I had the "Chef Salad", I wasn't able to finish it, but it was define delicious. Staff was very friendly. Just except to wait a tiny little bit longer then in similar places. read more

Stopped for breakfast for the first time on a Monday morning and the place was empty. Not sure why because this place is great, food was good with large portions and service was fast with a friendly waitress. Restaurant and bathrooms were clean, would recommend this place to friends and we will be returning on our next visit. read more

Stopped here before we hit the road and honestly it was the best. Food and service was really good. My boyfriend and I got hamburgers I got the avocado hamburger and my boyfriend got the bacon and we decided to put a bit of each other's avocado and bacon into our hamburgers and honestly it was the best hamburger I ever had. read more

I've been eating at the Totem Café for over 10 years when I hike Whitney. You don't find small town cafes like this anymore. I haven't eaten anything off the menu that wasn't great and satisfying. Couple personal favorites are the corned beef hash, eggs, biscuits and gravy, pasta with steak, chicken fried steak and their side salad with blue cheese (nothing fancy but awesome). The service is always excellent, friendly and attentive. To be clear, you are in Lone Pine. I'm not expecting a 5 star restaurant experience but that's not to say the overall experience lacks quality. The décor is cool with signatures of western actors from the old days, western photos and an overall western vibe. Keep doing what you're doing and I'll see you next time I head up Whitney. read more

One of those hidden gems you find, when you're starving & know you have a 5 hour drive ahead of you... Stumbled upon this ol' Ma & Pa cowboy joint. Great food, very historical, all the cowboys have been here and signed their names on the wall... John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Clint Eastwood, etc. Killer motíf, lots of beautiful photos from the 1800s. Great place to have lunch. Thank you Totem!!! read more

See all

Sat there for about 10 minutes just now. No one asked to get us drinks. Only acknowledged us to seat us and then did not bother to get us started with anything. Meanwhile families that were already sitting eating were checked on multiple times as we were again ignored read more

The breakfast that we had in this restaurant was one of the worst meals I have ever eaten. I ordered the pancake sandwich that came with two pancakes, one egg and bacon. The pancakes tasted like they had been made a few days prior and then microwaved. I had to use my knife to cut pieces, but my table knife was inadequate. I needed a very sharp steak knife to eat it (if only I'd had a steak knife). The one egg was a tiny portion, the restaurant must buy the smallest and cheapest eggs they can find. Bacon was okay, but cold. Again, it was probably cooked sometime ahead and then served. My two companions were also appalled at the quality of their food. The biscuit and gravy was inedible, with the biscuit as hard as a hockey puck. Gravy was probably the best thing, but still substandard. The coffee was very weak and tasted like Farmer Brother's economy blend. If you come here for coffee, be sure to bring some Starbucks Via to add to their coffee so it has some taste and kick. Our server was very nice and brought coffee without having to be asked. That was the one bright spot in our "dining" experience. The place was basically empty except for two tables, while around the corner the Alabama Hills Bakery was jam-packed. I guess the locals know what a terrible restaurant this is and avoid it. read more

50/50 review = 1/2 good + 1/2 fair. this place was + could be better! My friend's Chicken Caesar salad was well prepared + quite tasty. My grilled Chicken Swiss Ortega Chile sandwich appeared a bit too greasy. As Covid-19 continues to make an exit, I sincerely hope this historic cafe will make just a few improvements. read more

Really great little Mom and Pop ran cafe in Lone Pine. Rustic country decor, with oak dining tables that look like they came from your Granny's kitchen. We were there on Memorial Day and they were slammed. We had to wait for about 10 minutes for a table to come available, but were quickly seated and given beverages. I stuck with my tried and true (and hard to mess up) club sandwich, and my husband went with a mushroom Swiss burger. Both came with extra hot and crispy fries. The club sandwich was good, and had a lot of thick cut bacon on it. Bacon makes it better! The most impressive thing about this place was the service. Mom, Pop, Daughter working cohesively as a team to take orders, refill beverages, serve, clear tables, and cash out diners. read more

