Vintage Diners: Mary’s Canyon Café & Beautiful Stroll Exploring Sierra Madre

Come join us for a very special addition to our Vintage Diners & Delis Series! This hidden gem is so special!

🔺PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS BELOW CAREFULLY. WE ARE CARPOOLING FROM SIERRA MADRE VILLAGE TO MARY’S MARKET DINER IN THE LOWER CANYON. IT’S A BIT TRICKY TO FIND AND PARKING IS
V-E-R-Y LIMITED IN THE CANYON. THIS EVENT IS BOTH A CANYON DISCOVERY & VILLAGE CRAWL. STAY AS LONG AS YOU LIKE AFTER OUR VISIT TO MARY’S CANYON CAFÉ.

🐶Dog friendly event! Not only will you love this event your dog will ❤️ the Canyon too!!

WE WILL TAKE A SHORT & VERY EASY NATURE WALK IN THE LOWER CANYON AFTER MARY’S. THE NARROW ROADS ARE TREE-LINED AND SHADY. IT’S A GORGEOUS WALK.

I’m attaching the best video I found online which is by a realtor who shows a home for sale (skip that part & ads). He covers Sierra Madre Village very well and then navigates to Mary’s Market Café which is hidden in the Canyon. It will give you a really good idea how to find it. We will carpool and follow each other there. See photos in the Gallery I took of the Canyon during my test-run visit. You’ll get a clear idea how lovely and scenic it is.

Sierra Madre Realtor Tour
https://youtu.be/4wMj83BRYYQ?si=AsHcdTh6_QjQen1C

Your $3 Meetup contribution (made within 24-hours or replaced) helps defray the annual cost to host Meetup events. Thank you for your support!!

NOTIFICATIONS-ON ARE REQUIRED

It is YOUR responsibility to be aware if you were moved off the waitlist. If there is a cancellation and you are moved-up you will be given 24-hrs for payment.

WHERE TO MEET
Meet in the Sierra Madre Village in front of Starbucks where the benches are. There’s a very tall bell tower nearby. See first two photos as landmark meeting point. Canyon & Village photos follow.

I simply can’t believe I previously missed this hidden gem and canyon neighborhood even though I previously organized two High Tea events and a historic jam factory tour just one mile down the road from here. I’m super excited of my recent discovery and can’t wait to share this hidden gem with you!

MARY’S MARKET CAFÉ & THE SURROUNDING LOWER CANYON NEIGHBORHOOD IS RUSTIC CHARM O-V-E-R-L-O-A-D!! You’re going to feel far removed from the hustle bustle of L.A. just 30 minutes away. You’ll be transported to a small mountain community surrounded by trees, lush greenery, a stream from the mountains and water damn, several mini pedestrian bridges, and most of all the tranquility of nature with the sounds of many wild bird species singing in the canopy of the trees. I did a full scouting test-run a month ago. I absolutely fell in love with the rustic charm of this majestic canyon. It was a day of rejuvenation and soul cleansing. The beauty of nature awaits you!!

MARY’S MARKET CANYON CAFE
Mary’s Market has been a fixture of the sleepy canyon community for a century.

Sierra Madre is a small and quiet suburb in the San Gabriel Valley with a handful of nature sights and long-running local businesses. In the northwest corner of town, just past the mouth of the Mount Wilson Trail, visitors can discover the confluence by visiting Mary’s Market, a 100-year-old cottage-sized diner tucked away in the wooded part of town that locals call the Canyon.

Mary’s Market isn’t easily spottable for newcomers: The only signs directing visitors to the eatery are stones painted with its name and an arrow placed on street corners in the Canyon. Similar painted stones can be found on lawns throughout Sierra Madre as a testament to the local support for this institution.

The interior of the cottage is eclectic and rustic, with white walls covered in vintage signage gifted by regulars, as well as framed copies of archived photographs of the Canyon. On the menu is quintessential American fare that feels right at home in a spot like this: waffles and bacon, sandwiches of many varieties, lox and bagels, eggs Benedict with salmon, and a display case of fresh pastries.

NOTE: Mary’s has a 4.7 Yelp Rating. During my visit I personally found my breakfast choice average good. But the charm more than made up for it. The rustic 100+ year old cottage and the surrounding wooded area exudes with canyon charm. And that’s all that matters trust me once you’re there. If you choose not to have a full breakfast/lunch at Mary’s you’ll have plenty of other terrific choices a little later as we return to the Village and do our Village Crawl.

ABOUT THE CANYON
Time goes by at a more lackadaisical pace in the Canyon, which feels more like a Big Sur campsite than part of a suburb. A stream runs behind Mary’s Market, and just past an elevated platform across the street — tables, chairs, and benches await diners in the spotted sunlight. Families of bears ramble through the narrow streets at any time of day. Neighbors’ tight lawns are adorned with colorful trinkets and statues — one lawn even displays replicas of pods from the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers, which was filmed in town in 1956. There’s even word on the internet that Jimi Hendrix visited Mary’s Market while he was in Los Angeles.

The Canyon began its development in the early 1900s as an idyllic getaway for those who rode the Red Car line and wanted to escape city life for a couple of days. Carter’s Camp — established in 1908 by Arthur Carter, the son of the town’s founder Nathaniel C. Carter — operated in the area where Mary’s Market stands today. The camp, which attracted Angelenos and San Franciscans alike, featured tent cabins, hiking parties, tennis games, a dance hall, an open-air cafeteria, and a freshwater pool located just feet away from the cottage that now houses Mary’s Market.

In 1922, Mary’s Market opened as Spartan’s Meat and Grocery, serving the Canyon under that name for four decades until Irish-born Mary Perkins bought the business in 1966. Perkins, who was born in County Tipperary, moved to Sierra Madre with her family in 1936. After acquiring the store, she became known to locals as the “Mother of the Canyon” due to her generosity; hippies who made their way through the Canyon and up to the market for food and beer often left without paying a cent.

The business has changed hands multiple times throughout the decades, while customers began regularly paying for their meals. Other than some minor interior tweaks, including the addition of a counter and swivel stools courtesy of the film Drowning Mona, which was shot at the market, little has changed in the intervening century. Mary’s current co-owners, Morrison and Jenny Kay, bought the market in 2017 after being longtime employees. They say that the best part about working there is being a part of the Canyon, which they agree is “magical.” And I feel the exact way too!!

SIERRA MADRE VILLAGE
The Village is lined with umbrellaed tables, coffee shops, restaurants, an ice cream shop, a pub, a great liquor store with wine tasting room, boutiques and on a side street a cozy microbrewery. At the base of the San Gabriel Mountains below Angeles National Forest, this small town 3 square miles in size and shaded with old-growth trees, peaceful landscapes, history and period architecture looks like it’s right out of New England.

VILLAGE EATERIES:

• Monsieur Crêpe Café
• Lucky Baldwin’s Pub
• Casa Del Rey
• Emmi’s
• Perry’s Joint
• Lemón Zëst
• The Only Place in Town
• My Friends Café Açaí Shop
• Syndicate Coffee & Bakery
• Poppy Cake Baking Company
• Wisteria (open only for dinner)

MEETUP POLICY
🔺 No drop-ins. RSVP Meetup members only
🔺 3 under 24-hr cancellations/3-months out
🔺 3 failures to pay (fee events)/6-months out
🔺 2 no-shows/1-year out
🔺Excessive cancelations perm.