A family-run restaurant on the site of the original Castle Rock Trading Post, built on a creed learned at 12 years old.
The Lundgrens — three generations of the family behind Castle Rock.
Marque and Carol have been together since 1991 and married in 1992. They fell in love with this property first — the community sealed it. When they moved to Golden Valley, the rest of the family followed, because they believed in what Castle Rock could be. Three children and six grandchildren later, it's still a family operation from the kitchen to the parking lot.
Marque Lundgren started cooking at twelve, working at a high-class restaurant called the San Gorgonio Inn — owned by an older couple, Jack and Rita, who served presidents and locals alike for decades. Their creed was simple: give a good product, give great service, charge a fair price, and let people leave as family. That's the foundation of Castle Rock.
The location itself has been feeding travelers since 1871, when it opened as the Castle Rock Trading Post. The Lundgrens took the place over as "Castle Rock Ranch" and, when the time was right, took it back to what it always was — simply Castle Rock.
Marque sets the vision; the chefs bring the craft. Together they built a scratch kitchen — pasta, soups, salad dressings, our secret-recipe Castle Rock ranch (mixed fresh weekly), pizza dough, chicken-fried steak, every dessert, and steaks hand-cut on premises. Garbage in, garbage out. We'll pay more for better ingredients so you walk out full — usually with a doggy bag.
Meet Nikole, our General Manager
Nikole spent twelve years in restaurants in Murrieta, California before moving out to Golden Valley. She started in pizza, moved on to Sky Box, worked at one of the number one rated Spanish wineries in Temecula wine country, Altisima Winery, and has worked just about every position a restaurant has — host stand, line, bar, floor, office. Restaurants are her passion, not her job, and it shows in how the room runs on a packed Friday night.
The family
Castle Rock is the Lundgrens — parents, kids, in-laws, cousins and the people who became family along the way. Odds are you'll shake at least one of their hands.
Nikole
General Manager
Marque Lundgren
Founder / kitchen
Carol Lundgren
Founder
Corey
Business Manager (with Nikole)
Max
Kitchen Manager
Kenny
Front of House Manager
Zule
Business management
Cody
Business management
Keary
Family
Ahbryonna
Assistant Manager
Christmas at Castle Rock
Every Christmas Day, our doors are open and a traditional Christmas meal is on the house for anyone who walks in. The only thing you pay for is alcohol (Arizona law).
"You could have a million in the bank and no one to eat with — that's a real need. You could have no money and a family to feed — that's a need too. God decides the need by who comes through the door. We just open it."
Year one we fed 150 people out of our own pocket. Year two, the community started donating — one neighbor brought 20 turkeys and 10 hams — and we served over 350. Read the whole story →
