the outpost cafe truck stop / hesperia, ca

Last year we went out to Calico Ghost Town over President’s Day weekend and we made the same trek last month for a weekend of civil war battles, good old fashioned learning and fun. We had all been looking forward to revisiting Johnny Reb’s, a Southern themed restaurant that seemed to be the perfect place to go in junction with civil war battlements. It was not meant to be though as we learned that the restaurant had located it’s Victorville location last year and the other locations were too far out of our way as we made our way to Barstow. I quickly made alternative plans for our meals during our short road trip and one place I insisted on was visiting a truck stop.

For our stop, I chose the Outpost Cafe, a little place just south of Victorville, CA.

I don’t really know why a truck stop sounded so appealing to me. I was imagining a grubby looking location with excellent food and homemade desserts and wacky decor. Well, at least 2 out of 3 were in store for us…

This was tucked in the corner next to the side entrance/exit.

This is a shot of the countertop that I took with my phone. I dug the old school vibe here. It definitely did not look like this place had been updated since the 1970’s.


The other thing that amused me? Wagon wheel lights. Awww, yeah.

The four of us were piled into a round half moon booth and on either side of us were a bunch of different books you could peruse while waiting for your meal to arrive. Such as:

Which talks about such things as:

You can’t make this stuff up. Well, actually, I guess someone did. I’m pretty sure I could have written this book when I was 13.

If you so desire, you can buy one of these books in their little gift shop area. Sorry, I don’t remember the price.

[menu sampling]

I figured that a good bet for this place was to get one of their burgers, which they make fresh daily at the cafe.

[Cajon Pass Outpost Repeater – 1/2lb. ground Kobe beef burger – $10.95]

The wagon wheel lighting didn’t make it great for photo taking, so this was about the best I could do. My burger came with all of the fixings – cheese, shredded lettuce, tomato, and red onion. I added a little mayo and mustard and dug right in.

The burger itself was very juicy and flavorful. It was cooked to a nice medium (as requested) and was well seasoned. The bun wasn’t anything special – just your standard sesame seed bun that was lightly toasted. The fries weren’t bad either – still had the skin on the ends but fried up nice and crispy.

[Juicy Lucy – Your choice of cheese stuffed between two burger patties with chipotle spread – $11.95]

This is the Juicy Lucy. Jake ordered this because of his fond memories of seeing a burger like this on Man vs. Food. I actually made them at home one time after we watched the show – the cheese melts in between the burgers making it ooey gooey on the inside.

Jake and the kids loved this burger and for good reason. It was very well seasoned and the cheesy goodness in the middle makes it really special.

The kids meal’s though are really something you could pass on. A. got a kid’s pizza, which was a very small frozen pizza (like a super mini personal size) with fries. S. got mac and cheese and it just looked like a little cup of Kraft macaroni and cheese. They were about $4.95 each but not really worth the price.

They also did not have any homemade desserts, which dashed my dreams of homemade goodness.

While I did enjoy the burgers, the kids not-so-good meals and no good desserts made me feel kind of “eh” about the place. I wasn’t that excited about my burger – in the end, it wasn’t really anything that special and nothing different from something I could get back home in San Diego. Maybe it was my fault for not trying something else, but nothing really grabbed my attention except “homemade burgers”. Ah well. Lesson learned. Roadtripping does not always yield happy food results.

The Outpost Cafe
8685 HWY 395
Hesperia, CA 92344
(760) 949-0808


9 thoughts on “the outpost cafe truck stop / hesperia, ca

  1. I’ve had far too many instances during roadtrips that the food tends to be subpar. I think many establishments really base the lack of quality on their foods due to the fact the people need to eat regardless of how good it is.

    1. Hi Darlene – Yeah, that really does seem to be the case, especially with “passing through” towns. There’s not much effort put into making a quality product.

    1. Hi Kim – Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, I didn’t think it was that great, either. Too bad! Will need to find some other good stopping spots for road trips in the future.

  2. Wow. I don’t know why ya’ll are bashing Outpost Cafe. I have eaten dinner at Outpost numerous times and I have never had an issue. My food has always been cooked very well, and we know the staff their because we have been to Outpost so many times. The ladies know what we are gonna order before we even say anything. As for the mac and cheese seeming to be kraft, well it probably is. I have never been to a restaurant that actually makes their own. Even higher up food chains all use store bought mac and cheese. As for the decor. ya’ll just need enjoy the atmosphere and stop being so critical. Its a truck stop for goodness sakes and personally I think the Outpost Cafe is by far my favorite place to enjoy time with my family.

  3. Don’t know what it would take to please some of you. I live near there and the food is always good. One of the best burgers I’ve ever had every time. Fries great. Onion rings awesome. Salad dressings taste homemade. Service as quick as possible they do get busy sometimes you know. Maybe you should just stick to Carl’s Jr.

  4. I have eaten many meals at the outpost. I have run all 48 states, and this was one of the best!!! To the enes who thought they were too slow. Take yuor yuppie ass to McDonalds and eat their kangaroo meat burgers !!!

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