Unless you’re a die-hard James Dean fan or work on a ranch east of San Luis Obispo, you have probably never heard of Cholame, California. The tiny unincorporated community in San Luis Obispo County is best known as the place where James Dean was killed in a head-on car crash in 1955. Not far from the infamous crash site there is a stainless steel memorial that was erected in the parking lot of the Jack Ranch Café, a small greasy spoon diner and the only business in town. I was making my way down Highway 5 to Los Angeles and made a 30 mile detour west to Cholame just so I could see the memorial and have a burger at Jack Ranch.
Jack Ranch isn’t hard to find, it is the only thing you will see after 30 miles on Highway 46. The small rustic looking building with log font signage and American flags sticks out like a sore thumb. I pulled my car into the big dirt parking lot, driving right past the James Dean memorial before parking near a large pickup truck with a horse trailer attached. Before heading into the restaurant, I made a stop at the memorial. It isn’t the most attractive thing I have ever seen and has evidently been the target of vandals. I expected more. That was when I noticed a sign that said “beware of rattlesnakes” and figured it was time to move along and get something to eat.
Stepping into Jack Ranch was like walking into a rural mid-west diner sometime in the early sixties. The dark room with wood paneled walls had the whole country rustic thing going on and looked as if it hadn’t changed in decades. A broken down horse-drawn buggy sat right in the middle of the dining room with a sign telling people to seat themselves. I took a small table in the corner under a photo of James Dean and a waitress quickly dropped a menu in front of me followed by a ginormous glass of water that had to have been at least a quart. I bypassed all the sandwiches and Mexican food on the menu and went straight for the burgers and ordered a bacon cheeseburger ($7.95 includes fries) from the nice waitress.
A mix of European tourists and local ranchers decked out in Wrangler Jeans and hubcap sized belt buckles filtered in while I was waiting for my burger. I took a quick tour of the place and discovered another small dining room that was filled with a wall of tacky James Dean paintings by Chris Consani that depict Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, Humphrey Bogart and James Dean as best buddies. They were shown playing pool, hanging out at a diner and the oddest one of all showed them all dressed in racing suits standing around a NASCAR race car. Bogart looked like he was the crew chief and was working on dual MacBook laptops. Wow, who knew?
The bacon cheeseburger arrived quickly and sat open face on a round plate with chipped edges. The first thing I noticed was the bun had been buttered and toasted, nice touch. The top bun had a thick dollop of a pinkish colored version of Thousand Island and the bottom bun was loaded with a decent size grilled patty topped with strips of bacon and half melted square of American cheese. All of this sat on a really thick slice of tomato, iceberg lettuce and a few pickles. When I put it all together I noticed that the patty had very straight edges that suggested it might have been frozen at one time. It definitely wasn’t hand-formed.
I wasn’t more than two bites into the burger when the waitress scurried by on her way to another table and asked me if it was greasy enough. It was fairly greasy, but not too bad. The meat had a slightly rubbery texture and didn’t produce much juice but wasn’t completely dry. It was beefy and didn’t taste like it was of the frozen variety, but who knows. The bacon was excellent and was probably the best thing on the burger – smoky and crunchy. Their version of Thousand Island could use a little help – it was mostly mayo. Everything combined made for an ok burger that was fulfilling but wasn’t blowing my mind with bursts of flavor. A dusting of seasoning helped the crispy fries which would not have been anything special without it.
It was nice to break up the painfully boring drive to Los Angeles and see something new. I wish the burger would have been a little bit better. The name and the location had me dreaming of a burger that was made fresh daily from meat supplied by a nearby ranch. Unless I missed something, that wasn’t the case at Jack Ranch. Still, I am glad that I got off Highway 5 for a little bit, filled my belly with burger and a gallon of water and avoided getting attacked by a rattlesnake. A pretty good day if you ask me.
RATING: 2.5 out of 5
Jack Ranch Cafe
19215 East Highway 46
Cholame, CA 93461
(805) 238-5652
Hours: 7 Days a Week 7:00AM – 7:50PM
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Where do you find these towns? I have never heard of some of them and this one is no exception! Is this one near Pasadena?
It’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere, between HWY 5 and Paso Robles.
you’ve gotta be kidding me . my wife and i went to California this fall, we are from new york, we went to check out the James dean mem. we went inside the jack ranch and had bacon,Ortega,cheese burgs, I’m 52 years old and that burger was the best I’ve had in my life she agrees. apparently you have heard of jack ranch, or you would not have gone in. on my scale i give it a 10. delicious