Don't know for sure but yes, maybe the cafe owner preferred chips with denominations, or he got a license from the State so the venture became on-the-level. Or your "buttons" were used as drop chips. Inyokern is full of antique stores - first thing one sees when coming into town from the west is an old Texaco star gasoline sign, and a Vickers Gas sign on the building - very odd as Vickers was sold in Texas and New Mexico. They have a Standard Oil White Crown gas pump too. Its mate is now in Randsburg, many miles south. Unfortunately all the antique dealers seem to be closed on weekends.

Military personnel from the China Lake Naval Base in Ridgecrest might have been customers at the cafe. Watch out for the sandwiches - they may have been made from real sand. Try the Burrito instead - made from real . . .