Unless you live in Dolan Springs, the only time you'll ever visit the Davis Ranch is if you're traveling to the western rim of the Grand Canyon, where you will have to pay some Native Americans at least $45 to see a hole in the ground. But if you do wander that way, stop into the Davis Ranch Club for a cold drink and some chow.
I visited the place in June 2011, shortly after it opened. It doesn't abut the main drag in Dolan Springs directly - it's set back a few hundred feet from the road. Ample parking! (I kid.)
It doesn't look like much. I was wary of stopping in at first. It looked like one of those dive bars you'd see in old motorcycle gang movies where everyone would give the out-of-towner the evil eye and break a few pool cues over his back. Of course, you can't judge a book by its cover.
The place is essentially a small room. The air is dank and still, but still about twelve trillion degrees cooler than the hot Arizona desert. The menu is extensive (and I mean *extensive*). You can feel the hometown atmosphere by perusing its pages - multiple, non-uniform pages very obviously printed out on a home computer running Microsoft Works 1998. (That's not a knock on the place - just part of what made it so memorable for me.)
When I went there, there was only one other occupied table at lunchtime. At it sat two men with very obvious Native American roots and two young girls. They were adorable and seemed to like the place.
We only saw one employee, though there may have been another cook in the back. She was a youngish woman with really cool tattoos. Very personable. As I sat and ate, some other folks (regulars?) came in. She knew all their names and greeted them with a smile. She was especially good with the little girls sitting on the other side of the room. I didn't ask, but I think she (or her family) might own the place.
The food was pretty good: I had a snakebite burger and it was spicy and delicious. Others in my party had chicken sandwiches and burgers and we all left full and happy. The prices are very low, too. (But after spending a few days up the road in Las Vegas, most anything magically becomes cheap.)
My only complaint against the place was that at the time I went there, they didn't yet have their license to serve beer. May have changed by now, though.
One last comment: I didn't order any, but if you get a chance you should check out their selection of pie. I'm sure it's all prefabricated stuff, but the amount of different types that were available really blew me away.
The Waldorf Astoria it is not. But if you're holding out for a McDonald's on the way to the Canyon, don't hold your breath. Pull into this place, meet some nice, down-to-earth people, and get out of the sun for a spell. read more