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Serving home style diner food since 1951, The Hi-Lo Café in Weed, CA is the perfect place to stop in for some coffee or take the whole family out to dinner.

With breakfast served all day, a full salad bar(temporarily suspended), and fresh-baked pies made every day - you can find just about anything you're craving at the Hi-Lo Café!

We are now serving Wine, Beer, & Cocktails!

Ask you server for details.

In a hurry? Why Wait?

 

Phone

(530) 938-2904

Location

88 S Weed Blvd
Weed, CA 96094

Hours

Monday 7:00 am - 8 pm
Tuesday 7:00 am - 8 pm
Wednesday 7:00 am - 8 pm
Thursday 7:00 am- 8 pm
Friday 7:00 am - 9 pm
Saturday 7:00 am - 9 pm
Sunday 7:00 am - 8 pm

Our Story

The Family

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The Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe has been a family owned and operated business since 1951.  Frank Rizzo, born in Italy, moved to the United States when he was just eight years old. Years later he married his wife Gene. Soon after, they purchased the old Pilgrim’s Rest Motor Court and transformed it into the Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe. Frank was never afraid to take a chance. He taught his children the formula for good business and community involvement. Frank himself once served as the town’s Mayor. He made sure his children learned the value of hard work. 

Frank and Gene’s daughter, Margaret, took over the business in 1971 continuing the tradition of family stewardship and community involvement. Margaret’s commitment to community includes decades of participation with the Weed Chamber of Commerce, College of the Siskiyous Foundation Board, Sons of Italy, North Valley Catholic Social Services Board, Weed Long Term Recovery Group (Boles Fire, Sept. 2014), Weed Pride (downtown revitalization), and the Family & Community Resource Center of Weed just to name a few. 

 

All of Margaret’s children and several of her grandchildren have worked the family business.  A few of them still do to this day. As you look around the cafe many of our employees and customers are like family spanning decades of employment and patronage at the Hi-Lo. Over 65 years of faithful service to this community. The Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe continues to look forward as the third generation of family begins to take an active leadership role. This is our home, our community. We value our friendships, our town, and the relationships built over six decades of business. So, whether you are visiting us for the first time or have been coming to the Hi-Lo for decades we welcome you!

 

How We Got Our Name

The City of Weed gets its name from the founder of the local lumber mill and pioneer Abner Weed. Abner discovered that the area’s strong winds were helpful in drying lumber. In 1897, Abner Weed bought the Siskiyou Lumber and Mercantile Mill and 280 acres of land, in what is now the City of Weed, for the sum of $400. The town was incorporated in 1961. In 1971 the town’s Mayor, Frank Rizzo, proposed changing the name to “Shastina.” This stirred up a hornet’s nest of opposition and discussion regarding the future of the town. It drew national attention in the press shining a spotlight on this peculiar named community. Ultimately the proposal was defeated and the town has since embraced its unique and occasionally controversial name. 

Many people have asked how the Hi-Lo got its name. Most assume that it is a play on the town’s colorful name and its implied meaning. Not so! In the early 1950’s Gene and Frank Rizzo pooled together what little money they had saved and purchased the “Old Pilgrim’s Rest Motor Court.” They continually invested in their business working diligently to remodel and improve the property. The rooms at the top of the hill were renovated first and were thus priced “higher” than those located at the “lower” part of the hill. New signage was also priced by the letter so a shorter name, Hi-Lo, was born. Although there is no distinction between our higher and lower properties today, we still take tremendous pride in the Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe and the incredible community that made it what it is today.

 
Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe, pre-1945

Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe, pre-1945

Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe, circa 1950's

Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe, circa 1950's

Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe today

Hi-Lo Motel & Cafe today