Vegetarian places along Rte 395

June 27, 2012 1:33 PM

LionessIndex (my wife) and I will be heading north from San Diego to Yosemite in early July, via Rte. 395 (yes we have air conditioning). My wife is vegetarian, I am an omnivore but will gladly eat non-animal-product stuff. Where can we stop for meals?

We can probably make do with just about anyplace, but it would be nice if she was able to get more than a grilled cheese sandwich or a salad. The definition of vegetarian for the purpose of the question: no meat, no fish, eggs and dairy are OK, but a dairy-based meal wouldn't be super-preferable. I've done the drive many times previously, but not in a long while, and I seem to remember that most fast-food outlets have some kind of decent presence all the way up the road, but trying something else would be great. I'd guess that Bishop and Victorville/Hesperia would give us our best shots, maybe Lone Pine.

Bonus question: we'll be returning on July 11. Are there any 7-11s along the 395 that we can pillage on free slurpee day?

posted by LionIndex to travel & transportation around Arden-Arcade, CA (17 answers total)

Should've mentioned: Mammoth Lakes and June Lakes are technically along the 395, but may be too much of a detour - it'll depend on what kind of time we're making. If you know of someplace awesome in either of those towns that's worth the detour, I would like to hear about though.
posted by LionIndex at 1:43 PM on June 27, 2012

So, it's not ideal/gourmet/fabulous, but Burger King has a pretty decent veggie burger - made by Morningstar Farms. It's a good backup plan if your only option is fast food.
posted by insectosaurus at 1:49 PM on June 27, 2012

Oh my god.

Schat's.

I am always telling people that they make the best donuts in the world but they are in Eastern Bumblefuck Nowhere, CA, so no one else has ever been. Stop there. They also make bread and other stuff but seriously just get as many of the buttermilk donuts as you can fit in your car and eat them.

Mahogany Smoked Meats also does really nice jerky and smoked stuff for the omnivore.

Rereading your question I got a little off-base there on the donuts but you really should stop there. Also the world's creepiest gas station is right where the 395 and 14 meet up in that area, so you should stop there just to give yourself a good case of the willies.

Finally there are a couple of Mexican restaurants in Bishop, so if you're OK stopping for lunch your wife could get some rice and beans or veggie fajitas there.
posted by Aizkolari at 2:03 PM on June 27, 2012

The Western Kitchen in Bishop has great thai food.
posted by H. Roark at 2:11 PM on June 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

Also the Whoa Nellie Dellie at the gas station in Lee Vining.
posted by H. Roark at 2:12 PM on June 27, 2012

There's a great French bistro in Independence CA right on the 395. The Still Life Cafe. It's not vegetarian per se, but worth checking out.
posted by adamrice at 3:20 PM on June 27, 2012

If you are going up 395 to Yosemite, and you have any interest at all in seeing the high country, you owe it to yourself to take a day and go to Little Lakes Valley via the Mosquito Flats Trailhead on Rock Creek Lake. Starting at 10,300', the trail moseys along 8 lakes on the way to 11,100' Morgan Pass. You can hike one or two miles and see some of the prettiest high country in the Sierras.

Oh, and to the point of the question, the resort along the road has pie -- but they only make a certain number of pies a day and when they are gone they are gone :). Have a good trip!
posted by elmay at 4:56 PM on June 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

The Still Life Café in Independence has surprisingly good French food for being in the middle of bumfuck nowhere. The owners are French and make their own pâté from ducks they raise themselves.

Seconding Erick Schaat's Baakery.
posted by matrushka at 5:37 PM on June 27, 2012

Will you return to San Diego via 395 or venture westward and return by way of either Hwy 41 or 49 to 99? If so Trelio in Clovis is rated #1 of 350 restaurants in Clovis and has a great reputation throughout Fresno area. Vegetarian food is available, though generally not on the menu.
posted by X4ster at 6:19 PM on June 27, 2012

Assuming the Tioga pass from 395...
posted by X4ster at 6:23 PM on June 27, 2012

Our return route is undetermined at this point, but we're going camping, so we're going to be pretty ripe on our way home, meaning fancy places will probably not be on the table. I'm not necessarily looking for nice places, just places where my wife can have a choice of food. Drive-thrus are A-OK. Tioga Pass is our access point to Yosemite, but I don't know if we'll feel like taking the same way back or doing the Central Valley and then suffering through LA. I guess you can see where I'm leaning.

The owners are French and make their own pâté from ducks they raise themselves.
Not for long!
posted by LionIndex at 6:35 PM on June 27, 2012

I understand, perhaps another trip. Don't understand the last sentence of your comment. Was that somewhere in comments about Trelio? Trelio is family owned by the Shackelfords, definately not French and not pâté makers.
posted by X4ster at 6:49 PM on June 27, 2012

Do stop at Schat's. Get some bread to take along for camping.
posted by X4ster at 6:51 PM on June 27, 2012

Don't understand the last sentence of your comment. Was that somewhere in comments about Trelio?

No, that was referring to matrushka's comment about the Still Life Cafe. I believe pâté foie gras becomes illegal in California on July 1.
posted by LionIndex at 7:32 PM on June 27, 2012

Schat's = Yes. They make great sandwiches with good veggie options.
Mammoth isn't so far off the path and they have a Schat's as well.

Primo Burger in Mojave does veggie burgers and other veggie whatnot that are good (as of a few years ago, probably worth checking).

Giovanni's in Mammoth is pretty good as well, and the adjacent Vons(?) is surprisingly well stocked.

The grill in tuolumne meadows does veggie burgers and the adjacent store has lots of things a vegetarian cold make a meal out of.
posted by elmonobonobo at 9:49 PM on June 27, 2012

Ok this is gonna sound so weird. But you have to stop at the gas station in Lee Vining. They have a restaurant that serves great portobello mushroom burgers. They also have fish tacos which are supposed to be delicious, but as a vegetarian, I've not tasted them.

Woah, upon googling, they even have a wikipedia page with reviews from the NY times and Gourmet magazine.
posted by nerdcore at 10:30 PM on June 27, 2012

So, we went to Schaat's - it came up at a pretty decent time during our drive up so we went there for lunch. Our area also has some weird awesome bakery out in the middle of nowhere that people flock to and is famous for their sheepherder bread, so we also wanted make a comparison.

We both got sandwiches (there is really only one veggie option pre-specified in the deli menu), and were very happy with the results. We also picked up a loaf of sheepherder bread to use for sandwiches at camp (Dudley's is better, IMHO, but Schaat's is perfectly fine) which did quite well. We were there at around lunch time on a Sunday, so the place was packed and people were idiots about parking, but I guess that goes with the territory.

We drove by the Whoa Nellie Deli - it's just off the 395 once you turn west onto the 120 into Yosemite. It also looked like it was going nuts inside with cars spilling out into the road waiting for parking. On our way out, I think we were too early for it to be open.
posted by LionIndex at 7:58 PM on July 11, 2012