Ode to Fontana

Las Vegas is a place I visit once or twice annually and when I go there I prefer to drive. I engage the auto’s cruise control, enjoy the vast scenic desert rolling by, and listen to SiriusXM Spa, or Watercolors to relax, or hear one of the news channels. I try to make my trips midweek when there is less traffic and stress on the road. But I had to make my return from a recent trip to Vegas last Friday, and I got caught in a huge traffic jam caused by a wreck, descending Interstate #15 just outside of Victorville, as I was en route back home to southern Orange County. And at rush hour. It was a mess. I really needed to make a stop when I worked my way out of it. Hence my story, a short ode to Fontana.

Over the years of driving to and from Vegas I have plotted out a series of familiar pit stops for a brief meal, or to get a coffee or water, to gas up, or to use the facilities. You need to be a little picky about these stops, to be safe. For example, I have learned that Baker is definitely not a good, safe place to stop for anything. I was almost mugged in daylight at a gas station in Baker once, driving off just in the nick of time, with no thanks to the station staff. And anyway, I am not interested in the slightest in the offerings at the Mad Greek restaurant. (A Gyro Meal in 109 degree weather does not appeal to me.)

But there are good places I have found for sure. I almost always stop at the Denny’s at the truck stop near the Barstow Outlet Mall, which sometimes has Fox News on at the counter, and which is connected at the truck stop to decent restrooms. Hidden in the nearby Outlet Mall itself are a really great set of clean, spacious air conditioned private restrooms with extensive beverage vending machines in the hallway, but you will have to find these for yourself.

Over time I have added a few newer stops that I consider “optional” as in “when you really need to stop.” One of those is the Chili’s on the Summit Road exit on #15 in Fontana. I may stop at the bar for a sparkling water but the real purpose is to use the bathroom and move on. I have made this stop a couple times and I did again this trip, after working thru that horrid traffic jam.

Chili’s Bar and Grill, Summit Road, Fontana

Chili’s has been around as a national franchise for over forty years, offering good burgers and barbecue, but there have been rumors that the chain has had some economic woes, as have other sit-down restaurant chains, and even might file for bankruptcy. But you wouldn’t suspect that at all based on the scene I witnessed about 5:30 pm last Friday night at the Fontana Chili’s. That place was packed! The parking lot was almost totally full, but I was lucky to find a place to park close by the entrance to the restaurant. As I walked in, with urgent need to make my way to the restroom, I looked to the left of the front door, and the bar area was chock-full of happy people drinking and eating small bites, chattering away and watching four or five large screen TVs. As I made my way to my real destination inside, on the right, I passed through the dining room and table after table were filled with giggling and delighted people, families young and old, people out on dates, seniors, laughing kids, scarfing up ribs and chicken and seeming to be very content in this very full restaurant. I was a little surprised at what I saw. It was sheer joy and harmony. What a welcome contrast to the depressing five lanes of 10 miles an hour traffic I had been trapped in for the last 45 minutes! And despite the capacity crowd, the turnover looked good, and there seemed to be only a short wait to get seated in the restaurant, too.

As I got back in my car and started the drive home again under better traffic conditions, I kept thinking more about the crowd back at the Fontana Chili’s. It was a really diverse group. A joyous and harmonious conglomeration of people. There were lots of smiles. The servers were busy but actually seemed pleased to be working there. Everybody was getting along. By observation, (and of course “without evidence”, just by common sense) the tables represented a thorough cross-section of residents of the area. Latino, Asian, and white patrons. A very tall, big muscular black male in sunglasses with a remarkable haircut smiled at me as we passed through the restroom door, and I smiled back. I liked that. Though I did not stay for a meal, I felt welcome with the whole scene. I thought, isn’t this how life should be?

Fontana’s history and demographics are interesting. It has been a city for a little over 100 years, originally an agricultural area whose claim to fame came during World War II when Henry Kaiser built a steel mill nearby, one of only two such steel mills west of the Mississippi. A popular drag racing strip was added in the late 1950’s. In more recent years, Fontana, with a large population of well over 200,000 residents, has become a transportation and warehousing hub, to the consternation of environmental groups and the California Air Resources Board.

The racial makeup of Fontana in the last census was 23.9% White, 9.0% African American, 2.2% Native American, 8.5% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 38.1% from other races, and 18.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 67.8% of the population. That is a lot different from the makeup of California as a whole, which is more white, less Latino, and with about the same black and Asian populations.

Fontana is in San Bernardino County, the largest land mass county in the state located in Southern California, which is known as one of the “red” or Republican leaning counties in California. In the 2024 Presidential election, the county voted for Trump narrowly over Harris by 49.67% to 47.53%, while Harris beat Trump statewide by 20 points. The county voting results are usually quite a contrast to the state’s returns.

And in Fontana, Harris did beat Trump. However, with some grateful data digging assistance of some excellent political operatives who shall remain nameless, I learned that Harris received 38,761 votes in Fontana to Trump’s 30,001. Harris won 56.4% to Trump’s 43.6%. In political science parlance, in Fontana, Trump “overperformed” his statewide total of 38.3% by more than 5 percentage points, and Harris “underperformed” her statewide total of 58.47%. Fontana proved itself “redder” than the rest of the state in the last election, in a city where Democrats would be expected to do much better because of so-called polarizing “identity politics.”

So here is my “Ode to Fontana.” Fontana, I like you and your vibe. I think your vote in the Presidential election and your upbeat unifying lip-smacking in your Chili’s says something transcending about you and politics, that teaches us all a lot more than who is a Republican and who is a Democrat. What I think you represent is that the word “diversity” does not have to be a politically charged one, a point of division, owned by one political party. “Diversity” does not have to be polarizing. Diversity is vibrant and alive and great and fun and all-American, and rather than separating us, it can unite us, especially at the Fontana Chili’s on Summit Road off Interstate #15.