The pizza industry isn’t quite the canary of the restaurant industry, but fractures in it are pointing to a shaky economy.
According to data from the USDA, pizza is the most popular food in the United States, with individuals consuming more than 23 pounds of it every year.
Even so, national chains, North Bay groups and independent pizzerias are feeling the impact of declining sales because of consumers curtailing their spending habits and choosing healthier options, as well as the added expense of ingredients and employee costs.
According to market research company IBIS World, revenue at pizza restaurants has been falling at a compound annual growth rate of 2.9 percent for the past five years. In 2025, revenues were expected to be $49.5 billion.
“Pizza restaurants have suffered revenue declines due to growing competition and some economic volatility over the past five years,” IBIS World reports. “Pizza is a mainstay in many U.S. households, but other restaurants have begun selling it, and various at-home options exist (like) frozen pizza. Further, rising health consciousness among Americans has lowered demand for pizzas.”
Not that long ago pizza was about the only restaurant food one could get delivered. DoorDash and Uber Eats have changed the delivery landscape, which in turn cuts into pizza sales.
Skipolini’s has been making pizzas since 1974. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
Tracking spending habits
While people are obviously still eating pizza, they might be ordering a medium instead of a large, or not getting a side or beverage.
The Chandi Hospitality Group operates 17 Mountain Mike’s—eight in Sonoma County, three in Humboldt County, and two each in Napa, Marin and Mendocino counties.
“People are watching their spending. I have seen that customers in the North Bay for our locations are looking for value—good deals, lunch specials, and combo offers,” Bhupinder “Sonu” Singh Chandi said. Chandi is founder-president-CEO of the restaurant group. “Delivery platforms are doing OK compared to other channels because of promotions, but margins are tighter. With rising costs, people want more value when they eat out.”
Mary’s Pizza Shack, with its 10 locations in Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties, is also cognizant of people not parting with their money as freely as they once did.
“We are noticing an easing of sales in general at our Sonoma County restaurants. Not specifically pizza, but overall sales of pastas, sandwiches, salads,” Cullen “Cully” Williamson, owner of Mary’s Pizza Shack, said. “When people don’t know what the future will hold, you automatically start cutting back where you can. So maybe they eat out less often or when they do go out to a restaurant, they don’t buy a glass of wine, or they share a salad.”
Pat Townsley, who opened Creekside Pizza & Taproom in San Anselmo in 2017, is witnessing a slowdown in the number of people coming through his doors, while those who do come are spending less.
“Average spend per guest is down and gratuities are also down. Summer was slow by 23 percent versus 2024, and we have an amazing summer-long downtown weekend concert and street festival,” Townsley said.
Using the week before Christmas as an example, sales were off 30 percent compared to 2024 at the Marin County restaurant.
“We have also seen a drop in our daytime business. We had a significant 60-plus crowd from noon to 3 p.m. and that has dropped by at least 50 percent,” Townsley said. “They may be the most frugal, perhaps on fixed incomes, and don’t want to ‘treat’ themselves to extra spending.”
Happy hour at Creekside, which is every day of the year, was down 40 percent the last half of 2025 compared to the previous year.
Creekside has the other burden of being a tap room as part of its business model. Alcohol sales are trending downward, as is the case throughout the adult beverage industry. People at the Marin pie shop are ordering healthier drinks or fewer glasses of wine or beer.
“Once trendy and hip and cool, craft beer is now on the far end of the product lifecycle. It has peaked and leveled off as noted by consolidation in the industry and many, many brewery closures. The market became saturated around 2022,” Townsley told the Journal.
Belal Eid, owner of Seniore’s Pizza in Fairfield, notices regulars coming in less frequently. When they do arrive they want a deal or the most value for their buck.
Seniore’s has 11 locations, with all but one in the Bay Area.
La Prima Pizza, which has had locations in Calistoga and St. Helena for about 25 years, has felt the biggest drop in business with the lack of tourists in the Napa Valley. Locals are keeping them afloat.
Beer and pizza–always a good combination. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
Economic realities
Net profits are taking a hit as expenses rise and shop owners are reluctant to pass along all of the increases to customers.
In 2025, Chandi Hospitality Group experiences packaging costs rising 6 to 8 percent, pepperoni up 10 to 15 percent, and sauce prices more by 4 to 6 percent. Cheese, wheat and all meats cost more today than even a year ago.
