HISTORY OF LOS ANGELES - BARS, RESTAURANTS, HOTELS & BUILDINGS - GOLDEN AGE MEMORIES BY READERS (AS WELL AS THE PRESENT!)
This is a continuation of the first page (got a little long). I get very nice letters (and on very rare occasions not so nice!) from people who view and read this site. Some are suggestions for places not yet on the site and others are people reminiscing about the golden era they experienced in Los Angeles and other cities. As I approach having most old places on the site already, the correspondence has shifted to mostly nostalgia for places gone by (as well as about 25 emails a day trying to sell me Viagra - quite an affront to one's pride!!!). Given that my website is a hobby and I have other more mundane pursuits in my life (like earning a living!!!), I can't post every letter I get. Selection for posting is completely random and arbitrary - it usually is determined by your letter arriving when I seem to have some time on my hands. Other great letters vanish because it was a bad period of time in my life (and my email program deletes them). I have no way of knowing whether the information below is accurate. I try to edit out anything negative (but may miss on occasion). In any event, I think you will find the comments interesting.
A very nice letter from John T:
Carol G provides this info:
Cassell's Hamburgers moved from its original location when the owners of the property saw more $$$ in parking than they did in burgers. The original spot, on a corner a block west of the current location, featured a patio at the back of the restaurant with – if I remember correctly – a leafy roof over some old & splintery picnic tables. It attracted every pigeon in the Wilshire District, but what a great, funky outdoor spot!
Also – your ‘graph on Greenblatt’s on Sunset…did you know: 1) the corner location in the building (just east of the deli space) was for many years home to Ah Fong’s Cantonese Restaurant, a favorite of Sunset Strip habitués? And 2) Ah Fong’s came to be because of Groucho Marx. Am not sure if he actually owned the property but his office was on the 2nd floor in what is now The Laugh Factory, and Mr. Marx’s cook was a Chinese woman , encouraged (and backed) by Groucho to open a restaurant as a showcase for her Cantonese cookery.
Have spent many happy hours perusing your material – what a terrific job you’ve done (whoever you are) in putting it together.
Rob M. give us this update on Bahooka's:
Thanks for such a wonderful site!!
>
> We visit Bahooka about twice a year, but were a bit late getting in
this year; last weekend was our first visit for 2007. Wanted to let you know
that Bahooka will be celebrating their 40th anniversary in November (with
a retro-price special running on three days therein; I'm a little fuzzy on
details--you might check with them for specifics).
> I noticed something in your write-up, and thought you might like to hear that
in honour of the anniversary, they have added tiki god glasses for the drinks!
They come in brown or a sort of bright avocado green, and you can buy the drink
in the glass to keep, or purchase the glasses separately.
> We noticed that our water came in (clear) glasses that were shaped like bamboo
sections, which was new to us since our last visit. ("Look! More tiki!" We were
delighted.) Also, you might want to add that the Jim Carrey picture "The Number
23" filmed there last year.
>
> I love this site and will be passing it along to friends. I will send you
updates wherever possible. We are lucky enough to live within a short drive of
many wonderful old places, and I do love the time machine aspect.
> Thank you for your enthusiasm! My partner and I firmly believe that, by and
large, chain restaurants are for the birds. We have a hobby which causes us to
daytrip across California, and the best part, really, is looking for cool local
restaurants for dinner afterward. They are the best. I joke that one of my
reasons for being on earth, is to keep local hole-in-the-wall eateries, in
business.
