Mr. D’z Route 66 Diner of Kingman and the Snow Cap Drive-In in Seligman were named among the top 12 diners and drive-in restaurants in Arizona by Arizona Highways magazine, reported the Kingman Daily Miner.
As you can see from the November issue’s table of contents, although the magazine ranked Mr. D’z higher at No. 2, the No. 5-ranked Snow Cap made the cover.
A complete list of the top diners and drive-ins was not available Monday morning.
In May 2006, Mr. D’z gained a lot of additional fame when it was visited by TV talk-show host Oprah Winfrey and friend Gayle King during a road trip. She liked the root beer so much that she donated bottles of it to her studio audience.
Mr. D’z started as a Kingman Cafe in the 1930s and was a Kimo Shell station for a time.
The original menu, including the chicken fried steak and the Harley dog, was based off of Dunton family recipes. Dunton even created the famous root beer. The idea came from when he visited a fair as a child and tasted a sweet, creamy root beer. In 1993, he tried to recreate that creamy taste. After several taste tests by the family, they settled on one concoction and contracted with a company to manufacture the syrup that is used in the diner today.
The Snow Cap is run by the Delgadillo family after longtime patriarch and owner Juan Delgadillo died a few years ago.
A little history and background:
Juan and Mary Delgadillo established the Snow Cap Drive-In in Seligman, Arizona in 1953 along Route 66. The building was built by Juan, along with his father and his brothers, out of scrap lumber he collected while working for the railroad. Juan retired from the railroad and worked everyday at the Snow Cap until the day he died, June 2, 2004 at the age of 88. Juan became well known through many magazines and newspaper articles as one of the co-founders of Historic Route 66. He was cherished by tourists for the antics he pulled on them while they were trying to order food and drinks.
The Snow Cap is perhaps one of the most wackiest, off-beat burger joints around. Many people will stop and say that the place is the same as it was when they came here as a young person. Today, visitors from Europe, Germany, Japan and other countries, as well as those from the United States seek the nostalgia of Historic Route 66 and the jokes that are famous at the Snow Cap. Juan’s two sons, Robert and John, along with his daughter Cecilia and wife Mary continue the tradition of serving up a generous dose of humor along with some of the best red chiliburgers and tacos, not to mention great shakes and soft ice cream.