After signing a five-year lease in April, a new deli takeout place, the Roadrunner Grab + Go, has finally opened up next to the Joshua Tree Visitor Center, replacing the Park Rock Café. Reporter Heather Clisby has the yummy details…
Just in time for the fall tourist season, Joshua Tree welcomes the opening of a new food stop, the Roadrunner Grab + Go, at the corner of Park Blvd and Hwy 62, next to the Joshua Tree Visitor Center.
After pitching Joshua Tree National Park leaders, Merilee Kuchon and Rosa Ficara “won” the coveted location in early February with their inspired vision. The name, Roadrunner Grab + Go, is a nod to service speed and a neighborly wink to Coyote Corner across the street.
The deli was set to open last spring but the arrival of COVID-19 kept the new venture shut. County-required building upgrades and supply delays due to the pandemic also posed challenges. But starting today, Roadrunner Grab + Go offers an all-takeout menu of breakfast items, salads, coffee drinks, and sandwiches.
Kuchon and Ficara hope to use as much locally-sourced products and ingredients as possible. The Roadrunner will also feature a retail section where customers can purchase “Made in California” food products such as potato chips, olive oil, cheeses, salamis, beverages, crackers and chocolates.
Masks are required, social distancing will be in place and touch points will be frequently sanitized. Because the Roadrunner was always designed as take-out, safety is built in to the business model. “It wound up being the perfect business plan for what happened in the world,” said Kuchon. “We just thought Joshua Tree needed a fast food option that wasn’t fast food, but healthy and local.”
The Roadrunner Grab + Go will be open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 365 days a year.