Probably the best restaurant in Lone Pine. They're open a little later than the other stuff and they have a large space. It's never full obvs but it's big. There is an outdoor patio during lunch. The menu is mainly fried and greasy. Salads are possibly a healthy option but also drenched in cheese and sauce. I would recommend another place if you're looking for healthy. For what it is, it's really good at being a divey middle of nowhere restaurant. read more

Totem Cafe - Interior - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lone Pine, California

See all

Should of read the reviews before stopping here. This I blame myself :( ugh!!!!! Should of walked out the second we came in as it appeared that the wait staff was put out by entertaining a party of 6. We got seated and the table was sticky and flies were flying around. The food was gross. We ordered grilled cheese sandwiches, kids spaghetti, chicken tenders, veggie burger and an open face beef gross sandwich. Only good thing was their crispy French fries other than that a waste of money for $65.00. On top of that they charged me for an adult spaghetti instead of a kids meal.... read more

Totem Cafe - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lone Pine, California

This is a combination restaurant and gift shop. The food was good if a little high for a casual place. Service was okay. I think i could come here again if I was in town. I enjoyed looking at all the Indian jewelry while we waited for our food. read more

I didn't come here expecting much. We had just finished a grueling one-day hike to Mount Whitney and were just looking for a simple cafe. Being one of the only ones in town and close to our motel (after 22 miles of hiking, a few extra blocks feels too far), we figured we couldn't go wrong. The place is quaint and alongside a "cowboys and Indians" retail store. The menu was typical diner food with low prices, so it seemed fine. Our waitress generally seemed confused. She didn't know simple things like what cold cereals they served. She looked it up, but her perplexing response was "Kellog's" followed by "not the sugary one" after we asked what kind of Kellog's. The French toast listed a sourdough option for an unspecified additional cost. Thinking this could be better bread, I decided to trade up. My friend got the normal for comparison sake. My French toast reminded me of those Amelia Bedelia books where the bumbling main character takes everything literally, and hilariousness ensues. In this case, Amelia thought French toast should just be toast. The same thin sourdough you get on the side at most diners was used and seemingly toasted first, since I wouldn't expect a skillet could make such a burned mess. There was little egg batter flavor, not slight vanilla sweetness, or really anything other than the syrup to make you feel like you were eating anything other than stale diner sourdough toast. It was generally overtoasted and a hiker's appetite was the only way I slogged through it. My friend's was just the slightest bit better and with thicker softer white bread. But still, bottom 10% of French toast experiences. My friend's got egg dishes which they thought were OK, but when I tried one of their home fries, it tasted like burnt vegetable oil. I guess technically they should, but that's how I'd still describe their lack of appeal. All four meals came with a small uncut red apple. While it seemed odd enough, they were also really terrible apples. My friend thought they might be tasty but I suggested they would taste like comeupence, as in the comeupence you get when you steal and eat a neighbor's apple off the tree before its even ripe. Turns out I was on the money. They were bitter, tasteless, far from juicy, and entirely unripe. One bite was all I could handle. While you may not have many options in Lone Pine, if you find one, you're better off taking your chances. read more

We had dinner here while staying in LonePine. The food was great. The service was awesome. When going through LonePine or staying there, eat at the Totem Cafe. read more

We stopped at the Totem Cafe for breakfast because it was not a chain and looked clean and cheerful. My husband, formerly a cook in a big Italian family restaurant, is very good at evaluating a new place. If there are a lot of frozen and prepared foods on display, we leave. He walked into the Totem Cafe kitchen and said hello to those cooking and told me he was pleased because they were using fresh ingredients, making hash browns and country potatoes from scratch. Yes, this makes the price a bit higher but ... we do not want to eat frozen food prepared heaven knows where and simply reheated. Dear hubby ordered an omelet with a side of bacon and I ordered simply eggs and hash browns. Our breakfasts were prepared just right, the coffee was good and kept coming, and it all tasted very good. Toast was perfect and delivered hot. What a blessing to find good food on Hwy 395 in the southern part of CA because it gets pretty processed once you pass Interstate 80 going north... While it was one visit and we ate fairly simply, we will be back because they took care to do more for the customers than do many cafes. And, per my hubby's judgment, we don't order things that sound like they have been imported or have a fancy name when we are in small towns. That usually means it was delivered by truck and not made in the cafe. Yes, it is hard when customers from Santa Monica want to eat what they eat at home, but we ask ourselves what is local and fresh. read more

