Olive Oatman Restaurant & Saloon

Those people complaining about this place, don’t listen. Seriously. These are the finest burgers and fries ever. Don’t expect the ritz Carlton type of place with fancy China. This place is a small cute food joint with great food! The service is excellent and the fries are to die for.
If you’re expecting something ridiculously fancy, don’t, but if you want a great meal to enjoy… This place is for you!!!
The owner is a sweetheart. Thanks for your hospitality!
they only have bottled water. Be warned.

During a visit to Laughlin we took a side trip to Oatman, AZ. Only 30 mi away and so worth it. While you are shopping and feeding the wild burros stop in for lunch or a snack at nice little restaurant for lunch or a snack. Great food and the owners are very nice.

Kay so.
The women working was nice and on top of things for the most part, very busy women working single handed.
Now here is my issue. NO HIGH CHAIRS!!! So as you can imagine it was a nightmare and highly unenjoyable to struggle with a one year old who wants to run around and not be held. Had we had a high chair I could rate this place 5 stars for sure. The fact that it was so stressful, we didn’t even finish our food or get to order ice cream!!! –also we were thrown the check without even checking if we were done, which we weren’t. My husband wanted more to drink and I wanted sweets–
HOWEVER the food was really really really good!

Very friendly people… good food and plentiful too! We had the Navajo taco and a burger. Tasty! Nice clean place too!

There are not many choices in Oatman, and on a busy holiday weekend, this place was definitely not equipped to keep up. We were not able to get a glass of water (had to order bottled) and the bathroom was out of order. Waited for almost an hour for our order. The food was fine (burger and Navajo tacos). The waitress was friendly enough but never checked on us or provided an update on when the food would be out. Had to flag her down to get our check. Will eat before or after if I ever return to Oatman.

Had Navaho taco and breakfast (eggs, pancakes, sausage, toast) — all very good. Navaho fry bread was excellent. Only have bottled water (no tap) but that tasted good too. Waitress was very nice. Had a great time in oatman.

During our tour of Oatman we looked at a few places to grab a snack and ended up going with Olive Oatman Restaurant & Saloon (
) for one reason: Indian Fry Bread!
For those not familiar with fry bread, the Navajo Indians created fry bread in 1864 using flour, sugar, salt and lard provided by the United States government for the «Long Walk» relocation from Arizona 300 miles east to Bosque Redondo, New Mexico. Different tribes use different recipes and the way it is served varies from region to region. Fry bread can be served with a variety of topping (mostly sweet for a more dessert), beef (Indian tacos) or just eaten by itself.
As the menu says (
) and I wouldn’t recommend anything else on the menu. Keep in mind you are in a bar and in a tourist «ghost town» so if you are thinking about eating anything that doesn’t have «Najavo» or «Indian» in the name … emptor cavete … let the buyer beware! There is a breakfast menu (
) which I would avoid as well.
Our server was having to handle the whole dining area alone (
), but she serviced the whole room with a smile and made sure she checked on all her tables during our visit. Service was a little slow accordingly, but not through lack of effort on her part.
We quickly narrowed our choices to the fry bread and the only decision was with or without topping (
) with us choosing the former. I don’t remember the ice cream choices, but we went with vanilla and chose peaches for our fruit. The other fruit options were blueberries, apples and strawberries.
While we were waiting for our fried sweet treat, Laina put a dollar in the player piano (
) and received one verse of a song. Neither of us remember the song, but I can guarantee you it wasn’t «Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime)!» We expressed our mild disappointment with the length of the song and our server apologized saying the owners had recently reduced the amount of song you get from your dollar.
Rohlinism: A dollar ain’t worth a dime anymore!
Note: Look up quotes by the late great Yogi Berra if you don’t get this Rohlinism.
The saloon itself could use a roof to floor renovation, but I doubt the saloon brings in enough revenue to undertake such a task, but the staff could remove the full fly strips from the windows. I get all the flies, large amounts of burro droppings will bring the flies in droves, but an old fly strip full of flies is not very appetizing unless you are reptile or arachnid.
I think our fried bread hit our table in about 15 minutes and it was still warm. Curb your expectations about the fruit and ice cream. Oatman is in the middle of nowhere so you aren’t getting fresh fruit (our peaches were canned) and the ice cream was probably the Dreyer’s they sell in the hotel across the street. However, they give you three scoops of ice cream and the plate was more than enough to satisfy our hunger. I would have liked to have seen a few more peaches, but it is a minor complaint about this item. The fry bread itself was so good, we ended up wishing we had skipped the ice cream and peaches and just got it with butter, cinnamon and powdered sugar. I really liked the consistency of the fry bread, with it being brown on the outside while still soft and doughy on the inside.
Remember to stick with the specialties here and stay away from the fly stripped windows and you should be able to get a decent snack here in Oatman!

We took the RZR out to Oatman last week and enjoyed a very scenic ride on the back dirt road trails. The minute we parked, it started pouring! We grabbed the kids and ducked inside this little place to grab a quick bite and find shelter from the rain… what an experience.
Maybe because I live in LA which is very ethnically diverse, it’s not a big deal that I’m an Asian chick with a white dude and little halfer babies… walking into this place, it was like a scene out of a movie… everyone literally stopped eating and talking and turned to stare at us standing in the doorway. It was so quiet you could hear the door close behind us.
We sat in the corner near the window and ordered our meal, grilled cheese, fries and a veggie wrap (def not a place for vegetarians). Right after we ordered, I was looking at the window and saw a sticky fly trap on the window with about two dozen dead flies on it… that should have been our cue to leave. Our food came and is was awful. The wrap was bland and basic and the grilled cheese was made with the artificial American cheese slices. We took a few bites and were done. The kids are a few fries but that was it. They only drive bottled water (which is avoid thing) and sodas come out in cans.
Although service was slow (one server for the whole place which was about 10 tables), She was very friendly and brought the kids coloring books and crayons to keep them busy.
Definitely not a place I would revisit.

