A week after we moved to Arizona, we all sat down and made a new bucket list with items from the west coast. We came up with about 250 new and exciting things. The very first place that the kids drew out of the bucket was Rock Springs Cafe. Since we are new to this area, we had no idea what we were getting into. We picked a Sunday on the calendar and I planned the day trip.
Rock Springs Cafe is located in Black Canyon City, Arizona, which is right off exit 242 on I-17. We don’t like to travel the freeway all the time, so we decided to take back roads (known as surface streets in Arizona) to our destination. We drove up through Carefree and Cave Creek before finally getting onto the I-17 for a few short miles until our exit. The amazing view of the mountains and saguaro were breathtaking and worth the extra travel time.
While researching the restaurant, I kept coming across one common thing; that they are known to have the best pies in Arizona. Since we grew up in the south and it is really hard to top granny’s chess pie, we had to try this place out to see if their pie is really worth the trip……
Rock Springs Cafe is located at 35900 South Old Black Canyon Highway and is open daily from 7am-9pm Sunday – Thursday and 7am-10pm on Fridays and Saturdays.Mr. Ben Warner started with a canvas store in 1918 that prospered so much he opened a general store in 1924, which was known as the Rock Springs Hotel and General Merchandise. Many locals called this store “The Rock” and it is still a popular stop even today.Rock Springs Cafe is known as the oldest independently owned restaurant that is still operating in the state of Arizona.While you wait for your table, there are local merchants that are set up outside where you can shop. Seen here is a great photo-op right before you walk into the restaurant.There is a little path that you can walk down to a small creek for a beautiful view of the mountains. It had not rained recently, so the creek was dry. However, the view was gorgeous.Rock Springs Cafe is known for their fresh-homemade pies.As soon as you walk inside, you can either put your name down for a reservation to eat or head into the store area to buy one of their famous pies.In the very back corner of the store, there is an area to buy a slice of pie or a milkshake without having to sit down at a table to order.We decided to have lunch and pie. Seen here is one of the seating areas.In the back corner of this particular seating area there was a large bear. Of course, the kids had to get a picture with it.Seen here is the chicken salad sandwich with fries and potato salad. The chicken salad was some of the best that I have ever eaten.We decided to try two different types of pie. The first one was the chocolate pie. I have never been a fan of chocolate pie, however, little man said it was very good.Being from Tennessee, I had to try the Tennessee Lemon Pie. The consistency was similar to Chess Pie and the taste would have been better if they would have left out the lemon.
Overall, we had a wonderful time at Rock Springs Cafe and have even went back a second time to eat there. Is the pie really as good as they advertise? That is a hard question to answer and I believe it depends on where you originated from. The pies are good, but not as good as a pie made by southern grandmother.
So in conclusion, I would recommend trying Rock Springs Cafe at least once, however, there is no comparison between their Tennessee Lemon Pie and my granny’s homemade chess pie. A good homemade southern Chess Pie would win any day.
Rock Springs Cafe: Is the Pie Really Worth the Trip?
