Rocket Shop Cafe

Visited today with 3 coworkers who had never been. We had a delicious lunch and the wait wasn’t long at all, even with a full dining room. I will be back to try it again… Maybe dinner this time!

Terrible! Maybe it’s just what I ordered. I got the chicken fried steak with 2 eggs and the batter didnt stick to the steak. My son’s pancakes tasted and smelled like the wet rag they used to wipe the tables with. Orange juice was watered down and my wife found a hair in her country potatoes.

Had a really great chili size yesterday. The servers and other staff are so friendly and accommodating.

Delicious food with good portions. Came in for breakfast this morning and got quick and friendly service! :) Going to be a new regular place for us! Their new waitress Lacy is the best!

The Rocket Shop Café is delightfully located between a disoriented hobo and an old mother chihuahua breastfeeding a human baby. Seriously, I wondered if Siri had thought I said «Fallujah Community Center» when I asked her for directions. Once there, however, I did find parking to be ample. The dining area is spacious with plenty of tables and a nice-​sized bar. As far as I could tell, every single piece of décor in the place was related to automobile racing or domestic lager. For atmosphere, think «your racist uncle’s man cave» and you’re in the ballpark.
The menu offered no real surprises; inside you’ll find the comforting, if uninspiring usual list of staples with one maverick item thrown in: A piece of bacon dipped in batter, deep fried, and served with a side of gravy. Jesus of Nazareth. I had to try that, right? The taste is difficult to describe but the best I can muster is that it tasted like «giving up». I don’t really want to talk about it any more. Incidentally, I tried to enter «Batter-​dipped, fried bacon w/​side of gravy» into Myfitnesspal and all that came up was «Da Fuq you eat?»
For my main course, I ordered fish and chips with coleslaw and I got the potato chips instead of french fries. The potato chips were the highlight of the spread. They’ve got to be slicing and frying those things fresh on site. They have just the precise amount of salt and crispiness to make you eat them until you hate yourself. The fish was good. The tartar sauce was excellent and I am picky about tartar sauce. I didn’t care for the coleslaw but coleslaw is kind of like farts. Everybody only likes their own.
Ultimately, the food was fine, the prices were reasonable, the service was good. I get the feeling like the place might be best enjoyed when you want to drink like a high ranking member of the Metal Mulisha. (I assume they have ranks?) There was one of those three bottle Jaegermeister cooler/​dispensers and all the beers on tap were light enough to balance on your flat bill (Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Amber Bock, Shock Top, Miller Light, Fat Tire, and 805). The prices on the booze looked excellent though.
At the end of the day it’s just not a place that is all that interested in me and that is totally fine. Maybe it’s because I am a product of the 90’s grunge ethos, but I kind of like it when a restaurant doesn’t care what I think of it. I don’t like feeling pandered to. The way I look at it, your restaurant is a thing in the world that I have encountered and must reckon with. I don’t want the responsibility of being able to affect it with my opinion. That’s what makes things like giant old trees and towering rock formations so awe-​inspiring; they are so completely not contingent on us. So I applaud you The Rocket Shop Café. Keep doing what you’re doing! You may not see much of me but just know that I am a few miles away quietly supporting you from somewhere that sells quinoa.

Came in for breakfast. Their omelettes are good. Saw their beer specials and they can’t be beat. $ 2 pint for a specific beer throughout the week!

This morning was our second trip to this wonderful diamond in the rough. I have really never read any good reviews for Rocket Shop, so my expectations were set low. Our first trip was almost blissful, the waitress was charming and the food was fresh fun and magnifacient. My hubby had fish & fries, I had a patty melt with house fried chips. We of course tried an order of chicken fried bacon with country gravy… luscious and delish. Everything we ate was great. Left that day with full bellies and promise to return. Our return today found us at the same table in eager anticipation of the chicken fried sausage patties we were going to order. Again or waitress was nice and let us look at the menu for a while. My hubby had the fried chicken strips with house made potato chips with creamy poblermo chili dip. He was in love with the thin fried chips and dips, tasty stuff. I had the double cheese burger with house fried potato chips. Being a burger connessuer for 56 years I can tell you that it was the best burger I have ever eaten hands down. Juicy & huge, the bun was so fresh… I ate every bite. We will definitely be continuing return customers.