We didn’t have a great experience, but I don’t want to trash talk a small, family owned place that is probably struggling to stay afloat. Just double check your bill.

Good food, decent prices, can’t complain too much! The girl working there was very friendly and treated me and my family very well. She even brought my son’s food out when it was ready before the rest of ours, probably because she noticed he was getting fussy, which we really appreciated. She also told us how to make the fake deer sing, which my son also loved.

Very good Navajo tacos, chicken fried steak sandwich, Navajo flatbread, and thin flatbread nachos. Reasonably priced. Enjoyable dining experience in a tourist attraction, the Old West mining town of Oatman, Arizona.

One of two choices, made the right choice. I see a lot of people complaining about styrofoam plates and plastic silverware, did you expect fine China? It’s a neat little rustic café where the polish sausage and fried eggs with hashbrowns and toast was very good. Side of gravy was a little weak, seemed watery but I will crave the polish on sourdough. Waitress was friendly and did a good job tending to entire place herself.

Sunday drive to Oatman was well worth the time and effort! We never expected great food and tried the restaurant for the novelty of it all, but alas… breakfast burrito with chili on top was delicious and my husband says he will crave the polish sausage that came with his meal. Our server (actually THE server) was efficient and super sweet. A little spring cleaning plus a tastier gravy and they would have knocked it out of the park! Tip: a local shop owner says the restaurant for breakfast and the hotel for lunch is the way to go.

Stopped by Oatman and decided to check out the food. The saloon was a tight squeeze but welcoming. I think there was only one server on duty but she was moving as fast as she could and was polite. Food came out on disposable styrofoam plates and cups with plastic utensils which I found odd at first but meh no biggie, I’m assuming because of it remote location it’s easier. The food itself was good. I had blt n egg sandwich, pretty good. Bf had chorizo n eggs, I sampled that of course also good. Baby sis had pancakes which are standard pancakes but not bad at all. Oj was ice cold ad tasty. Price was ok. Décor all over the place along with a 1980’s sexy lady poster staring at me the whole time lol fun spot, we will return.

This place was horrible. For a tourist attraction of an old historic mining town, I think the plastic folding tables and chairs were pathetic. If it were my establishment, i would be playing it up and also acting out the times. The cashier with the high pitched voice brought her teen aged daughter to work with her on Saturday, March 30^th and were overheard talking about customers and chuckling and making run of people. Pretty rude if you ask me. If you want to share a meal, it will cost you $ 1 extra and if you want to take a doggie bag, you will pay 25 cents. Plan on using cash if your bill is under $ 10. I asked when we walked in if they took credit/​debit and they said sure. They probably should have told me about the $ 10 limit. We will definitely not return or recommend to friends.

Awesome place! The Navajo Tacos, consisting of chili and lettuce on fry bread, are outstanding — as is the ambience, with a mannequin impaled on bull’s horns and a player piano with an ominous-​looking dude holding a gold pan with a note inside that reads, «Tips.» Bottles of sarsasparilla complete the Old West experience. Just wish they still served frito pies…

We ate here more for the novelty of it while in Oatman. We sat by the piano and for a buck, it played us a modern tune (not the Entertainer like I was expecting). My daughter was afraid of the bull head on the wall that had a mannequin impaled on it. The owner joked it was the health inspector. It was funny until we got the food.
I came here with very low expectations, but the food lowered the bar. I asked the nice owner if they make their own chili. He hesitated and said, «Umm… yeah.» I got the chili burger anyway. Ironically, the chili was the only part that was edible. It’s an open faced chili burger with the top bun cut in half and served on the side. The meat was like leather. I barely touched it. $ 8. The kids burger was a regular sized burger with a bag of Lays potato chips for $ 5. The best part was that they had bottles of sarsaparilla.
The people were very nice and the lady behind me ate her whole chili burger. I should’ve tried the Navajo fry bread.

The Olive Oatman Restaurant & Saloon is named for the frontier woman who was captured, imprisoned and tattooed by Native Americans and who also gives her name to the town itself. It’s located smack in the middle of Oatman’s main drag, historic Route 66. Oatman may be a one-​burro town, but it doesn’t eat like one, thanks in part of Olive Oatman’s.
Olive Oatman’s offers delectable Frito Pies, Navajo Tacos and Fry Bread. Plus, if you’re lucky, you might be able to dine along side the lead actors of the town’s daily Bank Robber shoot-​out, which is performed daily at high noon.
The Frito Pie is a mosh of beef chili, shredded cheese and, of course, Fritos, all served on a Styrofoam plate with a plastic fork and knife (see picture). Note that it’ s not on the standard menu anymore, so its availability may be limited depending on whether the saloon’s owner can run across the street to the general store to buy a few bags of Fritos. The Navajo Taco is a solid dish. It has a curiously strong resemblance to the Frito Pie, except that the Fritos are swapped out for a corn tortilla base. The Fry Bread may the be the class of the joint (also pictured). It’s a Native American dish that’s a cross between a churro and funnel cake, served with packets of honey for extra sweetness.
For ambiance, Olive’s is quite memorable. Just the right mix of cowboy ruggedness and country charm. Plus, the player piano in the corner, complete with moustached manikin, provides all the entertainment you need, when it’s not out of order. The Olive Oatman Saloon is A-​OK.