Donuts a Go-Go, Mariposa, California, July 14, 2016

We stopped into Donuts a Go-Go almost as an afterthought as we were about to leave Mariposa and head on toward Anaheim for a visit with The Mouse. We had already ‘enjoyed’ (‘endured’ maybe?) the continental breakfast at the hotel but we were in the mood for something sweet to take with us for the drive. The folks at the front desk at our hotel included Donuts a Go-Go in their list of recommended eateries so we stopped in.

To describe Donuts a Go-Go as unassuming might be a bit of an understatement. But, as we all know, looks aren’t everything. Right? Right…

Anyway, we picked out a mixed half-dozen, paid and hit the road. We stopped for lunch near Bakersfield and afterward the girls broke into their donuts for dessert. Since I was driving I decided to wait for mine…and it wasn’t easy listening to everyone tormenting me about how good they were. ConnieLou mentioned that they were more of a caky donut like Dunkin Donuts instead of light and airy like Krispy Kremes. Now I’m not a fan of Dunkins and their metallic aftertaste, so I cringed a bit when ConnieLou compared Donuts a Go-Go’s donuts to Dunkins.

When we finally reached our hotel I finally got to try mine. Without going into a lot of detail we were all quite pleased with our selections…and there was no metallic aftertaste.

So how did Donuts a Go-Go fare on the Thumbs Scale? We gave ‘em a solid 8 out of a possible 8…and wished we’d given them a try sooner rather than eating the hotel continental breakfast.

Happy Burger Diner, Mariposa, California, July 13, 2016

After returning to Mariposa late after our first day at Yosemite and having supper at the local BK, we made sure we returned early enough the next day to give one of the local restaurants a try. The folks at the front desk at our hotel gave us several recommendations when we checked in, one of which was the Happy Burger Diner.

The Happy Burger Diner is billed as a ‘fun and authentic 60’s diner’, ‘featuring the food you love and “Mother Lode” portions.’ The first thing we noticed as we walked in was that the walls and ceilings were covered, and I mean completely covered, with album covers from records cut in the 60s. You remember records, right? They were those black vinyl disks about twelve inches across with tiny grooves on both sides and a hole in the center that one played on a record player or stereo turntable?

They have a fairly extensive menu so we sat down in a booth for a few minutes to read it over and figure out what we wanted before stepping up to the counter to place our orders. ConnieLou settled on the BLT, fries and a strawberry shake, Ashley and Jenna both ordered the patty melt with sweet potato fries and peanut butter shakes and I ordered the guacamole burger with fries and a peanut butter shake.

We sat back down in our booth and enjoyed the AC while we waited on our food to arrive. After a short wait the server brought out our orders and our table grew quiet. My burger was hot, juicy, messy and very good. ConnieLou and the girls were quite pleased with their sandwiches. The shakes were also quite good. In fact, the PB shakes were easily as good as those at Gibson’s in Young Harris, Georgia, and possibly a little bit better. Now about the fries…not fresh cut and if you’ve read a few of my previous entries, you probably have a pretty good idea about how I feel about frozen fries. That said…the fries were still pretty darn good.

So how did the Happy Burger Diner rate on the Thumbs Scale? We gave it a 7 ¾ out of a possible 8. Yep, I took off half a thumb for the frozen fries but added ¼ of a point for the excellent shakes. If we ever get back to Mariposa the Happy Burger Diner will definitely be on our repeat list