“These rising input costs continue to put pressure on overall margins,” Chandi said. “Some of our stores are doing well in keeping revenue as in the past year, overall we have seen that our traffic is down (in 2025) when we compare to (2024).”
This Mountain Mike’s group did not have any major price increases on 2025, but adjustments were made to account for the $20 minimum wage franchises were mandated to pay in California starting in 2024.
Mary’s Pizza Shack points to more than ingredient prices soaring. It’s all business expenses—from energy bills to liability insurance.
“The increase in labor expenses is not just wages, but also the payroll taxes and workers compensation insurance. Health insurance increases are approximately 10 percent or more a year,” Williamson said. “2025 has been a challenge for us because when expenses go up and sales go down, it makes it hard to earn a profit.”
Still, he is confident with the pizza company establishing a loyal customer basis during the last 66 years that “we’ll get through this tough time.”
Eid at the Seniore’s Pizza in Fairfield said his profit margin continues to shrink because he’s caught between rising prices and customers not willing to absorb all of his added costs. Aldo Nunez, who manages the La Prima Pizza restaurants for his parents, echoed that sentiment.
Even though Eid is not obligated to pay workers $20 an hour, the labor market is such that workers will go where the higher paycheck is so he says he is “stuck paying the higher minimum wage costs big corporations are paying.”
Townsley at Creekside acknowledges being in Marin County is a bonus because economic downturns are less severe in a more affluent community. Even so, it’s not all rosy.
“Too many beer options, expensive ingredients, shipping/logistics, a decrease in demand equals decline-failure in industry,” he said.
Myriad issues are beyond most owners’ control, as Townsley highlights topics not always top of mind for the consumer.
“There are always going to be production challenges that impact pricing from freezing crops raising the cost of limes temporarily, to a levee break in the Central Valley that halts ag trucks from shipping within the state,” Townsley said. “Everything is connected. Regardless if we are sourcing locally, there is a global supply chain thread that ripples through all industries. No business or industry is an island.”
He is also contending with higher alcohol charges, with some distributors adding a 10 percent increase for all inventory. Keg prices are up about $10 per barrel, while some breweries are charging delivery fees or increasing minimum order quantities.
“At Creekside, we haven’t changed prices in years. We have a consistent following and can generally weather the ups and downs by throttling labor and supply purchases; those two are our biggest costs,” Townsley said.
While he is not subject to the $20 minimum wage for fast food franchise, the California minimum wage went up Jan. 1 to $16.90 from $16.50. That 40 cents increase alone is expected to cost Creekside $25,000 in 2026.
Some things are too good to say no to even if they are illegal.
Such is the case with acitrón.
Chiles en nogada is a traditional Mexican dish made with acitrón, which comes from a cactus that is endangered in Mexico. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
Even though the sale of this confection has been banned in Mexico for 20 years, it is still available at some markets. Restaurants also use it in dishes like chiles en nogada and Rosca de Reyes, or Three Kings Cake.
It is made from the pulp of biznaga, which is the largest species of barrel cactus.
The government forbid acitrón to be sold because overcultivation of the cactus has put it on the verge of extinction.
Officials say it is not a plant that can be grown for mass consumption like blue agave is for tequila. This means biznaga cactus are harvested in the wild. But there are only so many of them; and fewer each day as they continue to be taken illegally.
The plant is native to central Mexico, found mostly in the Chihuahuan Desert. They can take 14 to 40 years to grow.
A November 2022 report from the Center for Biological Diversity titled Merciless Markets: How Wildlife Trafficking Threatens Mexico’s Biodiversity cites Mexico City as the “epicenter” for trafficking of illegal animals and plants in the country.
“It is where most of the direct marketing of plants and animals taken from the wild is carried out, reaching warehouses and homes …,” the report states. “Plants abound, including large elephant feet palm, peyotes, barrel cactus or biznagas and all kinds of cacti, as well as orchids still attached to the trunk or bark of the tree.”
People have been harvesting biznagas for food for thousands of years, though it was the Spanish who brought sugar to Mexico that made the concoction sweet. Prior to that it was still a food source, but also used as medicine.
“Acitróns are obtained by extracting the pith from the cactus and then putting it through a crystallizing process, which produces a sweet yellow or translucent cream, with a smooth texture on the inside and a firm layer on the outside. Once the process is complete, the acitrón has a sugar content of 70 to 75 percent,” according to Wikipedia.
