lobster, coffee shop favorites, and a cocktail lounge all waited beneath that wonderfully over-the-top sign.
UPDATE: Courtesy Coffee Shop closed during the 2020 pandemic. The building has since reopened as Garcia’s Mexican Restaurant, which also brought the cocktail lounge back to life. The Googie marquee remains out front, though the old crown ornament is still missing. 09-26
International Cafe (Gone)
Yermo, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Here's the International Cafe in Yermo, CA as dusk begins to set. The cafe is open with cars arriving to chow down on some hot hearty meals.
Here’s the International Cafe in Yermo as dusk begins to settle over the desert. The cafe is open, cars are pulling in, and travelers are heading inside for a hot meal before continuing along Interstate 15. With its soaring roofline, walls of glass, and giant red, white, and blue arrow sign, this was one roadside stop that could be spotted long before reaching the Calico Road exit.
Built in 1965, the International Cafe served travelers making the long run between Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Its dramatic Googie design made it a real eye-catcher, especially after dark when the cafe and towering sign lit up beside the freeway.
The restaurant closed around 2003 and slowly fell into disrepair. The abandoned building even turned up as a filming location for Ang Lee’s 2003 movie Hulk, with a temporary ice cream parlor set constructed beside the real cafe.
International Cafe
Yermo, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
Unfortunately, the vacant International Cafe burned to the ground on August 22, 2008. The Desert Dispatch described it as a “suspicious fire of undetermined cause.” After decades of welcoming hungry travelers, the trip between Los Angeles and Las Vegas suddenly became a little lonelier. 12-08
UPDATE: The tall Googie arrow sign survived the fire and stood over the empty lot for several more years, but it was eventually removed. The area around the former cafe is now dominated by the enormous EddieWorld travel center and its giant ice cream cone sign. 09-26
