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Banning
RESTAURANTS
San Gorgonio Inn / 1*
150 E RAMSEY ST, BANNING; 909/849-3448
You know there'll be a slice of canned beet atop the salad. You just
know. But that's one of the charms of the old San Gorgonio Inn, where
elements of this historic restaurant-and-stagecoach-stop building date
back to 1883. The restaurant sprawls through several rooms behind diamond-
paned arched windows that frame views of San Gorgonio Peak. Prices are
fantastically low. A dark, smoky bar in the back does a lively business
with the older crowd, most of them puffing away despite California's smoking
ban. There's a touch of Greek to the place: one pasta dish
features mizithra cheese, bread slices are cut from a circular sesame
seed-sprinkled loaf, and dinner salads can be had with a Greek dressing.
Dinners come with salad or soup, bread, mashed or baked potato, and dessert
(cherry Jell-0 was one of the choices on our visit). None of this ordinariness
should dissuade you from pulling off the interstate when you're hungry,
however. Chicken and fish dishes from the grill arrive at the table too
hot to eat, the baked potatoes are perfect, and the cherry Jell-0 . .
. well, that's perfect, too, right down to its spritz of cream and its
chromed champagne glass-style dish. We just have to whisper that a dinner
for two here of prime rib and chicken cost well under $20. Shhh. $; AE,
DIS, MC, V; no checks; lunch, dinner every day; full bar; reservations
accepted weekends for four or more only; dalzl@aol.com; exit 8th St.,
north to Ramsey, east 5 blocks to restaurant.
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