Had a great night at Paint Night. Lots of laughs. Grate service and good people. Cant wait to do it again.

Been to the rocket shop several times; both with small and large crowds. Recently, my husband had his HS reunion here. The service with a really large group and a small group were ths same… great! The waitresses continually asked if we needed refills and they were very friendly. The food was nice as well. Thw chicken and beef were cooked just right. The chicken was moist and the beef was tender. Both had a really good flavor. The sides were good too but not as good as the meat. I often forget about the rocket shop because we don’t live near it, but will work trying to make it over there more often.

A friend and I flew here for a $ 100 burger and were not disappointed. Well, we were a bit disappointed because we set out for Kernville, but it was clouded over and we diverted to Bakersfield Municipal airport. And because we’d diverted we didn’t know that the Rocket Shop Café is at the far NW corner of the field. So… if you’re reading in advance, or during your descent, please be sure to keep taxiing NW until you see the weird little ‘control tower’ building and café sign or you’ll have a long walk like we did.
The café is a big barn of a diner. Simple hard surfaces for the tables, padded plastic chairs, a U-​shaped bar along one side, and plenty of room for large groups. It was pretty quiet when we finally found it — a Friday afternoon — but I can imagine it filled with large number of race fans — there’s a NASCAR shop here — or bikers or whatever.
Service was friendly and efficient, food was straightforward and inexpensive. Depending on what you’re looking for the only downside is that it’s all inside. There’s plenty of space to set up outside dining and drinking but it isn’t developed. That said, Bakersfield Muni. is also a lot quieter than, say, Camarillo airport so there’s not much to see airside.

We came here on a Thursday morning and the place was pretty empty. The waitress was nice and the service was good. The omelettes were good and the Bloody Mary’s tasty. They have daily specials that make this place a good value.

A great place for a beer and a burger and a relaxed meal
The meals are in the 10 – 18 range
During the week the beer is 2 $ a pint
You need to come here for the beer at least then try the food
The owners are always on site and are very friendly
Get here to hang out have a beer
Chicken wings and pretty darn good burgers
The salads are great too!

Everything is great here. Except their «tri-​tip» What is about Bakersfield restaurants, not being able to make tri-​tip? Over cooked, as usual.

This place is incredibly cool. I visited for breakfast on a weekday and the place was on the emptier side. We were promptly seated and drink orders were taken.
My dad had some sort or scramble or omlette. I had the Belgian waffle. Our food came out very quickly and tasted heavenly! I have never had a Belgian that delicious before. There was plenty of flavor and the perfect texture. I really enjoyed it. Our waitress checked on us, but not so much that it was annoying. It was cool looking out at the airport while we ate and the décor was impressive. I would definitely recommend and go back!

Okay my friends, this review comes straight from the heart, so keep that in mind if traveling out this way. My buddy and I were up to Bakersfield for a model train swap meet at the fair grounds, the GEHAMS show to be forthright. We had a great time seeing good friends, which distance and the lack of free time, tends to keep us separate from too often. When that all important question of a the best local watering hole for lunch came up, the answers were generally unanimous, the Rocket Shop Café won by a landslide!
Oh man, am I glad we heeded their vociferous recommendations! My partner in crime had the Rocket Burger with seasoned curly fries and a chocolate shake; his review to me was quite favorable, and this from a friend who is often not easy to please, makes this an even stronger thumbs up than you might think. My lunch consisted of the «Daily Special» Fried Chicken plate, only I subbed the house macaroni salad, for the highly recommended «home made» potato chips and the incredible dipping sauce which accompanies them. OMG! The plate had four average sized pieces of golden battered deep fried, chicken goodness, a cup of their yummy chili, two slices of grilled cheesy garlic butter toast, and a goodly heap of some pretty damn good, freshly cooked, potato chips. They serve Miller beer (among other brands) on tap, in several iterations, and I was more than pleased with this frosty cold revelation, so my feast was topped off with some ice cold Miller Lite.
The chicken was really tasty, not like any other batter that I’m familiar with, just real crispy, with an almost addictive spice mixture which I can’t quite put my finger on. Whist on the subject of amazing flavors, their very meaty chili beans were an instant hit with your reviewer, that (in a larger size) would have made a fine meal by itself any time for me, although next time I’ll ask for a pinch of diced onion on top.
But we are not done yet, the toast was also something special, and it was grilled to perfection on one side only, the back side being as soft as though it was just baked bread; most amazing dual textures added to this really tasty side items charm. I really can’t describe the chips other than they were cooked to perfection, and the dipping sauce was something that only the word amazing seems to fit.
Miller Beer on tap is one of the finest beverages on this planet, in my opinion, and the beer here was a perfect topper to this feast. The Rocket Shop Café will be our «go to» place while in BAKO from now on; and if you are ever out here, I’d suggest you give the place a try. You won’t be sorry, and you will leave stuffed.
Oh, just an addendum: the attributes list here says no waiter service, well if that was the case, then we had the most attentive «non-​waiter» I’ve ever seen.

