By Robert Farmer
Can somebody tell me what happened to Babe's Burgers? Actually, I think the official name was Babe's Burgers and Franks but everybody just called it Babe's. It's the little ramshackle shop along the highway (Hwy. 121, to be exact) that neatly ties together Napa and Sonoma valleys. You know the place. Or maybe you don't. That was the beauty of Babe's, it was beloved by some, completely off the radar for others. It was the kind of place that maintained an "insider" vibe no matter what restaurant was currently the talk of the valley - either valley. It was easily blown by when cruising along the Highway in the Carneros District, bouncing from one winery to the next.
Can somebody tell me what happened to Babe's Burgers? Actually, I think the official name was Babe's Burgers and Franks but everybody just called it Babe's. It's the little ramshackle shop along the highway (Hwy. 121, to be exact) that neatly ties together Napa and Sonoma valleys. You know the place. Or maybe you don't. That was the beauty of Babe's, it was beloved by some, completely off the radar for others. It was the kind of place that maintained an "insider" vibe no matter what restaurant was currently the talk of the valley - either valley. It was easily blown by when cruising along the Highway in the Carneros District, bouncing from one winery to the next.
But if you knew to take a moment and pull over for lunch
- it was open only for lunch - you know that Babe's served up
one of the truly great burgers for miles around. Flame grilled, big and juicy,
with The-Bomb fries to match, you could be heartily satisfied for south of ten
bucks. Yes, not only was Babe's one of the great undiscovered gems of
Wine Country, it was also one of its great bargains. So what happened?
Honestly, I don't know and am dying to find out. I just know that it was
all boarded up when I last drove past, and it didn't look like it was
being remodeled. No, this was the kind of board-up that screams: "Out of
business."
Leave a comment