Honestly this place is not that good and the our server was a Huge liar. She tried saying our bread was sour dough and we KNEW it was white. Since we got 2 sandwiches one with sour one with white, they tasted EXACTLY the same so one of us got the wrong bread. But she did not want to admit that. Mediocre food. Not worth it. read more

We stayed over night and went in for breakfast. I've never been here before. It was basically empty, that should have been a sign. One waitress, and only two other tables had customers. Two couples one at each table. We were seated, given menu's. We all ordered water and 2 coffee's our party of 7. She couldn't get the order for all the waters correct, but she did get our food order right. I got a short stack. Well the two pancakes were tough, even had to use a fork and knife to cut. No fruit bowls of any kind offered on the menu because we did ask. Food was okay. We had to go up to get our ticket and pay. Not someplace I'd recommend to eat sorry. You figure it was slow youd be treated good as there isn't anyone to serve. But I guess the wait staff doesn't understand customer service. So if you want avarage, and limited choices and tough hot cakes this might be the spot for you. I prefer some fresher choices, good service with a nice variety of breakfast choices. read more

The food was great, and so was the service. It's nice to get a burger with the choice of a salad on the side rather than fries. Another thing I enjoyed was the decor and atmosphere. Big Band music was swinging in the background, and I'm a sucker for all things vintage. read more

Typical diner food. Steak and salad in particular-- yep, this is a half-step up from Denny's or Norms, but only just. Pricing isn't particularly good either, although given you're halfway up the backside of the eastern Sierra, that makes sense. Quaint inside with a half wheel and other typical items for the wild west feel. Real killers? Had a few flies dining with us, and holy crap they were slow. 20 minutes from ordering to our salads, total time to get our main courses and finish eating ended up being well over an hour. They were about half empty when we got there and had filled up halfway through, probably due to the EXTREMELY slow kitchen.... #$*)!@! read more

Nice place for a stop to and from mammoth. Very accommodating and nice staff! Not many healthy options but lots of comfort food. Seating is quick and easy! Will definitely be back. read more

The best thing about this place was the outdoor seating on the big deck. Service was underwhelming but good attitude at least. We went for breakfast and the food was edible (how hard is it to make scrambled eggs) but I never know how snobby to be in road trips down the 395 (unless of course you're the Mobil Station in Lee Vining). We should have known better when the desk clerk at our hotel responded with a "Um, they're open for breakfast" when we asked him if it was good. Next time i'll head to the little cafe around the corner that was his choice for morning grub. read more

DO NOT EAT HERE!! The service is slow and they charged us $4.95 to add bacon to a $6.95 grilled cheese and didn't even mention the price, nor was UT on the menu. Utterly ridiculous. Do yourself a favor and go to the Alabama Hills Cafe right down the street. This will not be a mistake we make twice. read more

Stopped there for lunch today on the way home from Mammoth. The waitress was wonderful. My wife is Vegan and had a burger. I got a chef salad. It was one of the best I've ever had. After she brought our food and came back by a minute or two and asked if I wanted a little more dressing. Who does that these days? My answer was yes please and she brought it happily. Noticed that it looks like several of the diners there had been there before when going through town. Would most definitely go back. read more

Ate dinner tonight. Very attentive waitress. Salad with blue cheese was excellent! Fresh lettuce, sweet tomatoes. The vegetable beef soup was awesome with a peppery kick. We had steak with pasta, T-bone, and NY strip. All three we cooked exactly as requested. I had the T-bone and thought it was great until I ate wife's NY strip. It was amazing! The pies and cheese cake are house made. OMG!!!!!!!! read more

FANTASTIC! The biscuit and gravy is next level. Worth the stop! Excellent arrive too!!