«Comfy Local Café «
I thought I would go to the Rocket Café today to pick up some Harvick Gear before next weekends race in Vegas. They have a nice supply of NASCAR gear at a fair price. After picking out some T-​Shirts for my wife and I (did I say the GREATEST NASCAR driver ever Kevin Harvick)) I decided to go ahead and have lunch. The last time I was here was a few years back after a short flight around Bakersfield including a flyby of Buena Vista Lake. I HATE TO FLY (four seater Cessna) scared to death so when we landed I literally kissed the ground (with tongue). Never again! But had a nice lunch back then. Today I set at the clean bar (counter) and ordered a French Dip with macaroni salad and an iced tea. Service was great and so was the food. I want a Harvick #4 ball cap and a gentleman that I believe was probably an owner told me he was getting a new shipment in on Tuesday so I will go back on Wednesday and shop some more and have lunch again. It really reminded me of Cheers. Friendly people around the bar and they even had Fox News playing on the big screen TV, it doesn’t get much better than that. Thank You Rocket Café for a pleasant experience. I will definitely be back!
BTW– I am extremely picky about my food and cleanliness and the Rocket Café did NOT disappoint.

I am really not happy with how we were treated at this establishment. My husband and I were looking for a place in town that sold NASCAR gear, and we were hungry, so we figured we’d «kill two birds with one stone».
We walked inside and the place wasn’t very busy. A server looked up at us and looked away, didn’t greet us or anything. I figured maybe she was busy, so we decided to take a look at the NASCAR stuff for sale. We found something that we wanted to buy, but it was hanging behind the counter. My husband asked an employee if they could help us and they completely ignored us. Looked straight at us, obviously needing help and didn’t do a thing.
At that point we walked out. I was completely unimpressed by how we were treated.

Been going since they opened and my entire family loves this place, waffles, pancakes are big and service is always good even when they are busy nascar fans welcome they show them all

I haven’t been here for breakfast, but have heard good things. We went for dinner and we were greatly disappointed.
The service was terrible. The bartender was borderline rude and inattentive. The patrons next to us kept saying how GREAT the food was and how they are never disappointed. They must have been served from a different kitchen.
The bread on my sandwich was stale! It’s pretty terrible to go out to eat and be given stale bread. I happened to notice that there wasn’t a single plate that went out of the kitchen that did not have fried food on it. I like fried food (especially fries) but this was excessive. All of their dishes are basically dumped into a deep fryer.
The place was pretty quiet but it was a Thursday night so maybe not so surprising. We returned again recently for a karaōke party on a Saturday night and it was about half full. I did get a little grossed out as I was passed by a waitress over and over carrying piles and piles of what looked like previously frozen, recently fried eats. It was very unappetizing, which is exactly how I DONT like my restaurant food described.
I will probably not return here unless I absolutely have to. Not unless it is completely revamped.

I have a thing for airport café/​restaurants.
Rocket does everything right for me.
I ordered the «experimental omelet» and my cousin had the rocket omelet. I was able to get only the cauliflower as a side thanks for being flexible.
For the «experimental», you choose 4 sides to go into your omelete. I had egg white omelet with spinach, salsa, ortega chile (it’s not the pepper, it’s real chilli) and mushroom.
Also love the place has a full bar and opens early. My server was handling many tables at once yet she did a pretty good job… food is a bit slow but once again she was pretty busy there too.