{"id":4272729,"date":"2024-04-25T09:00:30","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T16:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729///wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729//www.sbsun.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729//?p=4272729&preview=true&preview_id=4272729"},"modified":"2024-04-30T15:34:59","modified_gmt":"2024-04-30T22:34:59","slug":"these-are-some-of-the-oldest-restaurants-in-the-inland-empire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729///wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729//www.sbsun.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729//2024/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729//04/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729//25/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729//these-are-some-of-the-oldest-restaurants-in-the-inland-empire/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729//","title":{"rendered":"These are some of the oldest restaurants in the Inland Empire"},"content":{"rendered":"

In today’s ever-changing restaurant scene, there are a handful of restaurants that manage to stay true to their roots for decades./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

It’s no mean feat, according to pop culture expert Charles Phoenix, who has made a career out of celebrating the quirky side of Southern California history./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

Phoenix is an Ontario native and he loves places like Vince’s Spaghetti, which served its first plate of pasta in his home town in the 1940s, long before he was born./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/u201cI really love a time-honored experience,” he said in a phone interview. “I love legendary landmarks, and that/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/u2019s what these vintage restaurants have become. It/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/u2019s a rare experience. There are way fewer restaurants than there were even 10 years ago./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

“Place like Vince’s are treasures, cultural treasures. They’re usually delicious as well.”/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

Some restaurants in Riverside and San Bernardino counties go back even further. “Famous hospitality since 1848,” reads the neon sign outside the Sycamore in Rancho Cucamonga./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

There was a one-room shack there that gave travelers “the chance to get off their horses and out of the sun” in the days of dirt roads and stagecoaches, said managing partner Louis Alvarez. /wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

After the shack burned down it was replaced by larger buildings until the current building went up in 1920 and became the steakhouse it is today./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

ALSO SEE: These are 10 of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles County/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

Most of the restaurants in this story have gone through big changes in their long lives but remain something your grandparents would recognize./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

They have another thing in common./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n

“Basically, it’s the will to go on, and the ability to still do a profitable business,” said Phoenix./wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4272729/n