Your trip is too short to wait for a table!

A little east of Yuma at a highway junction in the prickly Sonoran Desert, there’s a crossroad that looks like a theme park called Dateland Palms Village. It’s actually a café, a gas station and an RV park. This is the heartland of the beautifully nutty Medjool date, surrounded by 12 acres of palm tree orchards that supply the full-flavoured, meaty fruits for a variety of treats.

Travellers used to stop at the local restaurant to get their fill of date-stuffed foods, but now visit the café for the date rolls (US$6.75/pound)—freshly ground dates rolled in flaky coconut—and top-heavy date ice cream cones.

This story was originally published in the October 2009 issue of up! magazine as part of Grab & Go, a package of stories profiling the most delicious dishes eaten with your hands in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. Check out other scrumptious spots in these WestJet destinations:

Calgary

Comox

Halifax

Honolulu

Miami

Montreal

New York City

Toronto

Vancouver

Varadero

Winnipeg