A Burger, Please, With Extra Nostalgia

The sign outside boasts about the burgers, but in Wesley Collier’s mind, Knowlwood will always be the home of the world’s best ham sandwich.

Original owner Faye Knowlton would pile on the slices of hickory-baked ham for the cowboys from nearby Nohl Ranch and for farmers dusty from tending the orchards in what is now Anaheim Hills.

Collier, 85, was one of those farmers.

“Back then, every half-acre had orange trees,” Collier said as he sipped a beverage at Knowlwood (5665 E. La Palma Ave. Call [714] 779-2501), just as he has almost every morning since Knowlton opened the place in 1957. “Things have changed a lot.”

Changed indeed. Where once cows roamed and dust blew, you can now visit an arcade with more than 150 games, most costing only a couple of nickels to play. Down the street, where fruit used to hang from trees, people dangle from artificial rocks as they test their climbing skills without ever stepping outside.

And after all that, you can still step back into local history, if only through the photographs that hang on the walls of the latest incarnation of Knowlwood, Home of the World’s Best Hamburger.

“Those photos,” Knowlton says, “really show how it used to be.”

A Peek at the Past

“That’s me--the handsome guy on the end,” Collier says, pointing to a black-and-white picture behind the booth he’s sharing with Harold Weaver, 75.

Collier is pictured with eight smiling friends at a picnic table in the shade of an avocado tree. In the background is Knowlwood, then little more than a shack.

When Knowlton and her partner, Walter Wood, opened the roadside eatery 43 years ago, it was basically a fruit stand with a grill. There were four items on the menu: ham, BLT and grilled cheese sandwiches and those soon-to-be famous burgers.

“I cooked and scrubbed and raked and picked up cigarette butts and did just about everything else that needed to be done,” says Knowlton, 77, now a Yorba Linda resident. “It was clean and I was friendly and they liked me, so it just grew from there.”

In addition to local farmers and ranch hands, Knowlwood attracted Hollywood types making the trip to Palm Springs. Knowlton and her late husband, Roy, who quit as a trucker and joined her in the business when it started to take off, served Eddie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds and Anthony Quinn, among others.

“Eddie Albert said I made the best BLT he’d ever eaten,” Faye Knowlton says.

But it was Knowlwood’s burgers that built its reputation. Her partner’s brother, Gordon Wood, coined the phrase “Home of the World’s Best Hamburger.”

“He was one of those guys who boasted a lot,” Knowlton says.

Knowlton seems prouder of the culinary innovations to which she lays claim, among them the turkey burger, the bacon cheeseburger and Irish nachos. The three are still on the menu 11 years after the family sold the chain of five restaurants, all of which are in Orange County.

Knowlwood’s standard-bearer burger (originally 45 cents, now $3.39) is a one-third-pounder that remains a juicy delight. Other longtime favorites include the hot pastrami sandwich, the BLT and the French beef dip (all $4.69).

The menu now also includes entree salads and fish taco combos, including one made with salmon. Alas, the ham sandwich dropped off the menu years ago. Knowlton says she never really liked it. “Once you’ve smoked and boned as many hams as I have,” she says, “you really don’t want to think about eating one.”

Knowlwood is open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Climbing the Walls

A 9-year-old is scaling Clinton’s Nose.

Sounds like Secret Service code, doesn’t it? Or the setup for a political joke. But no, he’s really up there, one foot resting on the left nostril, one hand reaching for a hold above the bridge.

Clinton’s Nose is the name of an outcropping at RockCity Climbing Center (5100 E. La Palma Ave., Suite 108, [714] 777-4884). The boy is one of a handful of patrons working his way up a wall at the converted office and industrial space.

RockCity attracts serious rock climbers looking for an accessible workout (it has dressing rooms and a weight room, just like a gym) as well as first-timers looking to conquer the Face without falling on theirs.

Shawn Crawford, 34, manages RockCity and is an avid outdoor climber. He conducts classes and clinics at RockCity and climbs in places like Joshua Tree and Yosemite, but on this day, he’s giving an indoor refresher to two brothers who haven’t climbed in a while.

After a review of belaying--holding a guide rope for a climbing partner--they decide to try bouldering--climbing a short, overhanging “rock” face without ropes or a harness. Crawford concludes with two pieces of advice: be sure to pull a padded mat underneath you and “don’t fall on your head.”

For the next two hours, the boys boulder, belay and generally clamber up and zip down RockCity’s varied terrain. There are no falls, just lots of smiles when they master a new route to the top.

RockCity opened in 1994 basically as a place for the owner and his buddies to practice climbing, Crawford says. The center has since changed hands and wants a broader customer base.

In addition to lessons, there are summer camps, children’s parties ($12 to $15 per child, plus a $45 setup fee, with adults belaying the climbers) and children’s climb times (6 to 8 p.m. Thursday; 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, $20 per child).

RockCity is open noon to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Put Another Nickel In

The bells, the bells.

It takes a certain amount of climatization before an adult can enjoy Nickel! Nickel! (5634 E. La Palma Ave., [714] 693-1555). The cacophony of more than 100 electronic machines spewing the sounds of street fights, rock concerts and car chases does tend to jangle the nerves. It’s a bit like Vegas, but without the free drinks.

Then you push past it and the experience becomes fun, as it is for the kids as soon as they walk through the door. You flow from game to game, drawn by the lights and flashing images, unconcerned that your nickname never gets on the high-game list, even though you’ve picked one out just in case.

The best thing about Nickel! Nickel! is that after you pay the $1.95 entry fee, the games cost--you guessed it--nickels instead of quarters.

Among the choices is Jambo Safari, in which you drive a Jeep through the African bush, trying to rope and net wild animals as jungle drums pound in your ears. Capturing is for research only, the game assures us, thus relieving us of pesky moral judgments. The better to concentrate on nabbing that Grant’s gazelle.

Then there’s Dance Revolution Solo 2000, where the goal is to keep up with the music and a series of arrows that direct your dance steps. The ancillary goal apparently is to look exceedingly goofy, your feet flailing about as if independent of your body.

When your nickels are gone, you can always play the row of free games at the back of the room. These are vintage selections like Street Fighter II, Frogger and Ms. Pac-Man.

Who says history can’t be fun? Nickel! Nickel! is open noon to midnight Monday through Friday; 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday and Sunday.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: Take the Riverside (91) Freeway to Imperial Highway and go north to La Palma. Knowlwood is in the shopping center at the northwest corner of Imperial and La Palma; Nickel! Nickel! is at the southwest corner. To reach RockCity, head west on La Palma to Kellogg Drive. RockCity is in the complex on the left.

BURGER WARS: Knowlwood proclaims itself “Home of the World’s Best Hamburger,” while a few blocks west on La Palma is Farmer Boys, which says it has the “World’s Greatest Hamburger.”

Anaheim Hills

1. RockCity Climbing Center

5100 E. La Palma Ave., Suite 108, (714) 777-4884

2. Nickel, Nickel

5634 E. La Palma Ave., (714) 693-1555

3. Knowlwood

5665 E. La Palma Ave., (714) 779-2501