Alice’s – You can get anything you want…
Phil Hall takes a look at San Francisco Biker Hangouts
Every town, city and state has its known motorcycling venues. For us in the Sydney area it is the Robertson Pie Shop, Pie in the Sky and the Old Road Cafe. No doubt Victorians and others can add their own favourite venues to this short list.
To San Franciscans, there are two within the Bay area, Alice’s Restaurant and Apple Jack’s.
Located on the peninsula that runs south between the Bay and the Pacific Ocean, both are unique and favoured for similar AND different reasons.
Alice’s is in the mountains, in a countryside that is eerily like the surroundings of the Dandenong Ranges north east of Melbourne. Indeed, driving up there you could almost be heading up the Black Spur so similar are they (except that you are driving on the wrong side of the road). Alice’s has been a Mecca for motorcyclists since the 60’s when the owner, Alice Taylor, took over the general store and named it after herself and the famous Arlo Guthrie song. The building was already over 60 years old so Alice set about refurbishing it and turning it into the restaurant that it is today.
Today it draws the two and four wheeled community for miles (yes, this is the USA, remember) around who flock there on the weekends to see and be seen, to eat, enjoy the mountain surroundings, bench race and flog their valuable machinery on the twisty mountain roads that surround the venue.
Unlike other venues where the clientele is mainly Harley and metric cruiser riders, the predominant flavour is sports bikes. Yes, the big twins are there, but they are well and truly outnumbered.
On a recent Sunday morning, I was the guest of local racer, Ed Haazer, who not only took me to his delightful 100 year old log cabin nearby but also shouted me breakfast at Alice’s.
20 minutes to wait to get a seat seemed entirely fair given that the car park was crammed with all manner of exotica and plenty of shade in which to sit once you had had enough. Alice’s is much more of a restaurant than many of our local venues and the prices reflect that, but, having said that, I was Ed’s guest and he refused to let me pay, and what was on offer was well worth the prices being charged. I had three blueberry buttermilk pancakes, a little dish of blueberries, butter and a big jug of maple syrup for the grand price of $10.90.
A seat on the verandah in the shade out of the fierce summer sun and nobody hustling you to finish so that they could seat someone else made for a very pleasant breakfast indeed. Throw in the opportunity to watch the passing parade (mechanical and human) and the time passed quickly and enjoyably.
While Ed and I (and his lovely daughter) were there the park filled and refilled several times. Many riders wearing leathers and expensive gear contrasted strongly with the “hooligan” riders who gather across the road from us each Thursday evening. I saw my first Ducati Scrambler while I was there as well as enough Panigales to satisfy the longings of any Ducatisti. Like the local Mira Mesa fraternity, mnay bikes featured abbreviated exhaust systems, vestigial mirrors and microscopic rear “fenders”
I must mention that some of the cars on show were also nice. A split-window Corvette, a beautifully restored Triumph TR6 and an Alfa coupe that was so new to me that I didn’t even know what model designation it was.
From Alice’s we headed even further south, joining up with the ocean road before heading north again to complete a “loop” on the way back to the city.
But before we got back to the (much) cooler climes of the ocean road we stopped at the tiny hamlet of La Honda, yes, really. Here is located a small group of shops and Apple Jack’s. While Alice’s is a restaurant, AJ’s is a bar, in every sense of the word. Here the flavour is V-Twin pretty much all the way and the interior of the place could be out of any number of hundreds of movies and TV shows. Dimly lit and cool, even the demeanour of the patrons is much more “Dukes of Hazzard” than it is “Chips”
But, the people, like they are everywhere I have been, are unfailingly friendly and delighted to be able to entertain someone from a country about which they have only vaguely heard.
The roads around are filled with sweeping corners and amazing scenery. Small wonder that the area is so popular with motorcyclists.
If you ever get to Southern California you must make Alice’s and AJ’s a required stop on your itinerary. Highly recommended.
