Timeline
Bagdad Cafe
What began as a roadside business serving travelers in the Mojave Desert became an unlikely cultural landmark after the release of a 1987 film bearing its name.
The story’s themes of connection and belonging in an unexpected place resonated with audiences far beyond the American Southwest.
Decades later, visitors from around the world continue to seek out the cafe, transforming a local roadside stop into an international symbol of Route 66.
1883
The town of Bagdad, California is founded
The real Bagdad came into existence in 1883 as a railroad stop on the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. It sat seventy-five miles east of Barstow, eighty miles west of Needles, in the driest stretch of the continental United States. At its peak it had a gas station, a café, a garage, and a post office.
The Bagdad Service Station, Bagdad, California, ca. 1940s. The town sat on Route 66 seventy-five miles east of Barstow. It no longer exists.
1975
The Sidewinder Cafe opens in Newberry Springs
A small A-frame café opened along the old Route 66 alignment in Newberry Springs. Simple desert pit stop — coffee, something to eat, gas. The interstate had been open two years. Traffic on the old highway was a fraction of what it had been. The Sidewinder kept its doors open anyway.
1984
Percy Adlon drives Route 66
German director Percy Adlon and his wife Eleanor took a road trip along Route 66 in 1984. Driving through the California desert, they saw the name "Bagdad" on a map and tried to visit. The town no longer existed. Adlon was struck by the idea of a place still on the map that wasn't there anymore. He began developing a screenplay — a story about a roadside café in the desert, named after a place that had disappeared.
1987
Bagdad Cafe is filmed at the Sidewinder
Adlon shot his film at the Sidewinder Cafe in April 1987. Titled Bagdad Cafe in the US and Out of Rosenheim in Germany, it told the story of an unlikely friendship between a stranded German tourist and a harried American café owner in the Mojave. It starred CCH Pounder, Marianne Sägebrecht, and Jack Palance. The theme song "Calling You," written by Bob Telson and sung by Jevetta Steele, was nominated for an Academy Award.
The film did modest business in the United States. In France, Germany, Brazil, and Japan, it became a cult classic.
1990
CBS adapts the film as a sitcom
CBS launched an American sitcom based on the film, starring Whoopi Goldberg as Brenda and Jean Stapleton as Jasmine. It premiered March 30, 1990. Production collapsed mid-second season after a dispute between Goldberg and the show's producers. Fifteen episodes aired total. Critics praised the performances, panned the writing. The show kept the film's theme song and not much else. It was cancelled in late 1990.
In Europe, the original film kept building its audience.
Late 1990s–2000s
The French keep coming
The Bagdad Cafe became a fixture on European tour itineraries, particularly French ones. Tour operators would drop passengers a quarter mile down the road so they could walk to the café the way the characters in the film did. The guestbook filled with French, German, Portuguese, Japanese. Thirteen buses in a single day became a normal occurrence in season. Andrea ran the place on warmth, instinct, and a southern charm that could make a complete stranger cry in ninety seconds. The kitchen permit lapsed at various points. The roof needed replacing. The buses kept coming.
“People come from all over the world to see this place.” — Andrea Pruett
2020s
Fire, permits, and the long road back
A kitchen fire damaged the café's cooking infrastructure and triggered a permit review that effectively shut down food service. Andrea, by then in her early eighties, navigated the rebuilding process with help from her partner Mark Bradley and a small staff.
A GoFundMe raised funds for roof repairs. The ceiling was fixed by September 2024. Merchandise kept the bills paid.
1999
Amboy School closes
The Amboy School closed its doors in 1999, ending nearly a century of continuous operation. At its peak it ran from first through eighth grade. Graduates went on to high school in Needles, sixty miles east.
By the time it closed, there were not enough children left in Amboy to keep it open.
Now
Amboy School closes
The Amboy School closed its doors in 1999, ending nearly a century of continuous operation. At its peak it ran from first through eighth grade. Graduates went on to high school in Needles, sixty miles east.
By the time it closed, there were not enough children left in Amboy to keep it open.
