There are wheels in the yard and Old West artifacts on the interior walls at this restaurant in the Stovepipe Wells Village hotel. A full dinner menu with steaks and pasta is served year-round, as are box lunches and a breakfast buffet. Quench your thirst and fuel up on lunch and snacks in the full-service saloon specializing in burgers and sandwiches.

(However, do consider a meal at Stovepipe’s Toll Road Restaurant and Badwater Saloon, both of which serve unpretentious food with a Southwestern flair.) Instead, consider the previously mentioned Amargosa Opera House, which is attached to a stuck-in-time, allegedly haunted hotel that’s still operational and best classified as artfully shabby. Or peruse Vrbo or Airbnb for lodgings — many chic, some unconventional — in areas just outside the park. Finding hole-in-the-wall bars peppered with colorful locals is the best perk of staying beyond the park’s boundaries.

We were planning on meeting talented Bay Area photographer Ryan Engstrom, but had some time to kill, so we stopped at Tollroad Restaurant there. This type of place is what it is, and with the exception of the pricey ‘Dining Rooms’ located in some of the flagship lodges, National Park dining is pretty much universally bad. There are only a handful (at most) restaurants in any of the parks, so options are limited, and whomever runs the restaurant knows that they have you over a barrel.

Badwater Saloon – like the Tollroad Restaurant below the service here is terrible. During our latest visit, we walked in and asked one of the waiters if we could order and she said sit down and someone will be with you. This was after we waited well over the 15 minutes estimate at the connecting Tollroad Restaurant for a table.

Toll Road was built in the 1930s as a part of an old toll road that once connected Scotty’s Castle to Death Valley Junction. The food is good even if you only visit to drink. And if you love your history, you’ll enjoy experiencing some history located at .1 mile below sea level—the lowest place in North America.

As you are following Highway 190 West, take a left onto Old Toll Road. The next 2.5 miles is a narrow gravel road that you have to drive along before reaching the trailhead. The road is quite rocky and the park recommends only taking it if you have a high clearance vehicle.

If you are in the mood for some bar food and drinks in the middle of the park, then you can head to the Toll Road Restaurant in Stovepipe Wells. For a restaurant inside the park, it offers decent choices in its menu. Spend the morning of your last day exploring Bar Harbor.

Directions: From Panamint Springs, head southwest on California Highway 190 for 3.3 miles to Old Toll Road. Turn right onto Old Toll Road and follow it for 2.3 miles to the parking area. Parking is here: 36.328002, -117.514453.

Toll Road Restaurant: This is the restaurant that’s attached to Badwater Saloon. It’s where resort guests go for breakfast, but they also serve dinner after 5:30 pm. One half of the menu is exactly the same as Badwater Saloon.

Still, I’d heard good things about the Toll Road Restaurant, so hit that welcoming spot early one morning. That’s where I got a healthy Hollywood flashback with my breakfast.

Conclude your day with a delightful dinner at Toll Road Restaurant, offering a blend of comfort food and fine dining in a relaxed setting.