You might wonder why I am mentioning a place in Visalia but it has some definite ties to a once prominent chain in Orange County. This has been mentioned in the comments of some of our Naugles entries before but Naugles lives on in a place called Buns & Torts in Visalia and is run by Jeff Naugle, who I believe is a nephew to Dick Naugle, the founder of the much loved Naugles chain. Buns & Torts really is Naugles but I believe they have to operate with a different name due to Del Taco owning the Naugles name now.
A faithful reader of our blog here, Eric, found out about this place during a conversation with me about Naugles and it just so happened that he was getting ready to take a trip with his family to Yosemite. On said trip he made a little detour off the freeway and found Buns & Torts and took a number of photos to share with us. Before he got back he e-mailed me.
Eric also confirmed that they have the old Naugles root beer shakes; if you don't see it on the menu then ask for it. We are still crossing our fingers that Del Taco will bring back the Naugles menu but until then keep in mind that Buns & Torts is authentic Naugles. Thanks to Eric and his family for accepting my commission to scout this place out and for sending all the photos in.When I talked with him after his trip he said that this place is "straight up Naugles," so Naugles fans should be sure to go there if they are in the area.