Visitors drive through winding roads surrounded by nothing but tumbleweeds for miles, leading many to think they’re lost until they round one last bend and come upon Pappy + Harriet’s.
The second surprise comes when you see that next to the bar lies an Old West village called Pioneertown.
How did this quirky restaurant and bar come to be? And how did it become one of the most beloved spots in Southern California?
A Brief History of Pioneertown
The first thing people notice when they visit Pappy + Harriet’s is probably the Western-themed setup next to it known as Pioneertown. A saloon, old-timey shops, hotels, a bank and several wooden homes line the town’s dirt roads.
If the buildings look too “Hollywood” to be real relics of the Old West, that’s because they were built in 1946. Movie icons including Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, along with the Sons of the Pioneers singing group who lent the town their name, built Pioneertown to create a place where they could film Westerns—a living set.
Business boomed in the 1940s and 1950s, the heyday of the Hollywood western, as over 50 movies and TV shows were filmed in Pioneertown.
The First Cantina
In 1972, Francis Aleba bought the least interesting lot in town—the gas station—and decided to transform it. She made it a Cantina and offered beer and burritos for anyone coming through. “Anyone” ended up being bikers who loved riding through the desert and made the Cantina their hangout.
Francis ran the bar with her husband, John, for ten successful years before shutting it down, yet keeping it within her family.
Pappy + Harriet’s: The Beginning
It’s a good thing she did because in 1982, her daughter Harriet decided she had other plans,
together with her husband Claude Allen, known locally as “Pappy”, Harriet opened Pappy + Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace. The couple also made some changes to attract a wider range of customers.
Besides beer and burritos. they served family-style BBQ dishes and comfort food. Since Pappy played the piano, and both Harriett and Pappy played guitars and sang, they decided live music should be as important to the bar as it was to their lives.
In short order, the couple made the venue into a local hotspot. Unfortunately, while business was booming, a personal tragedy temporarily veered the restaurant off course.
How A Local Hotspot Became an International Music Destination
In 1994, Pappy died, leaving Harriet distraught. She gave control of the bar to a family friend for a few years, but without the original owners running it, Pappy + Harriet’s slowly lost visitors and its reputation faded.
All seemed lost until, in 2003, regulars Robyn Celia and Linda Krantz decided to restore one of their favorite local haunts. Celia was so devoted to the bar that she would fly in from New York on weekends to catch live shows.
So, the duo bought Pappy + Harriet’s to turn it back into the lively destination it was meant to be. The increasing popularity of Joshua Tree, designated a National Park in 1994, helped them out.
Celia made the first live music booking on a whim. She wrote to one of her favorite singers, Lucinda Williams, before she even bought the bar. When she got a “yes”, she went ahead with the purchase.
Pappy + Harriet’s lively atmosphere made it popular with people from all over the country, and bigger musical acts said yes to performing at the small venue. The place’s rustic, saloon-like, outlaw feel also created an aura of mystery.
The venue has hosted artists that usually headline stadiums, from Sir Paul McCartney, who performed an impromptu concert for 300 people, to Lorde and the Arctic Monkeys.
The way Pappy + Harriet’s invites customers to a simpler time while entertaining them with some of the best performances of their lives in a completely unexpected place makes it one of the most enchanting, beloved Southwest destinations.
Pioneertown is approximately 40 miles from Palm Springs, California. Check out Pappy + Harriet’s at https://pappyandharriets.com.