Hi-Way Cafe in Vinita, Oklahoma, is a popular stop along Route 66 and is loved for its delicious food and fun photo opportunities.
VINITA, OKLA. – Since 1963, Hi-Way Cafe has been a fixture along both Route 66 and the Jefferson Highway just 2 miles west of Vinita, Oklahoma, providing a different style of cuisine with each owner and delighting locals and travelers alike.
When Alan and Beth Hilburn took over the restaurant in 2011, they thought they would just help her father revive the restaurant and move on once it became successful. Instead, they’ve been key in making Hi-Way Cafe a national and even international travel destination.
“It’s been passed around over the years,” Beth said of the restaurant. “When my dad bought it in 2011, it was owned by a Hispanic family and was run as a Mexican restaurant. When we bought it, it was a sea of green (inside).”
When he bought it, Beth’s dad, Bill Wood, was 80 and bought the restaurant as an investment because it was next door to the small 20 unit motel that he and Beth’s mom,Barbara, operated. They had owned the Western Motel since 2001.
“Dad thought it would be a good investment to have a restaurant,” she said. “He asked us to manage it for six months to get it started.”
The Hi-Way Cafe never officially closed, even between owners. The day of closing, the former owner’s son operated it as a Mexican restaurant in the morning and by mid afternoon the Hilburn’s ran the restaurant as an Americana style cafe. Alan in charge of the cooking and Beth in charge of the front of the house. After closing time, they would work on transforming the interior from the green Tex-Mex decor to a lighter, American-style cafe style.
“We wanted to take it back to the American diner look,” she said. “We wanted it to be an iconic stop on the road again.”
The original Hi-Way Cafe sign was never removed but the previous owner had a smaller sign installed that said “Gabriel’s Hi-Way Cafe.” When the Hilburns took over, they removed the smaller sign and made long-range plans to restore the original sign.
Another interesting chapter in the Hi-Way Cafe’s history is when it had to be rebuilt. In 1963, when the Oklahoma Department of Transportation bought the easements along Route 66 to widen the highway, the restaurant had to be torn down. Tom Schwartz, the cafe’s original owner, purchased the building back and had it rebuilt approximately 100 feet to the north so the cafe would be off the new four lane being built.
When the Hilburns started running the restaurant for Beth’s father, they were already experienced in working together and enjoyed doing so.
“We love working at the cafe,” she said. “We’ve always had a business together. We had a trucking company for over 20 years.”
They also get their kids involved when possible. Their kids are now aged 27, 18, and 4.
Over the years, many long-time customers have become like family and like grandparents for the Hilburn’s children. The cafe has a Memory Wall with pictures of long-time customers after they passed away.
“There’s pictures of some of them up there with my children,” Beth said.
The cafe has another kind of wall that attracts customers: the Giving Wall. The Giving Wall started during the pandemic and it allowed patrons to pay for someone else’s meal and the paid ticket would get posted on the Giving Wall where people who wanted a meal but couldn’t afford it, could discreetly order a prepaid meal.
“We were hopeful to keep it just a couple of months but it just keeps funding itself,” Beth said. “We’ve served 1,200 people so far and people from 13 states and the United Kingdom have contributed. It’s a way of paying it forward and we’re just facilitating it.”
2022 was a big year for the cafe as not only did they get selected for two major national grants, but they were also featured in a national campaign with Mobil Oil.
The first grant was through the National Park Service and was a 50/50 cost share that the family used to restore the original sign. The second was a $40,000 National Park Trust & American Express Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant to improve their facility. They used the grant to expand their seating capacity from 60 to more than 90.
“Who would have thought that we’d get both at the same time,” Beth said.
Also that year, Mobil1 decided that, instead of making TV ads about themselves, they would use their resources to feature different small businesses along Route 66 through their “Keep Route 66 Kickin’” campaign. They traveled a giant Muffler Man up Route 66 to each stop and attempted to break Guinness Book of World Records along the way. Out of all the options they were given, Beth said they liked the idea of how many stickers could be put on a single car.
“I wanted something tangible and I love old cool cars,” she said.
They purchased a 1963 AMC Rambler from friends Drew & Sarah Chamberlain, and with the help of over 100 volunteers, they placed 60,066 stickers on the body of the vehicle and was proclaimed the newest Guinness World Record holder for the “Most Stickers on a Car”. That Rambler now sits on display in the restaurant and is a popular photo opportunity for patrons from all over. The Hilburns purchased another 1963 Rambler that sits outside for people to put their own stickers on for fun.
“I didn’t realize how beautiful (the original) would be. It was like a mosaic,” she said.
Speaking of fun photo opportunities throughout the restaurant inside and out, the 21 foot Muffler Man ended up returning to Hi-Way Cafe and was renamed Big Bill after her father. Beth said they also purchased another popular fiberglass “giant” in the form of a giant 23 foot Indian. The Big Indian originally stood outside of Charlemont, MA for 49 years before being relocated to the Western Motel next door. These two giants sit like bookends in the cafe’s oversized parking lot. They also have several selfie spots, a Betty Boop, and a Kips Big Boy.
“We have a lot of photo op areas,” Beth said. “It’s fun to see people stop for photos even when we are closed.”
The family has many plans to grow, enhance, and revitalize the cafe, all while serving locals and travelers alike. Their current hours are 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m every first Saturday of the month when they feature their hand cut, woodfire grilled steaks. For more information about the Hi-Way Cafe, visit them online at https://hi-waycafe.com/.
