Somebody knows what they are doin.’ Or not. Free beer tomorrow? Well, that could be technically and perpetually true without ever giving away “free beer.” It’s definitely a hook. And it looks like it’s been working for a while judging by the truck and sign.
The sign can be seen at Lou’s Luncheonette along Fremont Drive, or Carneros Highway, or CA Route 12, or CA Route 121. Yikers, the road is quaintly referred to in four ways. And Lou’s Luncheonette and picnic yard is found east of Schellville, north of Shellville Colony, and south of the unincorporated towns of Buena Vista, Batto, Bonilla and Vineburg, and nearby Embarcadero. East County can be confusing.
What’s not confusing is why one might want to stop at Lou’s. First and foremost, the french fries could be the best in Sonoma County. Not sure if the buckets of lard that decorate the luncheonette have anything to do with the taste, but they sure are crispy fries. If one finds oneself in East County territory, stop in. The light-blue paint color, the linoleum tables, the Roy Rogers-patterned brown-and-white curtains, and the lard buckets and sundry cans from yesteryear will bring one back to California dreaming circa the 1960s. The dusty decor has not changed much, and that is part of the charm. Free beer tomorrow.
FUN FACTS: Lou’s Luncheonette started as a humble fruit stand. In the 1960s it became Babe’s Burgers & Franks, later the Fremont Diner. Nearby Schellville and Shellville Colony are spelled differently; two competing railroad companies did that. The Sonoma Valley Railroad built a train station named Schellville in 1879 after local rancher Theodore Schell. In 1887, Southern Pacific laid track and dropped the “c,” thus, Shellville Colony. The colony is mostly a paper-map subdivision. The town didn’t take off, as ship traffic to nearby Embarcadero dried up with the silting of Sonoma Creek. Nearby Embaradero is now surrounded by vineyards and it’s difficult to imagine large commercial steamships floating by the rows of cabernet there now.
John and Michelle Phillips wrote California Dreaming in December 1965 during a cold New York City winter. It sold 4 million copies. The Mamas and Papas group reportedly sold 40 million records.
Roy Rogers was born Leonard Slye in 1911 in Ohio. He married Dale Evans in 1947, proposing to her while on his horse Trigger. Dale’s horse was Buttermilk. King of the Cowboys and Queen of the West, they were married for 51 years.
