Eating at a diner should be uncomplicated and pleasant. Happily, C & S Coffee Shop is not an exception to this rule. During my Friday afternoon visit I drank three cups of coffee, ate two eggs over medium with hash browns, bacon and toast and chatted with friends from the encampment. Among other things, Kate, Jessica, Sarah, Annie and I all remarked that it had been a good week at A-Z West.

C & S doesn’t have much of an online presence but there are lots of reviews- 67 on Google alone with an average rating of 4.6 out of 5. I consider the following to be their finest endorsement, “It’s my Birthday this morning and I came here rather than a fee breakfast at Dennys! Best pancakes around.”

In general folks agree that the coffee is fresh, the prices are reasonable and that the chicken fried steak is the best dinner item on the menu. The biggest complaint is that you can’t put a tip on your credit card so if you go to C & S, bring some cash.

C & S has been around since 1949. It has always been along Highway 62 in Yucca Valley but was originally located across the street inside the old pharmacy. (I suspect that today this is either the same building or at least the same location as the structure currently occupied by the Frontier Cafe.) By 1949 America was in the thick of the post-war population boom during which hundreds of thousands of people relocated to Southern California from other parts of the country. This makes me speculate that the original owner was a member of said demographic but I can’t confirm my guess.

During lunch I learned that C & S moved from across the street to it’s present location between 1989 and 1991. This could have been precipitated by the earthquake that hit the area in 1989 but again, just a guess. I got most of my information from the head waiter Julio who was a really good sport and answered all my questions. Julio moved to the states from Guatemala in 1985 and has been working at C & S since 1998. He told me that when he started, the owner was a guy from India. He seemed to know most of his customers and hugged a few as they were leaving.

My lunchtime companions also humored my obsession and helped me research the history of diners in general. It turns out that like many aspects of modern culture, diners are a product of the railroad. They were designed as prefab eateries built of inexpensive materials and scaled to be distributed to growing industrial and urban centers via America’s railway network. Also worth mentioning is the multipurpose use of space in which kitchen and dining room are separated by a simple counter manned by busy waitstaff. Imagine working class customers coming in on their lunch hour to sit, order and eat.

By now, diners are ubiquitous across America and plenty of them deviate from these design origins. For example, C & S currently occupies a beige concrete stuccoed box. Today experts agree that what categorically defines a diner is the presence of a counter. In my opinion, true diners also exist in convenient locations. The price point and the vibe must also be consistent. The price is easy to define- my meal was $7 plus tip which is just right. The vibe is harder to locate but the way I see it, a diner must attract a local customer base and must not be self-conscious to the point of making it’s customers self-conscious. It’s also best if the interior includes elements of kitch.

The counter at C & S isn’t strictly necessary because the building is quite large and the kitchen is in a separate room. It does, however, interface between the waiter’s station and the customer area. On the waiter’s side of the counter, a mirrored wall successfully adds depth to the space.

My companions and I sat in a booth underneath a framed photo of kittens with the title, “Kittens”. Hanging on the opposite wall above the counter is another poster in which a single kitten sits between the buns of a fake cheeseburger. Predictably, this is a popular subject on Instagram.

A long strand of ivy graces the line between walls and ceiling. As first I remembered this as fake but then read someone else’s account which called it a live plant. Upon close inspection of my photos, I realized the source of confusion- while the single tendril is real, there are also lots of fake ivy places hanging along the walls.

Other decorative elements include parrot motif curtains and a variety of other images and objects that could be classified as Americana. The most striking thing about the decor is that all the seats have been upholstered in turquoise vinyl. Campy!

In the present moment, people here and everywhere are trying to cope with an unpredictable world. In Joshua Tree, one area of uncertainty is the increasing number of people coming to the high desert. This includes tourists as well as new residents.

Current residents are unsure about the sustainability of their quality of life and some are concerned they won’t be able to live here much longer. These high desert towns occupy a fragile natural and cultural ecosystem and so I share their concern. This brings me back to why I like diners so much in general and C & S Coffee Shop in particular. The illusion of timelessness remains intact inside the diner with concrete walls acting as a buffer to fast paced change.

55795 Twentynine Palms Highway, Yucca Valley, CA 92284