Debbie’s Place

There is nothing in Avenal, so this place isn’t just the best option for lunch, it’s really the only option. Thankfully, it’s good. After an unsuccessful and disappointing trip to a nearby city to find a Mexican meat market/​taqueria that we learned the hard way no longer existed, we were forced to make new lunch plans.
Burgers are pretty nicely-​sized as you can tell from my photo and other people’s photos. We cut it in half and split it. The service is very friendly: the cook served us up our food and then came out and chatted with us in both English and Spanish, well, more like us practicing our Spanish with her.
I disagree with the previous reviewer: while it did take about 15 minutes for my food to come out as well, you have to cut them some slack when there’s only one employee. Unless you want a small, cheap-​quality McBurger that’s been sitting under a heat lamp for the past hour; personally, I like it when my food is made fresh and on the spot, and I do expect to wait longer than that. Fifteen to twenty minutes is a perfectly reasonable wait for anywhere not named McDonald’s, and even my less-​patient boyfriend was content to wait for 15 minutes for the ginormous, juicy burger and accompanying pile of fries.
Menu is typical American diner fare like hot dogs, burgers and fries, a few Mexican items.

Now named La Joyita Café.
If my review doesn’t scare you away, or the broke down abandon building looks of it, prepare yourself for a treat.
One person working. Cashier /​cook /​waitress. The wait for a simple carne torta was 20+ minutes. Basic taste, fast foodish, just not as fast.
Do yourself a favor and eat before you get to Avenal!

The service was great! It’s a very welcoming environment I had a bacon cheese burger w/​onion rings burger was cooked well but not seasoned. like my hubby was raving ‘it was the best he ever had, it was just big to me. but just o.k.

A diamond in the rough. My coworkers and I all agree, that this is the best burger we have ever tasted. Haven’t been there since the name change, but I am planning a trip soon.

Stopped in today, no I am not in town to visit anybody at Avenal State Penitentiary.
The place has changed hands. The new owners are Mexican, the previous were other ethnicity. The new owners have kept the burger magic, and I must say they know how to cook burgers far better than fancy shmancy Counter in Palo Alto.
Their double cheese burger is like 4″ tall, I will post a photo later. It was freaking delicious, and while super thick, it was well cooked, juicy and tasty without lots of assistance from super special sauces.
The ladies cooking noticed my interest in the tortillas they were making. They brought out corn tortillas so tasty, once again, and then some barbacoa (a kind of pulled beef) that was so very good with the tortillas and their home made salsa. All just for free, just for coming in and hanging around with them.
I think it’s called La Joyita Café now perhaps. Anyway, stop in and have either burgers or Mexican… it’s all damn good, better than the fancy places in Silicon Valley, for much less, and with very friendly south of the border family hospitality.
Muchos Gracias!

I am a fan and this place is one of the reason why I would drive to Avenal if I am in the tri-​town area (Huron, Avenal & Coalinga).
The burger was so huge I ended up eating ¾ of it and usually I finish my burgers always, by the way I got the double cheeseburger. For the price too it was very decent. I love this place and I hope it stays around because the town will be a total loss if it looses one of its gems.

Now called La Joyita, we were dithering in our car whether we’d eat lunch here, when the owner came out to assure us the menu was still the same as Debbie’s Place. The cop cars outside cemented our decision.
Hubbie thought the half lb burger was good though it seemed like there was something else besides beef in the burger. My huge mini chili cheese burger was just okay. The burgers were not juicy as other reviewers have commented. I’d prefer better quality over quantity.

This place is a total hidden gem of a road trip dive!
As others have said, the burger is incredible. Juicy, great flavor, giant patty (½ lb for single), excellent cheese and good bun. Also shredded lettuce which I like. It’s one of those few burgers that you don’t need ketchup for (and I’m a ketchup fiend!). This burger is in my top 10 of all time for sure, even though the patty itself could have been a little juicer. There is also a mini version that I would guess is ¼ lb.
The chili dog is an open face dog on a plate smothered in delicious smoky, meaty chili covered in shredded melty cheese. The dog itself is even smokier and full of deep flavor. The dog wasn’t as long or wide as the bun could hold, though. Still, one of the better chili cheese dogs I’ve had — again in the top 10.
The deep fried mushrooms were also delicious. Good crust and good batter flavor with a tender morsel of a mushroom inside. The ranch is pretty good too, but not home made :(
The interior is nice. Typical charming old school dive, but they’re also into dirt drag racing so there is racing memorabilia all over — always fun. The security stick to keep someone from opening the window from the outside even has a checkered sticker on it.
The bathrooms are amazingly clean and smell good. You can tell that they take sanitizing them seriously, which is always appreciated!
Overall an awesome place. Looking forward to coming back here. Thanks fellow Unilocalers for the reviews leading me here!

Off the beaten path review #1: Prison Town
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Food: Out of four possible stars: four stars.
Their burgers are more like meatball sandwiches than burgers. The burgers are amazingly thick, hot and juicy. I normally avoid cheeseburgers because I think the cheese overpowers the taste of the burger, but you would need a wheel of cheese to compete with the flavor punch that is a Debbie’s Place burger.
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Miscellaneous: Out of one possible star: one star.
The wait is almost 20 minutes, but they could have gone for 20 more with that type of burger. Besides, the staff is friendly, so there is really no problem with being able to stretch my legs after several hours of driving.

Stopped here on the way down from the Bay Area. Kind of scary looking place, but high quality burgers. The single burger is ½ lb and the double is 1 lb. Good alternative for those intrepid travelers who want to get off the 5 and find some authentic local dives.