Family-run Mobil gas station near Yosemite becomes one of California’s hottest RESTAURANTS

A family-run Mobil gas station has emerged as a must-visit foodie destination for locals and travelers alike near Yosemite National Park – offering fresh-to-order fare such as ribs, tacos, and even sashimi.

The Mobil, located in a remote outpost in the shadow of the Sierra Nevadas above Mono Lake, is located in the small mountain town of Lee Vining, which swells with tourists and travelers during the summer. 

Known to locals as Tioga Gas Mart, the store is conveniently situated about 20 minutes from Yosemite’s eastern gate at Tuolumne Meadows, and has been in the family of Dennis Domaille, 71, and his daughter, Denise Molnar, since 1996.

Despite being located in a one-street kind of town that travelers might drive through without thought, business at the de facto rest top is booming – nonstop from open until close, its operators say.

Why, you might ask? Because here, in addition to filling up their tank, travelers can fill up on an extensive list of menu items than includes grilled pork chops, barbecue baby back ribs, carnitas tacos, and ahi sashimi. 

All are made fresh and cooked to order, its owners say – effectively creating a little-known local hangout that serves as a watering hole for those traversing the winding Walker River Canyon.

While the gas station has since become a destination in its own right, strangers who stop by for food with no knowledge of its reputation are said to be stunned by the high quality food on offer. 

‘If you blink, you’ll miss it,’ said owner Denise Molnar, who started working at the Mobil when she was 14. 

In the 27 years since, Molnar, 41, helped her dad open up and build the business from the ground up.

Dennis Domaille, an electrician and a contractor, had owned the land on which the gas station is situated for years, and decided to open a small mom-and-pop gas station. 

It has since burgeoned into a full-scale restaurant with chefs and drink service, that is also equipped with camping supply store, wine shop, craft beer store, and bookstore. 

Also available to travelers is a souvenir kiosk where customers can purchase Sierra Nevada-related souvenirs such as stuffed bears, posters with John Muir quotes, and guidebooks to navigating the historic mountain range.

The gas station also regularly offers outdoor events such as picnics and concerts, as well as barbecues and an array of other community gatherings. 

Sporting a drink menu and a breathtaking view of Mono Laka below and, to the west, the awe-inspiring Dana Plateau that pierces the clear Northern California sky, the site is a go-to meetup spot that attracts both a catalog or regulars and sightseers exploring the American wilderness.    

‘We get everyone,’ Molnar said. ‘A lot of campers. A lot of climbers.’

The business owner added that the gas station typically welcomes a wide range of patrons – from ‘people staying in the fancy Ahwahnee [hotel]’ nearby, to ‘people sleeping in their cars.’

‘This time of year we get a lot of Europeans and a lot of tour buses,’ she said. ‘So a wide range of people who want to explore the outdoors.’

Of the station’s signature fare, she revealed that at first, she and her father did not offer as extensive a menu – chiefly due to the fact that when the business first opened they had been a much smaller, family-run establishment. 

Now, still family-run, the station employs a staff of several dozen longtime, loyal employees – including one professional chef who created the Mobil’s mouthwatering menu. 

Domaille said that at the time, he gave the chef free reign to create an eatery at the gas station, which they called the Whoa Nellie Deli.

The rest, as they say, is history – with the Whoa Nellie now effectively a full-service restaurant.

Originally in awe by the establishment’s culinary creations, years later, Molnar said, customers aren’t as wowed they used to be – due to the restaurant’s now prevailing prestige as a bona fide food stop.

‘Now we have a reputation,’ she joked. 

Photos show some of the surprisingly appetizing options visitors can choose from while refilling their gas tank – both literally and figuratively.

One plate shows thick slices of bright pink ahi tuna, neatly stacked on a bed of fresh cabbage slaw. A perfect circle of rice balances the presentation on the dish, as well as a mound of wasabi, a cup of soy sauce and chopsticks.

The carnitas tacos, meanwhile, are piled high with all the proper accoutrement – cheese and salsa, beans, and a line of aesthetically pleasing crema adorning its top.

Other photos show delectable, finger-licking good ribs and fresh sashimi, as well as a variety of other signature plates, all crafted personally by the resident chef and a full kitchen staff.

The results are a far cry from the standard fare one might expect from even the most progressive fill-up spot, where the phrases ‘fresh food’ or ‘a la carte’ may not be what necessarily first pops in to a visitor’s mind.

This time of year, however, as the winter months set in bringing with it a layer of snowfall on the Sierras, business at the Mobil typically slows down, Molnar says.

By the end of the month, Molnar and her staff will close up the shop for the winter season, reopening in May, as they’ve done for nearly three decades.

However, sadly, this will be the last summer that drivers will be able to dine at the restaurant, as Molnar says that she and her father have decided to list the business and the property it stands on for sale – a transaction that will fetch the duo a stunning $16.5 million.

Despite the history the site may hold, Molnar says that due the fact that her father is now getting older and the she herself recently went through her own health struggles, she is set to turn the page on the storied Tioga Gas Mart.

‘It’s time,’ she told SFGATE in a Sunday interview. 

‘It’s a lot of like, life,’ she said. The business is ‘a lot of hard work. It is special. We love it. But, I don’t know, it’s maybe time for the next adventure.’

As for her father, now 71, he can rest assured that his 27-year-old creation not only filled the tanks – stomachs – of countless Californians and other visitors over the years, but their hearts as well. 

And as he approaches his golden years – now with a pretty penny thanks to the confirmed sale, he can also rest assured that the best is still to come.  

When asked if he was an optimistic person in a 2009 interview, de facto restaurateur Domaille smiled: ‘Perennially optimistic.’