Pappy & Harriet's Pioneertown Palace.
PHOTO COURTESY RICHARD BROADWELL / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Correction Notice: This article, from the April 2024 issue of The Guide, erroneously identified the owners of Pappy + Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace. This version of the story has been corrected.
There’s something optimistic about a saloon in the middle of the desert. It seems a bit mystical, serving exactly what you need at the moment you need it most. So it goes with Pappy + Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace, smack in the middle of the Sawtooth Mountains.
The beloved watering hole fuels desert dwellers and passers-through with tri-tip chili, mezcal, and rollicking music, so it almost makes sense the building was once a gas station.
In 1972, Francis Aleba removed the fuel tanks and pumps, transforming Signal Gas Station into a bar called The Cantina, where bikers flocked for beer and burritos.
Eventually Aleba’s daughter, Harriet, took over. Harriet Allen, along with her husband, Claude (better known as Pappy), changed the sign out front, christening Pappy + Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace and ushering in a new era. They expanded the venue, added a kitchen, and brought in live music.
Though the mesquite barbecue slaps, it’s the music that shaped the roadhouse into the destination it is today. The bar changed hands again before it was purchased by Lisa Elin and JB Moresco in April 2021, who run it now. Through the years, a diverse range of performers have played there, from Paul McCartney to Patti Smith, Robert Plant, Interpol, and Phoenix.
“A Beatle, in a desert-city bar like this. How?” the Los Angeles Times asked following McCartney’s 2016 show. Some things cannot be explained. Like the magic of driving down a dusty desert road and finding everything necessary to fill your belly and soul.
kick up your spurs
Dozens of cowboy movies and TV shows were shot in Pioneertown before the Western film boom went bust. Visit on a Saturday during season to watch the Mane Street Stampede Wild West show take over town.