Clifftop snack bar on the way to Big Sur reopens at Hwy. 1 waystation

Hungry travelers planning a jaunt to Big Sur this summer can once again stop for a bite at a historic snack bar perched on a Highway 1 clifftop.

The Ragged Point Snack Bar is open again after a prolonged closure caused by repair work and staffing issues, according to owner Diane Ramey.

She’s part of the family that has owned the longtime Ragged Point Inn & Resort since the middle of the last century.

The snack bar closed after another round of landslides blocked Highway 1 in 2023 and drained business along the Big Sur coast.

But after three years, the highway is full of tourists again, and Ragged Point’s popular outdoor walk-up about 25 miles north of Cambria is once again serving up tasty fare Wednesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at least through Labor Day, Ramey told The Tribune.

That includes “hamburgers, hotdogs, home-smoked barbecue sandwiches, chili and fries,” she said.

How the Ragged Point snack bar evolved over the years

The eatery has been a landmark on Highway 1 for decades, dating back even before 1962, when founders Wiley and Mildred Ramey bought the clifftop point with a killer view.

Their purchase included all that was there, such as “a few old travel trailers, some discarded carnival equipment, a couple of gas pumps … and the snack bar with a huge ‘EAT’ sign on its roof,” Diane Ramey said.

That’s the same year that the Esalen Institute was founded and the year after Jack Kerouac stayed in a friend’s Bixby Canyon cabin to write his novel “Big Sur.”

What did Ragged Point’s snack bar serve back then?

“Hot dogs, hamburgers, fries, fried-egg sandwiches and grilled ham-and-cheese sandwiches,” Ramey said.

At the time, “the snack bar was one of the few places to eat between San Simeon and Nepenthe,” she said, making that “EAT” sign a real magnet for travelers.

The Rameys had pluck, determination and a vision for their land

During the next couple of decades, the family built the motel room by room, adding a lobby building and mini market, Ramey said.

Rancher-nurse Gloria Fiscalini clearly recalls visiting there as a child, retaining one particularly vivid memory from the tour she and her mom took of the new motel areas.

“We looked from the blue shag carpet upstairs, up and out to the view of the similarly shaded ocean. It was (and is) spectacular,” she said.

For a time, growth and changes continued slowly at the point.

Then in 1994, “the snack bar was remodeled for the first time,” Ramey said.

Soon after, the snack bar was moved to its current location, and in 1996, the family built the now-iconic restaurant where the snack bar had been.

The smaller eatery’s menu has changed from time to time, she said.

“For a while in the mid-1990s, it even served full dinners, like chicken Parmesan, steak a poivre and Niçoise salad!” Ramey said.

Landslides force Ragged Point Inn to close

In January 2023, landslides closed the Highway 1 both north and south of the resort.

Road closures had affected the operation before — landslides happen frequently during storms there — but with the 2023 closures, “the inn had to totally close for the first time in its 60-year history,” Ramey said. It was closed for about a month starting in January.

Business was sparse over the ensuing years, and by the time the highway reopened in 2026, three years to the day after the closure, “much of the staff had moved on,” she said.

During the road closure, the family was faced with some tough decisions, “and one of them was to close the snack bar,” for a while, Ramey said.

After repairs to appliances, signs, countertops and the cedar-shake roof — plus hiring staff to man the operation — the snack bar had a soft reopening in early June.

While staffing issues continue a bit at the historic snack bar, the eatery is geared up for the holidays and summer rush ahead.

Burger and fries, anyone?

Business also looking up elsewhere at Ragged Point

“Ragged Point has rebounded amazingly since the reopening (in January),” Ramey said. “We’re up 100% or more over last year across all our businesses. President’s Day weekend, Memorial Day weekend and our Gateway to Big Sur Festival weekend were all especially good. “

For weekend hotel rooms, “we now recommend that people reserve six months to a year ahead. … Our 2026 wedding season is fully booked,” she said.

Adding to the charm, the resort also has booked occasional free, live music concerts (including over the Fourth of July 4 weekend), with classical summer barbecues and BYOChairs for lawn seating with a view of the property, the surrounding Santa Lucia range and glimpses of the sea below and beyond.

For more information about the Ragged Point Inn, visit raggedpointinn.com or call 888-584-6374.

Kathe Tanner

The Tribune

805-781-7904 (voicemails only)

Kathe Tanner has been writing about the people and places of SLO County’s North Coast since 1981, first as a columnist and then also as a reporter. Her career has included stints as a bakery owner, public relations director, radio host, trail guide and jewelry designer. She has been a resident of Cambria for more than four decades, and if it’s happening in town, Kathe knows about it.