Purists will say chiles en nogada must be made with acitrón. Though, there are recipes that use candied pineapple as a substitute as well as candied chilacayote, a type of squash
This dish is often served in homes and restaurants to commemorate Mexican Independence Day in September. It’s also found on menus during the winter holidays. The green chiles, white walnut sauce, and garnish of red pomegranate seeds represent the colors of the Mexican flag.
Note: A version of this story was first written for the Gringo Gazette.
I am not creative when it comes to cocktails, but I love drinking ones made by other people.
However, neither have a personal bartender nor the means (or desire) to pay for libations on a regular basis.
With the help of Jennifer Brian, who wrote Classic Cocktail Revival (The University Press of Kentucky, 2025), I might be able to do more than open a bottle of wine or beer. (Though living in Mexico did teach me how to make a pretty good margarita.)
Brian writes, “Measuring ingredients is the only way to consistently create the perfect cocktail.”
I agree. I failed at making mixed drinks so many times by winging it. It’s not like cooking where you can throw a little of this or that and then “correct” the flavor with something else.
“I believe that three-ingredient cocktails can be accessible, delicious, and easy and can fit into anyone’s lifestyle or skill level,” Brian writes.
The section of the “cook” book about syrups and sugars is most interesting. Until I made the Tequila Toddy for my December Tahoe Mountain News (Page 20) drinking, er food, column, I had never made an infused simple syrup. It’s worth doing.
Brian has a whole chapter on Toddies.
If you don’t want to make your own, Brian sells syrups and other items through her business Make & Muddle. She even has recipes online if you want to peruse those instead of or before buying the book.
What I like about this beverage book is many of the recipes call for things I have on hand, they are easy to understand, not complicated, not time consuming.
The last chapter is about spirit free mocktails.
As with most books in the food and beverage genre, it’s worth reading not just for the recipes, but to get an education. In this case about spirits, history, sugars, glassware and so much more.
The canning line at Sierra Nevada Brewery in Chico. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
Earlier this month I combined my thirst for beer and learning into one activity—a tour of Sierra Nevada Brewery which is now 45 years old. This was an OLLI class through Chico State.
Years ago I had taken the self-guided tour at Sierra Nevada. This one was much more extensive. Along the hallways are old photos showing various aspects of the last four decades.
I knew the property was large, but until I walked the quarter mile from the front to the packaging area while listening to Byron regale us with facts, figures and stories, I had no idea the acreage was so extensive. It’s about 50 acres.
Ken Grossman, who started the brewery in his garage, is still very much involved in the business. In fact, he was having a beer with workers while some of us were imbibing post-tour.
Byron talks about hops at Sierra Nevada Brewery. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
It was obvious the brewery was constructed in stages instead of being laid out from scratch to be the facility it is today. In fact, there are doors that don’t go anywhere. Plus, the bottling area should be much closer to where the actual beer is produced.
Cans whir in a blur as they circle around being filled with the flavor of the day. Eight hundred cans are filled and sealed every minute. Byron is adamant cans are better for beer than bottles.
The North Carolina facility started making beer in 2014 after capacity was met in Chico.
Today, Sierra Nevada produces one-half of 1 percent of the beer made in the United States.
The company has been a leader in sustainability. This includes 10,500 solar panels on the property. The tour leader said this is one of the largest private solar arrays in the U.S. About 70 percent of the electricity used on site is produced on site.
A door we didn’t get to go in was the Quality Insurance Lab. While all beer has water, yeast, barley and hops, it’s the brewmaster and others who work their magic to make the various styles of beer and ensure each bottle or can or keg tastes the same year after year.
The tour ends in the innovation bar area where beers not available elsewhere, even in the main brewery, are being poured. I recommend the Dusk Runner, a Cascadia dark ale. They even have a hand cranked canning gizmo so you can take some to go.
An array of non-alcoholic drinks at All The Bitter in Chico. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
It might seem like a leap for two former French Laundry sommeliers to open the country’s first zero proof tasting lounge. And then in Chico of all places.
But that’s exactly what Ian and Carly Blessing did.
Their website says: “After having kids we decided that alcohol wasn’t in our plan anymore, but great-tasting drinks still were. So we ventured into the exciting new world of non-alcoholic beverages.”
Ian is a wealth of information. Carly probably is, too, but it was Ian who helped us last week on our (me, mom, Sue, Veronica) first visit to All The Bitter.
