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View Full Version : Dinosaur Place at Cabazon--the restaurant



Katran
01-27-2007, 12:58 PM
I wasn't sure where to put this, but for anyone who drives the I-10 westbound to go to Disneyland, I wanted to know about the restaurant at the dinosaur park at the Cabazon exit. Has anyone eaten there? There is a burger king next door, but the one I'm talking about is right next to the gas station.

Durliin
01-27-2007, 01:14 PM
its pretty much a truck stop diner. I ate there years ago nothing special but ok food. I would just stop at hadleys get food from them and a Date Shake :)

Tinkermommy
01-27-2007, 02:30 PM
Definitely a diner-coffee shop kind of place. Only went there once, and it had the filthiest single-stall ladies room I've ever seen. Not messy-customers-in-a-near-the-freeway environment; I mean filthy. If I'd seen the restroom ahead of time, we never would have eaten there. I figured if that's how they took care of a customer area, I'd hate to see the parts of the restaurant customers never see...

Katran
01-27-2007, 03:03 PM
its pretty much a truck stop diner. I ate there years ago nothing special but ok food. I would just stop at hadleys get food from them and a Date Shake :)

Thanks for the warnings guys. That's exactly what I was afraid of. It's been awhile since I've been over there. Is Hadley's the one on the other side of the Burger King? I just wanted something a little different than the old McDonald's/Burger King/Taco Bell stand-by's.

disney jones
01-27-2007, 03:21 PM
the dinosaur restaurant in Cabazon is The Wheel Inn. it's been there at least 40 years and was (is?) famous for their pies mostly. i haven't eaten there for 25 years, but i remember it before the dinosaurs were there.

22nd Street in Banning is about 5 minutes further up the road - we called in Junk Food Junction, but there's a Sizzlers there too. If looking for something more than fast food, waiting a few minutes till you get to the Banning/Beaumont area is the thing to do.

Durliin
01-27-2007, 05:35 PM
I belive so Hadlys is mainly a store were you can buy Dates,bnuts Peanutbrittle other candies home made produce and quaint things but inside to the left is there dinner section they have burgers and such and awsome Date shakes. We would always stop there on the way home from my Grandmothers house in Palm springs

Katran
01-27-2007, 06:02 PM
the dinosaur restaurant in Cabazon is The Wheel Inn. it's been there at least 40 years and was (is?) famous for their pies mostly. i haven't eaten there for 25 years, but i remember it before the dinosaurs were there.


Thanks! Now that I see the name, I remember it.

We are planning to stop at the dinosaurs because my nephew has never seen them and my kids always like to visit there. We figured we'd make that our lunch stop, as we should hit it around lunch-time.

Well, if worse comes to worse we can still do Burger King. I was just looking for something different this time. I think we might check out Hadley's though. Of course, it will depend on what the group as a whole decides. I have a feeling the kids are going to want Burger King, lol!

disney jones
01-27-2007, 06:27 PM
here's a few links to The Wheel Inn too. a postcard of it appeared in a movie (maybe "Vacation"?), but an entire scene was shot there for Pee Wee Herman's first movie.

http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=397

http://www.bigwaste.com/photos/ca/cabazon_dinos/

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/whereweeat/stern_wheelin.html

http://www.frankwu.com/cabazon.html

they evn have a wiki entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabazon_Dinosaurs

pie. before the dinosaurs that's what it was known for. (i grew up in Palm Springs)


geez, now i want to take my kids there. i've only stopped there once, but i'm sure i've been by there a thousand times.

Katran
01-28-2007, 08:34 AM
Thanks for the links. How interesting that most of the reviews of the restaurants were very favorable, yet reviews of posters here have been negative.

Missapsy
01-30-2007, 12:56 PM
i love stuff like those dinosaurs, and i go every year on my way to the coachella valley music festival. the weirdest thing about those dinosaurs is that now they have been turned into a creationist museum promoting intelligent design theory. there is still the same old gift shop stuff to purchase inside, but as you're walking around, there are strange videos, illustrations/paintings and dioramas surrounding you. they want to show that dinosaurs were on noah's ark and on the planet at the same time as humans.

Tinkermommy
01-30-2007, 01:59 PM
The dinosaurs are on my way home from my mom's house, and we love to stop there and buy silly stuff in the little shop in the dino's belly.

I will say this: you are better off skipping that Burger King and doing as somebody else said, driving just a few miles more for food.

I am a Diet Coke addict, and I used to go into that Burger King for at least a soda every time we stopped for dino things. I have NEVER had a good experience inside. The bathrooms are a disaster (the kind caused by too many tourists), but the food service is deplorable. They take forever, no matter how empty or crowded it is. They get stuff wrong, they give orders to the wrong people (repeatedly) -- and when you bring it to their attention, they act like you're making a big deal out of nothing -- and take longer.

It got to the point that I intended to write Burger King's corporate hq to complain, but instead stopped going. I absolutely refuse to set foot in there again.

If the kids want Burger King from there, go in with low expectations. Maybe they've changed and you will be pleasantly surprised. If you don't want to chance it, there is another Burger King just a few miles west on the freeway.

Katran
01-30-2007, 08:00 PM
the weirdest thing about those dinosaurs is that now they have been turned into a creationist museum promoting intelligent design theory.


Yeah, lol, I noticed that too.



I will say this: you are better off skipping that Burger King and doing as somebody else said, driving just a few miles more for food.

I am a Diet Coke addict, and I used to go into that Burger King for at least a soda every time we stopped for dino things. I have NEVER had a good experience inside. The bathrooms are a disaster (the kind caused by too many tourists), but the food service is deplorable. They take forever, no matter how empty or crowded it is. They get stuff wrong, they give orders to the wrong people (repeatedly) -- and when you bring it to their attention, they act like you're making a big deal out of nothing -- and take longer.


Well, if we stop there and then stop again a few miles down the road, we'll be making two stops in a matter of minutes. We had planned to stop there for lunch and then not stop again until Anaheim (assuming our bladders will allow that, lol!).

And we ate at that Burger King just a few weeks ago and found nothing wrong with it. The food was good and the service was quick, even though it was pretty busy. Everything was clean, and our orders were completely correct. The guy who took our order was really nice and friendly. Maybe they've gotten new management since you were last in?

Tinkermommy
01-30-2007, 08:27 PM
Maybe they've changed and you will be pleasantly surprised.

I did suggest that might be a possibility. It was so bad, somebody surely must have noticed. It's probably been a year since I stopped going there -- maybe more.

I'm glad you had a good experience there!

Katran
01-31-2007, 05:22 AM
Yeah, I would guess new management then, if it was as bad as you say compared to when I went. That or I just caught them on a really good day, lol!

Well, I guess I'll just discuss all our options among the group and see what everyone wants to try. We have Burger King and McDonald's so much here at home that I wanted a change from the regular fast-food burger joint on our trip. But if everyone else decides on Burger King, I can live with it.

Tinkermommy
01-31-2007, 09:03 AM
There is another possibility -- there used to be a Denny's there, but the building was boarded up for a long time. Driving home Sunday, I noticed it looked like another restaurant had opened in that spot. (Right next door to BK, on the east side.)

I have never been there, and the name wasn't something I recognized. But it might give you one more choice, if you're feeling adventurous...

Katran
01-31-2007, 01:47 PM
Thanks for the tip. I did notice that something was there, but I thought that was the Hadley's that everyone has been talking about. I'll take a look when we're there.