The MidPoint Cafe & Gift Shop
"Throw Yourself a Celebration ...
You've arrived at the MidPoint of Route 66!"
Inspiration for Flo’s V8 Café in the Pixar animated feature “Cars,” host to the concert “Rhythms of the Road” (www.rhythmsoftheroad.com), and featured in numerous magazines and documentaries, the MidPoint Café & Gift Shop on Old Route 66 has quite a reputation.
Located at the mid-point of famous Route 66, the MidPoint Café was built in the late 30’s. While the café has changed hands and appearances several times over the years, it remains what it was built to be – one of the best places to eat and shop on Route 66. Home to the famous Ugly Crust Pies and the only place to purchase authentic “MidPoint Route 66” memorabilia, we invite you to come and see for yourself – do we TRULY have the best hamburgers and pies on the road?
What's an Ugly Crust Pie?
Fran has always been lucky to have accomplished bakers work at the cafe, turning out pies just like Grandma used to make. Gwen Snyder of Vega, who worked in cafes all along Route 66 from Amarillo, Texas to San Jon, New Mexico, worked in the cafe for years until arthritis took its toll and she could no longer bake.
As a friendly gesture, Joann H. offered to help with baking duties. Joann had always enjoyed baking and the opportunity to do something she loved was an attractive offer. Little did she know that “baking pies” meant making from 10 to 20 pies per day!
Joann had a recipe handed down to her from her Grandmother Glenn for the best pie crust ever; a recipe Grandma called “No-Fail Pie Crust.” The crust recipe did not fail…it was consistently great. The only problem was that Joann could NOT seem to make her crusts as beautifully shaped as she remembered her grandmother doing…they were misshapen, lumpy, and UGLY.
Instead of taking the time to learn the art of pie-crust shaping (after all, we have to turn out a lot of pies!), Joann simply started calling her pies the “Ugly Crusts” and let it go as that…really ugly crusts, but really great tasting pies!
The name has stuck, and after many years of baking pies, the crusts have gotten a little less ugly, but they still are not as pretty as Grandma Glenn’s were!
Send a MidPoint Cafe Postcard to Your Friends!
Now you can send an online postcard to your friends. Let them know the great time you've had at the MidPoint Cafe and Route 66 Gift Shop. It's easy - just click the link below and follow the directions. Be sure to select your postcard though! Have fun!
