MILEPOSTS #1059

By Bill Pumford, Image from the Russ Keller Collection

TITLE: ARDEN HOF CAFÉ IN LAKE ARROWHEAD VILLAGE: In 1949 the Arden Hof Café, located in Lake Arrowhead Village, was being operated by Bill and Mary McMurray. The Café was divided into two sections, the cafeteria and coffee shop. The cafeteria featured breakfast all day and lunch and dinner from noon until 8:00 p.m. while the coffee chop was open 24 hours a day. This week’s image is from 1960 and the Bowling sign can be seen to the left. The bowling alley was located on the lower level. Mary McMurray was an accomplished bowler who did not have to go far to practice. As a teenager Lake Arrowhead’s own Carol Banner worked at the Arden Hof as a waitress. During the early 1960s the Arden Hof found difficulty in finding good cooks and the quality of the food suffered as a result. According to Duane Banner, Carol found that the Arden Hof was being referred to as “gag ‘n barf” and as a result the waitresses ate their lunches across the street at the nearby deli. By 1965 the Arden Hof had been replaced by The Pantry that was advertised as a family style coffee shop. It served breakfast, lunch, and dinner. In the early 1970s the Kings Table Coffee Shoppe replaced The Pantry and provided sandwiches and take-out food in addition to the usual fare. Terry and Jeanie Kearney operated the Kings Table but just after Thanksgiving in 1973 the coffee shop was destroyed by fire reportedly started in the kitchen’s deep fat fryer. Jeanie’s mother lived on the upstairs floor but survived the fire. The facility was never rebuilt and nearly the entire Lake Arrowhead Village was destroyed a few years later in the ‘Burn to Learn’ exercise.

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