Dining Cars Buelton

If you have taken a road trip just north of Santa Barbara, you might have noticed just off the 101 there used to be an old diner off the side of the road. If you blinked you may have missed it.

One day I pulled off the side of the road to sketch it and later to come paint this iconic diner. Below is some history about the diner. This painting has recently sold but prints are available.

The Mullens Dining Cars opened in 1946 alongside Highway 101. Ed Mullens built this restaurant with two scrapped street cars from Los Angeles. The business venture failed and a new owner gave it a shot in 1955. Shortly after that, highway expansion virtually cut off access to the place. The restaurant had been abandoned since 1958. In 2012, the street cars were purchased and moved to Morro Bay, CA.