Where once tourist theme restaurants and shops were every couple of miles up and down the highway, the Summit Inn managed to survive while each of it's contemporaries closed one after another as the decades passed and cross county travel declined.
It's close proximation to both Hollywood, nearby resorts in Apple Valley that flourished in the post war era (before they fell out of favor in the 1960s) and the fact that it was on the highway to Las Vegas the eatery attracted several famous patrons including actor Pierce Brosnan, Pearl Bailey, Clint Eastwood, Danny Thomas and Elvis who infamously kicked the restaurant's jukebox because it didn't contain any of his records
When I lived in the area I ate their quite frequently. It was the only diner that I knew of that served ostrich burgers and omelets made from ostrich eggs. I have to admit that I have eaten both. The curiosity honestly got the best of me. Ostrich meat is very similar to beef in texture, I found out, but the taste was something you needed to get used to. Not bad but definitely different. The eggs likewise.
Unfortunately the entire restaurant and it's adjoining shops and gas station all burned to the ground during the massive Blue Cut Fire in August 2016.
I was going through some of my photos last night and I came across a couple of images I took one night after eating dinner there. The scene engulfed in neon light probably looked pretty much same in the 50s as it did that night in the early 2000s.
I've been reading for years about how the owners want to rebuild the Summit Inn exactly as it was before the fire. So far there isn't much happening on that front. I hope that they make good on that promise and return the Summit to it's past glory someday.
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