Veronica, Cleo, Kae and Sue enjoying an array of drinks at All The Bitter. (Image: Ian Blessing)
He talked about the mouth feel of alcohol, stressing that is the difficult part of non-alcoholic beverages—to have that same feel. Of course it’s about taste, too. He admitted NA red wines still need some work.
“It came as a surprise when we found limited alcohol-free bitters on the market—and nothing that truly felt classic—so we decided to make our own,” the website says. “Hundreds of test recipes, experiments, and tastings later we’ve nailed what we believe are some of the best tasting—and most beneficial—bitters in the world, alcohol-free or otherwise.”
This isn’t just a bar serving non-alcoholic drinks. For starters, it’s more of a lounge. You may order NA cocktails, wine and beer here, and zero alcohol.
This concept was so refreshing. For those who don’t want alcohol they have the opportunity to order anything on the menu. It’s like me walking into a vegetarian or vegan restaurant—I don’t have to think twice about some hidden ingredient that might not fit with my dietary choices.
While a drink menu is provided, All The Bitter is essentially a full bar, so any NA drink could be mixed. Full size glasses of what’s offered in the flights are also available. We opted to taste the whole menu, with glasses circulating around the table.
All The Bitter has a wide selection of NA offerings in the store and online. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
The Zero Proof Cocktail Flight ($15) include half-sized pours of Agave Margarita, Yuzu Meyer Lemon Drop and Classic Negroni. The Non-Alcoholic Wine Flight ($10) had Noughty Sparkling Chardonnay, Seaglass Sauvignon Blanc 2023, Tomorrow Cellars Petit Syrah 2023, and Ian threw in a Pinot as well. Also on the table were the Spiced Old Fashioned ($12) and Island Mule ($12), and a full glass of the bubbly.
All The Bitter is part bar, part retail. The retail continues to grow. Wine, beer, pre-mixed cocktails, ingredients to make drinks at home, a slew of bitters—all on their shelves. The website has a host of recipes.
A couple years ago I participated in Dry January. This made me a believer in NA beer. What thrilled me is my favorite, Deschutes Black Butte NA, is available in six packs at All The Bitter. Until last week I had not found it locally.
A window allows one to peak into where the bitters and other drink ingredients are made. It would be fun to be around to see them at work in the kitchen.
The public is invited to eat breakfast, like this Stanford Ranchero, at The Ravens at the Stanford Inn in Mendocino. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
No matter how full I felt when breakfast was over, I looked forward to doing it all again the next morning.
Going out to breakfast is a rare treat for me, so having someone fix me something so delectable six days in a row, well, I was in unfamiliar territory. To be undecided about what to order because of the bounty of choices was a wonderful problem to have.
Breakfast is included with a night’s stay at the Stanford Inn in Mendocino. You won’t want to skip this meal. (The restaurant is open for breakfast and dinner to non-guests as well.)
Food in general is a big part of what this property is all about. After all, it’s one of the only vegan resorts in the country. The Ravens, the name of the restaurant, is all vegan. As the owners, Joan and Jeff Stanford say, vegan is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle. It’s their compassion for animals that brought them to this belief.
“At The Ravens, we choose to serve a whole-food, plant-based diet, setting us apart from most other vegan restaurants in the United States. Many vegan and vegan-friendly restaurants rely on seitan, soy protein, isolates, and tofu in main course to replace meat,” the cookbook from the resort says. “Seitan is pure wheat gluten and can be flavored and then roasted, grilled, or fried and can smell like and taste like animal meats. Soy protein isolate are nearly pure soy protein, concentrating the protein and with it, phytoestrogens. Tofu is the least processed of the three but lacks fiber. A version of edamame, or soybeans, is tempeh, a fermented soy product and whole food. We do not use seitan or soy isolates at all. We avoid using tofu in a major role of a dish, relegating it to a condiment.”
