Irvine’s Fine Diner Secret

Step inside the Lakeside Restaurant in Irvine and step back in time.

It has earned its tired, out-of-date Western look: For more than three decades, the diner has played host to thousands of customers, if even for just a cup of coffee while they mull over parting with $200,000 or more for a new RV.

The restaurant is inside Traveland USA, which, at 38 acres, bills itself as the largest recreational vehicle shopping center on Earth. Located just off the Santa Ana Freeway at Sand Canyon Avenue, Lakeside is hard to find: turn right at the big blue Prowler, hard left at the pull-out bedroom, then head for the duck pond by the big gazebo.

“We’re the best-kept secret in Irvine,” said Debbie Wise, 49, the latest in a long line of Lakeside’s owners. “You either really wanna eat here or you’re here by invitation only.”

The place was conceived to help RV salesmen nail the deal. Back then it was called the Buffalo Nickel. With its large patio and kitchen, it served as a convenient facility for promotional events just steps away from more than a dozen RV dealerships.

But through the years, it built up its own clientele, customers willing to zigzag through the forest of RVs.

As menus go, it’s simple fare, strictly breakfast and lunch -- eggs, pancakes, omelets and meaty sandwiches. Customers are partial to the roast beef sandwiches slathered with cheddar cheese and horseradish.

The decor is offbeat. When Wise bought it two years ago, the restaurant was struggling, so Traveland, where Wise worked first as a receptionist then a bookkeeper, let her borrow some old chairs, tables and furniture. The vinyl tablecloths give it an authentic, Route 66 look, customers say.

It helps that Wise’s ex-husband, David Farwell, runs Traveland. The couple worked together at the former El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in management at the base exchange. Wise now manages a staff of three waitresses, two bartenders and three cooks, including her son, Larry, 18.

She is proud of cook Armando Rojas because she says the guy can’t make a bad omelet, even if he tried.

“And he makes his own fresh homemade hash browns, cole slaw, potato salad and salsa each day. Whatever you want, just tell him and he’ll fix it,” she said.

It’s that personal touch that helps carry the restaurant over its competition. It’s worlds away from the trendy retro diners that have sprung up. Here, greetings are as authentic as the geese and ducks that have set up housekeeping at the pond.

When waitress Dian Lawson welcomes customers to the Lakeside, it isn’t an act. She’s on a first-name basis with many of the lunch bunch. “It’s a good restaurant,” said Ed Shoji, 21, who works at Traveland writing up service orders on RVs. “Most customers are people buying an RV and they come by four, five or six times on shopping trips here so they usually stop by the restaurant.”

But hot food and plenty of it isn’t the only thing happening at the Lakeside these days.

Wise installed a dance floor and karaoke system. She also books weddings, parties and company events for added revenue.

“Our biggies are people celebrating their 50th birthdays,” she said, adding that that’s when she gussies up the Lakeside and stocks the bar. With a big wink, she added, “These are our best customers. They have money and they can drink.”

Karaoke is also where Wise gets into the act. With a microphone in her hand and Patsy Cline on her mind, the whiskey-voiced owner doesn’t need much prompting.

She’s also gotten the Lakeside involved in philanthropy. When Wise temporarily managed the Lakeside more than four years ago, she helped create a chili cook-off that now raises as much as $18,000 each year for a foundation at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, said Susan Thomas, a CHOC spokeswoman.

But if you want to visit the Lakeside, make it soon. The Irvine Co., which owns the land, has extended Traveland’s lease for only three more years. Traveland is now scouting sites, and a restaurant isn’t in Wise’s future, either.

She has taken over an RV service center and recently bought RV of Orange County, becoming one of the few dealerships at Traveland owned by a woman.