Mountain View News Saturday, August 22, 2026 66 FOOD & DRINK Mountain View News Saturday, August 22, 2026 66 FOOD & DRINK 
I DID SOME DIGGING AROUND SIERRA MADRE 

Hey, it’s Peter Dills. This week I did a little digging around the 
“hood” of Sierra Madre. 

I’m in Sierra Madre all the time. I eat here, I know restaurant owners 
here, and I’ve probably had more than my share of margaritas here. 
But I started wondering: How long have people actually been going 
out to eat in Sierra Madre? Turns out, a long time. 

You have to go all the way back toward the Mount Wilson Trail, 
where there was a little place called Doug’s Lunch Stand. Exactly when it started is a little 
fuzzy — welcome to history — but we know people were stopping there for food more than 
100 years ago. Eventually it became Lizzie’s Trail Inn, and that's where the story gets more 
interesting. Lizzie took over in the 1920s and became known for fried chicken, ravioli and 
coleslaw. Nothing fancy, just the kind of food that gets people coming back. But here's myfavorite part. 

This was Prohibition, and apparently there was a still on the property. Local lore says if you 
positioned your coffee cup the right way, you might get a little something extra. SuddenlyI'm thinking Lizzie may have invented Happy Hour. The restaurant lasted until 1948, and 
the old building is still there today as the Lizzie's Trail Inn museum. 

Then there's a place Sierra Madre people certainly know. The Only Place In Town traces its 
history back to 1945, when it was called The Headliner. Somewhere along the way people 
started calling it “the only place in town,” and the nickname stuck. Think about that. Eighty-
plus years later, we're still talking about the place. 


That got me wondering 
about another question: 
Who has been operatinga Sierra Madre restaurant 
the longest today? That's 
tougher than I thought. 
Restaurants change 
owners, families take over, 
names stay the same and 
sometimes everybodyin town remembers the 
story a little differently. 
I'm still digging on that 
one — and I'm guessing 
somebody reading this will 
know exactly who deserves 
the title. Then I started 
counting restaurants.
That's when things got 
really interesting. 

Sierra Madre has roughly12,000 residents, but when you're hungry you can find pretty much anything you want: 
Mexican? Yep. Sushi? Got it. Pizza? Of course. Mediterranean, Italian, burgers, sandwiches, 
breakfast, coffee, ice cream — they're all here. You can have a margarita, grab a beer, sit 
down for dinner or just get something to go. 

Depending on what you count as a restaurant — does the coffee shop count? The bakery?
The pub? Ice cream? — Sierra Madre has somewhere around 20 places to eat. For a town of 
12,000, that's not bad. Actually, that's pretty darn good. 

And maybe that's what hasn't changed much in more than 100 years. Back then, people 
were coming down the Mount Wilson Trail looking for something to eat and drink. Today 
they're coming down Baldwin looking for basically the same thing. The restaurants have 
changed. The menus have definitely changed. But Sierra Madre still knows how to feed 
people. And after doing all this digging, I've decided there's only one proper way to continue 
my research. One restaurant at a time. 

Little research, some might be folklore but I think I’m close. 


You Deserve an Agent Who 
Will Do More Than 
Just 
Sell 
Your 
Home 


Learn 
why 
sellers 
say 
that 
working 
with 
me 
was 
the 
difference 
between 
success 
and 
stress! 


Ifyou’rethinkingofmakingamovenextyeargivemeacall!
DRE#02015404 
626.253.1323 
suecookrealtor@gmail.com 
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com