This is one of those reviews that I normally wouldn't give because there was nothing special about this place except for one thing which I will explain at the end. My friends and I finished a wonderful camping trip up at Cottonwoods Lakes. We were all starving for something like a greasy cheeseburger or better yet, some heavy chicken friend steak. Since my friends had their dogs with them, we had to find a place in Lone Pine with a patio. Not so hot an idea on this hot day, but the world isn't centered around moi so, let's go with the flow. Looks like restaurant policy is no dogs on the patio. A bit disappointing, but understandable. We were advised that there is a patch of grassy area right next to the patio area which the dogs could be tied up to and since we were the only ones on the patio, we were seated next to the dogs. We all look at the menu. I discover that there is chicken fried steak, but it is only served during breakfast time. Nooooooo. Why does the universe foresake my solitary needs?! Then the universe generously answers with a lovely act of kindness. No, they did not accomodate my chicken fried steak request. The lovely waitress Celia (sp?) comes out with glass bowls of water for the dogs before serving us anything. You've got to really appreciate the attention she gave to our dogs. Sometimes man's best friend needs to be attended to first. There you have why this place is special. As for the food, well...you find out for yourself. As for Celia, she rocks! PS: The club sandwich was good. And the fries seemed to be double fried or fried well. read more

I love this place for breakfast. California omelette with jalapeños added. Traditional but excellent. Friendly courteous service.

If you just want a drink, don't go there. We ordered 2 beers, waited for 10 minutes, nothing happened. Turn out they forgot, guess they don't care. read more

Walked by this place once, looking for some good grub. The place that was suggested to us, was closed ...so I go in and he followed... and was greeted and told we can sit anywhere we wanted. Sweet! We picked a seat by the window and the waitress came by, but we were not ready to order. We were also distracted by the autographs by old time Hollywood stars, on the wall. Cool. Only recognized a few names but still cool. Our waitress came back and took our orders: he ordered the Totem burger and I got the hamburger. Both got onion rings. We got our burgers placed in front of us and it was deconstructed...the lettuce, red onions, pickles, tomato, were on, one side of the plate, burgers were on the other. We asked for ketchup and mustard. I decided to add my onion rangs inside my burger, as with the lettuce. OMG! It was so gud!! The onion rangs by themselves was really tasty and crisp! So gud!!! Sure, it seemed a little plain but it really hit the spot and being in a small town, this was appropriate. Overall, good food, friendly service, and neat stuff on the walls to look at...glad we stopped in when a lot of other places were closed . Nice little gem. read more

I came here after climbing mt Williamson and boy were we hungry. we came here looking for steak and we found it, pretty good selection, although my sister and I both ordered the exact same thing, down to the bleu cheese salad dressing. the food was not particularly remarkable, but I wouldn't call it bad by any means we came here on a Friday night and it was karaoke night! they had the projection screen going in the outdoor area, the gentle glow of the lyrics illuminating both patrons and passerbys on the sidewalk. I sang El Paso and received my best karaoke response to date, a big confidence booster. the real treat tho was listening to our waiter, Bobby, sing "I can't help falling in love with you." his voice was so angellic and sweet, we didn't even need desert. read more

We stopped in for breakfast. We chose a seat by the window and enjoyed a delicious California omlette, and corned beef hash w/eggs. The food was hot & tasty, and nicely prepared. The price was right on for the portion amount. Two breakfast plates with coffee = 25.00 The service was great! Our waitress was friendly, attentive, and kept our coffee cups full. We would absolutely visit again! Thank you for a wonderful experience, and a delightful meal. read more

Staying near by for a night, as we walked along the small town we noticed this place and decided to dine here. Really nice patio set up, the decor was very rusty looking. I order a steak, meduim well with pasta. The steak was very delicious, the pasta was very creamy and good. My wife ate a chicken salad, it was fresh.... The only small complain was the ice tea, it tasted a bit greasy water, needs more flavor... Service is great and food was delicious and not too much, the portions are good. read more

