Saturday, October 20th or 27th has been selected as the tentative dates for the annual Tioga Pass Run to the World Famous Whoa Nellie Deli. If you have not had the pleasure to take this trip, mark you calendar now. The Fresno contingent will meet at Starbuck’s at Shaw just east of 41 at 7 am. At 7:30 am sharp, the group will leave to caravan to the second meeting location in Oakhurst and will rendezvous at about 8:00 – 8:15. The Oakhurst meeting location is the Raley’s Parking lot on the corner of HWY 41 & HWY 49. After a brief pit stop, the expanding caravan will head back onto 41 and take the scenic drive through the edge of Yosemite National Park. Upon entering the park and paying the $20 entry fee it will be on to Tuolumne Meadows and over Tioga Pass into the town of Lee Vining and the Famous “Whoa Nellie Deli”!
The Whoa Nellie Deli is located in a Mobil gas station on a hilltop just west of the intersection of U.S. Route 395 and California State Route 120, one mile south of the business district of the small town of Lee Vining, California. (22 Vista Point Road, Lee Vining CA.) Geographically, this location is where the eastern edge of the Sierra
Nevada meets the western edge of the Great Basin. Mount Dana and other High Sierra peaks are visible to the west. The eastern entrance of Yosemite National Park, located at Tioga Pass, is 12 miles to the west. Mono Lake, a uniquely salty and mineral saturated body of water, is visible from the restaurant to the northeast. The gas station also offers a gift shop, a small grocery store, and picnic facilities. Live musical performances are featured about 30 times each year from late spring to early autumn, usually on Thursday and Sunday evenings. The restaurant is closed in the winter. service.
The restaurant’s location was described by the San Francisco Chronicle as “a misplaced Fellini set carved into the edge of the Mono Basin, dust devils skipping around in the distance like extras on the floor of Owens Valley.”
Whoa Nellie Deli Review by Frommers – 
What looks to be an ordinary gas station is home to a truly extraordinary eatery that serves thousands of people on summer days. Inside the Tioga Gas Mart — aka “The Mobil” — chef Matt “Tioga” Toomey offers some of the most tantalizing plates in the Sierra Nevada, as well as plump to-go sandwiches and pizzas. We recommend you take a seat in a booth or on the popular patio and enjoy the mind-blowing cuisine before moving on. The menu includes fish tacos with mango salsa and ginger slaw, pork tenderloin with apricot-berry glaze, and wild-buffalo meatloaf with garlic mashers. We especially like the lobster taquitos with tomatillo salsa — and the transcendent chocolate cake. All of the plates overflow with excellent salads and heaps of fresh fruit, making the deli the best post-backpacking eatery in the area.
Email Tina at mcm@midcalminis.org with your preference. This is a long run and participation has been dwindling over the past few years, so if not enough RSVP’s are received the run will be cancelled.
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