The Portobello Benedict is one of the recipes in the cookbook from The Ravens. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
The breakfasts I had in the order I liked them were:
Portobello Benedict—English muffin, with spinach, grilled tomato and marinated portobello slices. Ravens hollandaise sauce. Choice of country rosemary potatoes or sweet potatoes. ($22)
Stanford Ranchero—Corn tortillas with black beans, and choice of seasoned tofu or braised tempeh topped with chipotle sauce and salsa cruda. Choice of potatoes. ($18)
Burrito—Scrambled tofu or braised tempeh, garden vegetables, black beans, rice, Ravens’ enchilada sauce and our cashew cheese in a whole wheat tortilla. With salsa cruda, tofu sour cream. Choice of potatoes. ($19)
Enchilada—Organic corn tortillas steeped in Ravens enchilada sauce, filled with quinoa and spinach and topped with salsa cruda. Served with refried pintos and Spanish rice. ($20)
Savory Breakfast Crepe—Chickpea crepe with turmeric tofu, zucchini, onion, garlic, topped with Ravens avocado chimichurri sauce; with choice of potatoes. ($19)
Stanford Herbed Polenta—Their signature brunch entrée: grilled sun-dried tomato polenta with garden greens sautéed in our braising sauce. Served with cashew cream sauce. ($20)
This confirmed I’m not a fan of polenta, but glad I tried it. The rosemary potatoes won out over the sweet potatoes. Fruit could be substituted for the taters.
Most of the breakfasts are savory, but sweet options are on the menu.
Sea Palm Pad Thai pairs well with this local Cabernet Sauvignon. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
Choosing what to have for dinner was just as difficult. The lone dinner I had at The Ravens was the Sea Palm Pad Thai: local sea palm, rice noodles, tofu, broccoli, cauliflower, peanuts, mung bean sprouts, green onions—$27. It was outstanding.
I’m pretty sure this is the first time I had sea palm, which is an edible seaweed. It comes in several forms, and it often used in a stir fry—which makes sense for the dish I had.
Dessert was the best carrot cake ($18) I have ever had. On a previous night I had a to-go order of the Mint Chocolate Ganache Tart ($19), so that’s why I didn’t get it. Mint chocolate is usually my go-to. It was so dense and rich I could not eat it in one sitting. It sure paired well with red wine in the room in front of the fire.
Back to the carrot cake. Moist, flavorful and melt in your mouth luxury. I didn’t know carrot cake could taste so sumptuous, especially considering I thought I made a pretty good carrot cake. This one is so far beyond my recipe. Instead of cream cheese for the frosting it uses a coconut spread and vegan shortening sticks. Vegan shortening sticks might be something added to my grocery list.
This carrot cake was so good, I would order it over the ganache.
Nearly every afternoon the Stanford Inn offers complimentary finger food and happy hour prices on adult beverages. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
I’ll have to try making the carrot cake at home because the recipe is in the cookbook I bought, Dining at The Ravens: Over 150 Nourishing Vegan Recipes from the Stanford Inn by the Sea (BenBella Books, 2016).
Besides how delicious the food was, it had me trying things that were new to me. With it being vegan, I knew I could eat everything so I didn’t worry if I didn’t know what something was. This was so liberating.
One day I took a 90-minute vegan sauce making class with Sid Garza-Hillman, the wellness programs director at the inn. He made Cashew Ranch Dressing/Dip, Hemp and Sunflower Ricotta, and Roasted Tomato Chipotle Sauce.
Garza-Hillman offers a few classes, with this one seeming like the one I’d be most likely to replicate in my kitchen. The private lesson allowed me to ask what I wanted and to be the sole recipient of the finished product.
Sid Garza-Hillman chops herbs for a vegan sauce during a class at Stanford Inn. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
I have read plenty of recipes to know cashews are a big deal in vegan sauces—I just hadn’t seen them made or tasted any that I remember. Garza-Hillman had me try the cashews after they were pulverized with some water. Much sweeter than I expected.
As he pointed out, traditional ranch dressing is primarily buttermilk and dill—and definitely not sweet. An acid would need to be added to balance that sweetness. Vinegars, though, come in a range of flavors. He had me taste a few. This confirmed how important it is to know the flavor profile of what you are adding to the cashew mixture—or any concoction for that matter.
I had never taken a vegan cooking class of any sort before. (I’m not a vegan, but I seem to keep getting closer without really trying.) It opened my eyes, and taste buds, to possibilities I had not explored before. Like learning anything new, as well as adapting to change, it will take some time. However, I think I’ll start trying some of these vegan sauces. They certainly are better for me than using animal products.
Beer and bakeries share a history that goes back to the beginning of this malt beverage.
Because they shared many of the same ingredients. it was common for breweries and bakeries to be in the same building. This was also at a time when the profession was female dominated.
Steve Kay of Allies Pub in Chico talks about the history of beer. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
“Breads were sour so the beers were more sour,” explained Steve Kay, owner and brewer at Allies Pub in Chico, who taught the class.
His was the second brewery in town after Sierra Nevada opened in 1980.
There was quite a bit to learn in a two-night class about the history of beer making. This is one of the OLLI classes I took this semester.