See all

The city of Lone Pine is one of those sleepy one horse towns that you won't even notice unless you need to stop for gas or a bite to eat on the way to Mammoth. The Totem Cafe was one of those places that was still open when we rolled into town at 9PM on one of these such trips. Family owned and operated, it's a gift shop and cafe rolled into one. We were the last people to be inside when we had a very late dinner. Service was super friendly and nice, and the meal was hearty, albeit average at best. The soup of the day was Albondigas, a Mexican meatball soup. The meatballs were fatty, and soup thick and hearty. I wanted seconds, because I was starving. But I was waiting for my main course, a chicken fried steak. It was huge! Took up like 3/4ths of my plate. The meal also came with mashed potatoes, and a roll. Nothing to really write home about. But they did forget my roll until I asked. The waitress was nice enough to warm it up for me when they brought it to the table. I snuck a few bites of a pork chop and halibut just to get a taste of some of the other items on the menu. The halibut was flaky, seasoned, but nothing special. The pork chop was average. This is a diner, after all. I wonder if the breakfast or lunches here are better than the dinners they serve here. I'll probably find out next year. read more

Great stop when heading down the mountain to fill up your belly for a low price. Not gourmet or even greasy diner food. More like a home made version of Cocos or Spires. They do breakfast food, burgers, and other things. Last time I went I visited the facilities first to do my business and wash my hands. You have to walk through the super clean kitchen which is nice to see. So one by one the rest of my group does the same, I couldn't help but notice a beautiful plate that looked like chilequilles. The funny thing was everyone in the group said they noticed it too. Too bad it was not on the menu. I asked the waitress what that was and she had the cook make me some. It was real good, like the ultimate super bowl nacho platter. I appreciate the customer service. read more

Totem Cafe - Not on the menu but in my belly - Breakfast & Brunch Near Me - Lone Pine, California

Friday night dinner. Ordered the ribs and ribeye. Both were cooked perfectly. Generous portions. Very friendly service. Will definitely be back! read more

Came here a few years ago. Food was ok. They served salads to steaks. Prices were average for a place that served salads to bbq meats (our bill came to $45). It was one of the nicer dining establishments in town. Great patio area to dine in and live music played when my husband and I were there. Service was acceptable until my we got the bill. We paid it and then noticed that the price of one of our dishes was not right. They charged us $3 more than what was stated in the menu. At the register, we mentioned it to our waitress and in front of her, we went through the stack of menus to locate the one we got. We pointed out the price. An older waitress stepped in. She huffed and puffed and said, "Where did you get that menu from?" (Duh! We found it at the register in front of our waitress.) The old one, then went thru the menus and realized ours reflected the old price. She gave our waitress the ok to return the difference to us. Our waitress apologized (we weren't angry at her or at the error), but I the old one should have because she made us feel like we committed a crime. I would have given this joint three stars for the evening, but the old one helped me drop it to 1.5. She dampened our visit to Totem Cafe. No interest in returning to this place. read more

Great place. We had breakfast here Friday morning and sat. The service was great. Friendly staff. The food was very good. We ate it all.

I'm dividing this review into two sections; food and service. Food: horrible is the word hubby used for his freezer burn, Costco halibut steak. The baked potato was cold and the mango chili topping tasted like it was stored with the fish. I had the clam chowder, which is alright overall. Personally I didn't have complaints on the food. Service: We came in a time when the restaurant happened to get slammed with 8-9 patrons at once. Our server tried really hard and accommodating best he could but I could tell he was pretty stretched thin. For that, I'll give him a break. To compensate, he didn't charge us for second glass of wine. That was nice. Overall, I wasn't expecting that much from this town so I'm not super upset that this restaurant wasn't awesome. I suppose they could offer awesome breakfasts or lunches. Dinner however could use some tweaking. read more

Stopped here on the way to Mammoth and we're super glad we did. The Death Valley IPA on tap was delicious and finishes smooth. I had the pasta primavera and it was sooo good, fresh delicious vegetables in pasta with a yummy buttery sauce. This place has a super cute desert country vibe and wasn't as busy as other places, but definitely worth the stop. read more

Called in breakfast burritos while on our way home from Lake Tahoe. The woman on the phone said they would be ready in 10-15 minutes. I told her we would be there in 30 minutes. She then asked if I would like them to start the burritos now, or wait 5-10 minutes! How nice is that? Or burritos were so yummy and hot when we received them and ate them on the road. Got extra salsa too! Thanks Totem Cafe for the excellent breakfast and for keeping us on our ETA to get home! We'll definitely be coming back for more on the road breakfast burritos read more