morongo valley cafe

On the last day of our desert trip, I wanted to get up early to see the sunrise. Well… more like I accidentally got up early and figured, “Might as well go watch the sunrise since I’m awake.” The light starting filtering into the bedroom quite early and woke me up! 

Someone else didn’t quite wake up as early as I did but I figured she was the easiest one to wake up.

“Can’t I have five more minutes?”

I went right outside the door to watch the pretty, pretty sunrise. So beautiful. 

And then I promptly went back to bed. I was still on mini vacation after all! I had planned on making breakfast that last morning but I just didn’t feel like cooking anymore and decided we should go check out the cafe that was just down the street called, appropriately, the Morongo Valley Cafe. 

Actually it’s called John’s World Famous Morongo Valley Cafe and Museum but that’s too long for my tastes. It is a “museum” in that there are old photos of Morongo Valley on the walls here talking about some of the history of Morongo Valley. 

Here are the links to the menu: Breakfast Menu | Lunch Menu | Morongo Valley History

I also wanted to come here since it stated “Pet Friendly Patio”. But… there were no chairs and no shade out on their patio which seemed odd to us. There was a stack of chairs not put out but the lack of an umbrella made it an unwanted place to sit. Maya had to hang out in the car instead (with the windows rolled down, of course) while we had breakfast.

The cafe was pretty simple inside and the place was really jumping that morning with every table filled. There was one lone waitress to take care of all of us and I felt for her! She was constantly moving and serving tables. They also have a “cafe tech” who was helping out on this busy morning who served us our drinks. 

At every table they have their own World Famous Morongo Valley hot sauce. No, I didn’t try it. Just merely noting its existence. 

[chicken fried steak with eggs, hash browns, and toast / $8.99]

I spied chicken fried steak on the menu and that sounded like a good idea to me. There were a lot of options for this one. I could get hash browns (which I did) or home fries or even tomato slices. For your bread-y carb choices the options were toast (sourdough, please), tortillas or a biscuit. 

When my plate first arrived (it took awhile to get this food, mind you, but I understood since it was so busy) my first thought was, “Boy… that’s a small chicken fried steak.” Once I cut into it, and looked at it, and tasted it I figured out that it was pretty much just a hamburger patty. A slightly floured hamburger patty. That was barely seasoned. I gave Jake the old “what in the world” eye roll look and he tried a bite and we both agreed: totally just a hamburger patty. With gravy on top. The gravy wasn’t really anything special, either. If the gravy had been delicious and amazing it might have saved it, but no… I’m sorry to say it just wasn’t that great. 

The eggs were a bit overcooked and the hash browns had some minor redeeming qualities. There were crunchy bits that I liked but nothing to write home about. Certainly not like my Keith’s hash brown (sigh). It was a sad breakfast day for me and I was suddenly wishing I had decided to keep to my original plan and make breakfast that morning. (another sigh) 

[one egg special / $4.75]

Jake wasn’t thrilled with his breakfast either but at least it was only $4.75! He asked for his hash browns to be extra crispy so they were a bit better than mine. The bacon was kind of flippy-floppy and not that great. Decent for the price, I guess.  

[banana crunch french toast / $7.65]

T got the best dish out of the three of us by ordering their Banana Crunch French Toast. They use Honey Bunches of Oats cereal to create the crunchy exterior which is quite yummy. The inside stayed soft and moist and the outside was nice and crunchy. Those big globs of white you see are globs of whipped butter, in case you’re wondering. Butter makes it better, you know. 

At least it wasn’t a total wash out and something was good here…

I got one more desert post up my sleeve! Stay tuned! 

Morongo Valley Cafe
49780 Twentynine Palms Highway
Morongo Valley, CA 92256
(760) 363-6939