Having the classes at the pub also meant a couple tastes of beer.
That early beer required a unique straw to drink it with because it was thick.
More than once Kay stressed that beer should never be consumed out of a can. This is because you can’t smell it; it’s going to taste different, less authentic than out of a bottle or glass.
Like tasting wine, there is an art to tasting beer. It’s about noting the color, the clarity—which doesn’t have to be clear, smelling it, and then sipping it.
Hops were introduced in the 14th century. This is the same time the male brewers guild came into being and when witch trials started. From then on, beermaking became a male dominated vocation.
With the invention of refrigeration for beer in 1873, it meant the beverage could be available year-round.
With the 4,000 types of malt, upward of 300 types of hops, more than 400 commercial yeasts, and endless flavorings, as well as fermentation processes, the flavors and styles of beers are practically endless.
What I was sad to learn is Secret Trail Brewing Co. in Chico closed May 31. Taking its place is Paradise Brew Werks.
Don’t let the outside of Tiny Pony dissuade you from entering. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
You know the whole adage—don’t judge a book by its cover—well, the same can said of restaurant entrances.
I’ll admit I never would have found Pappy & Harriet’s without GPS. And Tiny Pony? Never would have gone inside without a recommendation. Just proves that what is inside is often more important than outside appearances.
Both restaurants became post-hike destinations after consecutive days at Joshua Tree National Park earlier this month.
Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace is full of history. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
I first heard about Pappy & Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace from the Visit California website, with my friend Denise later saying it was a must-see spot after visiting Joshua Tree. More than once she expressed how the onion rings were out of this world.
So, the entire first day at Joshua Tree I kept thinking about my reward—onion rings and a beer. OK, all day is an exaggeration, but the thought of onion rings did make hiking in chilly headwinds more pleasurable.
Pappy and Harriet’s opened in 1982 after the buildings being part of Hollywood lore. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
Siri took us on a circuitous route to reach Pappy & Harriet’s. It’s up in the mountains a few miles from the town of Yucca Valley.
Perusing the menu no onion rings could be found. The waitress didn’t remember them being on the menu. Damn. Fries it would have to be. Considering we were chilled, Darla and I both ordered the vegetarian chili, which was more to my liking because it was a bit spicy.
We didn’t wander around much, as it was dark when we left, we were tired, and kitties were waiting for us. But we were impressed with how large the restaurant is and that people were waiting for our table on a Thursday night.
This is what Visit California’s website says about the place: “Back in 1946, when the public couldn’t get enough of Western movies, silver-screen cowboy stars Gene Autry and Roy Rogers [and other investors] saw an opportunity, and created this 1870s-era frontier town–style movie set about 30 miles north of Palm Springs, in hard-scrabble desert near Joshua Tree National Park. The site, called Pioneertown, had camera-ready façades resembling saloons, jailhouses, and stables. Inside, the buildings doubled as tourist attractions, with a bowling alley, an ice cream parlor, and motel. The site that’s now Pappy & Harriet’s was used as a ‘cantina’ set for Westerns well into the 1950s.”
The Tiny Pony serves local and national beers, as well cocktails and ones without alcohol. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
After the second day of exploring Joshua Tree National Park, Darla and I found ourselves at the Tiny Pony Tavern in Yucca Valley. I had overheard a park worker say the yuca fries there were to die for.
From the outside it looked like an uninviting dive bar with its mirrored windows covered by bars. I have nothing against dive bars; they are usually fun. So, in we went.
Wow—this was a bustling, fun pub that without the recommendation neither of us would have found, let alone probably said yes to going into.
The only yuca fries on the menu came loaded—as in covered in homemade queso, crispy bacon, chives and choice of dipping sauce.
The furnishings are as interesting as the people watching at Tiny Pony. (Image: Kathryn Reed)
Yuca fries, according to the Internet, are also known as cassava fries. They are made from the starchy root vegetable yuca (aka cassava), but are not to be confused with the yucca plant.
We ordered the regular fries and each had a beer.
The décor is eclectic with black velvet prints on one wall, another dedicated to felines. The service was impeccable. I’d eagerly go back, wanting to try more of the menu and taste more of the regional beers.
With the help of Jennifer Brian, who wrote Classic Cocktail Revival (The University Press of Kentucky, 2025), I might be able to do more than open a bottle of wine or beer. (Though living in Mexico did teach me how to make a pretty good margarita.)
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