Snow Cap Cafe, Seligman, AZ: Photo Credit: Sam Lowe

SELIGMAN — For those who have been there before, part of the entertainment at the Snow Cap Cafe is watching the expressions on the faces of first-timers when they order an ice cream cone, and the man behind the counter asks, “Do you want mustard with that?” And before the befuddled customer can answer, the server aims a yellow plastic bottle and delivers a direct squirt. The customer shrieks, and the onlookers chuckle because the squirt is actually a piece of yellow string, so no shirts or blouses ever get stained.

It’s one of the wacky things associated with the little roadside restaurant that has been delighting tourists since John Delgadillo used scrap lumber to build it in 1953. After his death in 2004, sons John and Bob took over the business and carry on the legacy of funkiness, which includes signs advertising “Slightly Used Napkins” and “Dead Chicken Specials.” Ask for a small soda and it comes in a paper ketchup cup; ask for a large cone and they produce an inverted orange street pylon. An old pickup trick adorned with an ancient decorated Christmas tree sits near the front door and his-and-her outhouses take up space in the back yard, next to Route 66 artwork and plastic sculptures.

The establishment is located on the south side of old Route 66 as it passes through downtown Seligman.