Bagdad Cafe
Vulnerable, Route 66
Where the French Come to Cry
In 1987 a German director made a film about a roadside café in the Mojave Desert. It barely registered in America. In France it became a cult classic. Within years, tour buses were pulling into a small café in Newberry Springs from Paris, from Germany, Brazil, and Japan. Thirteen buses in a single day, in a place where the ambulance takes thirty minutes.
Andrea Pruett ran it for nearly thirty years. She passed away in January 2026. What she built is still here. The question now is who carries it forward?
The kitchen is coming back online. The roof is fixed. Three people show up every day to keep the lights on and the doors open. Nobody knows exactly what comes next but the buses keep coming.
A German film sent generations of French travelers to a forgotten café in the Mojave.
History
Andrea Pruett (1940-2026) • Owner, Bagdad Cafe
Andrea Pruett spent more than four decades welcoming travelers to the Bagdad Café. Equal parts owner, host, and storyteller, she transformed an isolated roadside stop into one of Route 66’s most beloved destinations.
The Southern Belle of the Mojave
Bagdad Cafe (1978 film)
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The film that introduced the Bagdad Cafe to audiences around the world.
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Publicity photograph released by Island Pictures to promote Bagdad Cafe following its 1987 theatrical release.
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Overseas marketing materials helped establish the film’s especially strong following in Europe.
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