I’ve been going to TTT truck stop and Omar’s Highway Chef Restaurant for as long as I can remember. It was one of my dad’s favorite restaurants. As a kid I couldn’t understand what made this place so great, but back then it was a treat to go out to eat and it didn’t matter where.
My favorite thing on the menu was the plate sized pancakes with the paper cup of whipped butter and warm maple syrup. Every time we went, I always ordered the same. The TTT was not far from my childhood home and was always a beacon for being “almost home.”
In later years it was the place where my mother-in law stopped to rest her eyes after long trips home from Phoenix. We’d stop at the TTT to use the bathroom, score bags of free popcorn while gassing up, and, if you planned right, it would be a dinner stop on the way home from a marathon day of shopping.
As an adult I make pilgrimages to the TTT often, mostly for the pancakes but often it’s just to visit my childhood. Once when Zach and I were eating our usual we caught a glimpse of Omar the actual Highway Chef and it was like seeing a celebrity. This was especially exciting since I didn’t think there was an actual Omar, but there he was behind the counter making conversation with the truckers.
In the years I’ve been going to the TTT I’ve have seen all sorts of waitresses come and go. There was the red headed hostess with the bouffant hairdo who sometimes would give us peppermint patties for free and the lady that looked Mexican that my dad always tried to speak Spanish to that clearly did not understand but smiled anyway. And of course, Zach’s and my favorite waitress, the blonde lady that worked the counter tables. All she did was giggle- not a happy giggle either but more like a “I just buried a body” giggle. Ultimately, we started avoiding her, being not too sure of her motives.
On my most recent visit to TTT, I made a real effort to notice the truckers. I could hear conversations about guns, trucks and families and, during this time of the year, the holidays.
A lot has changed through the years. The waitresses seem younger than they used to be, and the old booths have cracks in the vinyl. The gas station and store closed because of the newer, fancier station across the street. The gift shop outside the restaurant closed and moved to the truck stop side. When our waitress brought us our check, she said that she would be our cashier too. No more hostess or peppermint patties.
There are many things on the TTT menu I would eat again and again and some I would not. This is not a fine dining experience, its just an experience that will more than likely come with gravy and the best pancake you’ll ever eat. I hope they survive another decade.