Four eateries along or near Route 66 will receive $50,000 Backing Historic Small Restaurants grants from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and American Express.
The primarily Route 66-based recipients, announced Monday, are:
- La Cita Restaurant, Tucumcari, New Mexico
- Doc’s Just Off 66, Girard, Illinois
- La Paloma Mexican Restaurant, La Verne, California
A lesser-known fourth restaurant — the highly praised Rated Test Kitchen in St. Louis — is one block east of the Tucker Boulevard alignment of Route 66 in that city.
La Cita dates to 1940 in Tucumcari when it originally was on the north side of Route 66. Constructing a new building with its famed giant sombrero above the entrance, it moved to the south side of the highway in 1961.
Doc’s Just Off 66 began as Deck’s Drug Store in 1884 in downtown Girard. It later became Doc’s Soda Fountain. Steve and Casey Claypool purchased the property in 2021 and renamed it Doc’s Just Off 66. It sits one block east of the original Route 66 in Girard.
La Paloma started in San Bernardino, California, in the 1950s before it moved to the Foothill Boulevard alignment of Route 66 in La Verne in 1966. Its Googie sign is a big photo-op for many travelers.
The National Trust and American Express this week doled out grants to 50 recipients. They stated the funds will help those restaurants “rejuvenate, innovate, and expand their businesses, ensuring their cherished legacies endure.”
The full list can be seen here.
The Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant program has given $3 million to 75 historic restaurants since 2021.
UPDATE 7/31/2024: Doc’s Just Off 66 stated in a news release that the grant will be used for additional outdoor seating and use a building built in the 1870s to serve as a bar and smokehouse for an additional dining option.
(Image of La Cita Restaurant in Tucumcari, New Mexico, by PunkToad; image of Doc’s Just Off 66 in Girard, Illinois, by Randy von Liski; image of La Paloma Mexican Restaurant in La Verne, California, by Randy Heinitz, all via Flickr)