About
The legendary Pappy&Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace has been delighting locals and travelers alike since 1982, with its mesquite barbeque, live music, dancing and friendly service. There is also a long history here. In 1946, Pioneertown was founded by a group of Hollywood investors with dreams of creating a living movie set — an 1870′s frontier town with facades for filming and interiors open to the public.
On the outside were stables, saloons, and jails, and on the inside, were ice cream parlors, bowling alleys, and motels. Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Russell Hayden, and the Sons of the Pioneers (for whom the town was named) were some of the original investors and personalities who helped build and invent Pioneertown. More than 50 films and several television shows were filmed in Pioneertown throughout the 1940′s and 1950′s.
In 1946, where Pappy&Harriet’s stands today, was a facade used as a “cantina” set for numerous western films well into the 1950s. In 1972, Harriet’s mother, Francis Aleba, and her husband, John, purchased the building and opened “The Cantina”, an outlaw biker burrito bar. The Cantina rollicked for 10 years, and when it closed, Francis and John made sure the building stayed in the family.
In 1982, Harriet and her husband, Claude “Pappy” Allen, opened “Pappy&Harriet’s Pioneertown Palace”. While the bikers still hung around, Pappy&Harriet’s presence created more of a family atmosphere. With family style Tex-Mex cuisine and live music featuring Pappy, Harriet and their granddaughter Kristina, P&H quickly became a local favorite with all walks of life getting along under one roof!
Pappy died in 1994 and his friends and fans flew from all over the world to be at P&H for a celebration of his life.. Victoria Williams, a good friend of Pappy and touring partner wrote the song “Happy To Have Known Pappy” off her critically acclaimed record “Loose”, that talks about that day. Harriet sold the bar to a family friend who gave it up after a few years. Enter Robyn Celia and Linda Krantz, two New Yorkers who loved P&H and wanted to see it returned to it’s glory days. The girls bought the club in 2003 and have done just that. Musicians from Robert Plant to Vampire Weekend to Leon Russell to Sean Lennon and many more have graced the P&H stage. The legendary bar has become an indie rock favorite with a vibe that can’t be matched. Pappy&Harriet’s continues the tradition of live music, great barbeque, and good times in memory of Pappy and all those who came before him.
