Yosemite Buns & Shakes — Restaurant in Oakhurst

My family moved to Coarsegold almost 35 years ago when I was 7 years old. The very first restaurant people recomended we eat at was Pete's Place. I remember sitting there in one of their booths thinking, "this was the best food I had ever had." Growing up it became a Friday Night tradition, go eat at Pete's Place then go to the local High School and watch the Yosemite Badgers play football. Even after I got my license I still got Pete's place, played in the pep band, and watched the Badgers Football. Shoot I went to high school with Pete's kids and knew the family. When Pete said he was going to retire the whole community felt it. We were glad to see over the course of those few months, of the transition to the new owners, Pete in the kitchen teaching the new owners his secret recipe, including the homemade ranch. The mountain of perfectly cooked bacon was always a common sight to see as it rarely sat their long. I say this to let people know that I know what Pete's Place is suppossed to be like.

On my last visit I got my wifes usual, she also grew up up here, BLT. Lettuce, tomatoe, and toast all fine. But the level of mayo and bacon is barely a fraction of what it used to be. Next, the bacon used to melt in your mouth and crumble when you would bite into it. This bacon was clearly deep fried. I know because I was a restaurant manager for 10 years and know what deep fried bacon looks, smells, tastes and feels like.

I got a bacon breakfast burrito. Still massive as ever! But now mostly filled with potatoe. It had, in the past, a great balance of egg, cheese, bacon and potatoe. The bacon again was not chopped up like normal but the deep fried strips just rolled up in there. This made for a messy time as the whole strip of soggy bacon got pulled out at once along with half the contents of the Burrito.

The only thing my wife and I will be coming back for are the Zucchinni fries and the homemade ranch. At least they havent changed that. This place had their act together for at least a year or two after Pete taught them everything. The biggest compliment any restaurant can get is, "The food is consistent." If you look at the pictures of the bacon, in the other reviews, over the last 2 years the quality is all different. Burnt, undercooked, or just plain greasy looking. People want to know that when you come in and get the same order as before that it will be the same as the previous visit.

New owners, from one experienced restaurant manager to a new restaurant manager; go back to basics. Relearn how Pete cooked his bacon on the flat top grill with the bacon iron. Don't skimp on things like Mayo on a dry piece of toast on your BLT. Make sure that there is plenty of bacon on your items that come with bacon. I understand food and labor costs but once you start skimping and cutting cornors on making your food, you loose repeat customers. Get back to what Pete taught you. Thats what...

Date of visit: May 26, 2024 Order: Chicken Sandwich Combo with French Fries, 1/4 lb Bacon Cheeseburger with Onion Rings

Went here on the way out of Oakhurst Memorial Day weekend 2024 to grab lunch and immediately gave them brownie points in my mind coz I am a sucker for an old American diner style vibe, only the great part with Pete's, is that the staff is equally as courteous!

Ordered a chicken sandwich with fries for my girlfriend and a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings for myself. The chicken sandwich was like what you'd expect a chicken sandwich to be -- nice, big filet, good spicy sauce, lightly toasted bun (I forget the veggies in there), all in all, a solid sandwich there. Moving on to the fries...now I realize a lot of this review is going to sound like I am exaggerating, but believe me, I ain't! The fries were a perfect golden blend of crisp, fried potato and JUST the right amount of salt -- not too less, not too much (which has been an all too common experience for me at basically every place lately).

On to the main event: the Bacon Cheeseburger with Onion Rings -- I will get the onion rings out of the way, and on the way, deduct a couple points on this one; while the rings themselves very pretty good, good amount of crisp, not dripping with oil, good ratio of breading to onion, they did feel a tad too salty, unsure if it was the rings themselves or the ranch that made them feel so, but just something to note. But, the burger itself, hands down THE BEST CHEESEBURGER I've had in my life -- absolutely perfectly cooked bacon, laying on top of the most succulent medium well patty, makes me want to quote Marshal Ericsson from that one episode of How I Met Your Mother:

"Just a Burger? Just a burger. Robin, it's so much more than "just a burger." I mean... that first bite-oh, what heaven that first bite is. The bun, like a sesame freckled breast of an angel, resting gently on the ketchup and mustard below, flavors mingling in a seductive pas de deux. And then... a pickle! The most playful little pickle! Then a slice of tomato, a leaf of lettuce and a... a patty of ground beef so exquisite, swirling in your mouth, breaking apart, and combining again in a fugue of sweets and savor so delightful. This is no mere sandwich of grilled meat and toasted bread, Robin. This is God, speaking to us in food."

To sum up, I don't know if it was the hospitality, the ambience, the fact that I was tired AF after driving ~900 miles in 2 days or Pete just landed the best burger chef's on the planet, I am surely going to recommend my next friends' trip be to Yosemite with a stay at Oakhurst just so I can grab myself a few more meals at Pete'e...

I’m sorry, no picture.

I provide a rating in two ares, 1) service, and 2) food.

Prelude: Pete’s Place is well established eatery in Oakhurst, California. Pete, the original owner retired after 37 years and sold the business. The new owner made some changes.

1. you order and pay for your food at the counter. You get your own drinks (unless it’s coffee). You seat yourself and wait for the food to be brought to you. All the makings of a fast food restaurant, nothing special.

2. it’s been ages since eating at Pete’s so we thought we’d go for breakfast. I ordered the ham, eggs over medium, hash browns, and toast, $17.50. My wife ordered the French toast, eggs over medium, and bacon.

the eggs weren’t even cooked enough to be called over easy. They were way undercooked. My wife sent her eggs back to be cooked longer to the level of medium. They came back just warmed but still over easy.

the ham steak was about a quarter inch thick but was cut from a deli ham. It was dry.

the toast had a dabble of butter on the center but was cold and dry. They put two jelly containers right on top of the toast, I believe that could be a hygiene issue. And of course they provided one grape and one apply jelly, both of which I don’t eat.

hash browns. They did provide a copious amount of hash brown potatoes. I had to go back to the counter for ketchup of which they squirted some in a small plastic container. I guess they didn’t trust me with the bottle.

Overall, for the price I paid I’m not impressed. I think for the basic breakfast, next time I’ll be going to Denny’s for a Grand Slam. There I know what I’m getting for the price and level of...