>
> Best wishes from a fellow
time-traveler--
Daniel B very kindly writes:
Charles H. recounts the history of the Kopper Kart (2167 W. Florence):
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My family lived around the corner from this place
(at night, we could see the neon sign from our back yard!). This was
between 1967-1979 We moved away in 1979, but would occasionally come through the "old neighborhood" if we happened to be in LA (ball games, trips to LAX, etc.) By 1981 or 1982, the Kopper Kart no longer existed (it may have burned down). There was something else (a store front church?) in its place.... None of us ever went inside the place, it looked kind of run down by the time we came along anyway. A search of the LA Times Historic Newspapers pulled up a number of interesting ads and stories. This seemed to be one of *the* places to be in the 1940's and 50's. The theme of the place was having drinks mixed tableside from a copper cart (hence the name). They served steaks, prime rib, seafood, and had live music (usually, Clarence Paris or Ted Campbell "nightly at the Hammond Organ" but occasional vocalists or other performers as well) The Kopper Kart had closed for a short period in the early 1960's; a newspaper blurb says it was being reopened in 1964by Eddie Olson and Frank Lococo (formerly of the Cockatoo). It was sold sometime in late 1967 or early 1968, according to my records. By then changing tastes and demographics might have killed the restaurant, but it did soldier on until the early 1980's. A Question from Dorothy T: I was
hoping you could help me or direct me to someone who could. Julie G recounts: Just discovered your site. It's fabulous. Born
in Long Beach in 1948, I remember some of these places from my
childhood. There are a couple of exclusions, I think. You mention Little
Joe's in connection with the Chinese restaurant in Chinatown, but I
could find nothing on LJ's itself in your extinct restaurant listings.
Did I miss it somehow? That was certainly a classic. Another I remember
is the Reef restaurant in Long Beach harbor area. It was very kitschy
with fishing nets, fake starfish, etc. I understand it's still there,
but wonder what it is like today (including the food)? Also could not
find your oft referenced Chateau Marmont (sp?). Would love to see photos
and history (drove by it years ago but not since it's come back into
fashion. It's along drive now from where I live.) Loved seeing "Tip's"
included, as my family stopped at their Newhall Ranch location when I
was a child as a ritual every summer for breakfast on our annual car
trip vacation up the coast to visit San Francisco. I have looked for it
in vain ever since on subsequent trips and always wondered what became
of it. I would enjoy knowing what year it ceased operation, and when/if
the building was torn down. My parents actally had honeymooned in San
Fran in 1938, and drove that same route, spending their first night in
the now long-gone famous old hotel in LeBec. I've seen photos of that on
a postcard, but nothing left at the site now. Any info on that? Jerry R informs us: I was browsing through your excellent website featuring extinct
restaurants of Los Angeles; and I recently discovered on the Los
Angesles Public Library website photo collection on-line two great
photos of a restaurant in L.A. called the Jail Cafe. Since this extinct
unique L.A. restaurant is not on your list, I thought I would mention
this to you for your website. Go to the LAPL.org website photo
collection, and type in Jail Cafe--you'll find a great photo of the Jail
Cafe from the outside; and an equally great photo taken on the inside of
customers being waited on in jail cells by prison striped waiters!! Greg C. adds: My uncle owned a very popular little place for
many years called Crosby's Pizza and Bar-B-Q. It was on located on Santa
Monica Blvd. and Berendo, a block west of Vermont. I worked there in the
late 60's. It was a great local hangout for a wide variety of
characters. Joseph talks about an early LA family:
In the 1930's 40's 50's it was Joe D'Angelo and
his three brothers who were to receive the second liquor license
issued by the State of California. The other three brothers, Paul,
Sam, and Johnny, also had Bars. The Sunset, in Hollywood, would be a
gathering place on Oscar night. All owed their business startup to
the oldest brother Joseph Edward D'Angelo.
Mr. D'Angelo's Bar once was an elegant night spot
with floorshows, and fine dinning, music, and it did thrive until
the day of the big depression, D'Angelo loosing a fortune to th
Banks which closed their doors, that day and did not pay out moneys
owed.
This Bar on Six and Union streets L.A., were
favorite meeting palce for the Union crowd being only a block from
AFL-CIO headquarters. This good man was loved by all, an to date
there is no Picture, article, or mention of Joe's Shanty, in any
research that I can find.
Dan informs us: I was watching Michael Jackson's
THRILLER video Garry P remembers: I was just enjoying your wonderful web site again when I recalled a
landmark that has not been mentioned: Wallichs' Music City at the corner
of Sunset and Vine. I worked there for Clyde Wallichs in the early
sixties. What a place it was! I recall it was across from the old NBC
Television building. I wonder if there is a photo of it out there
somewhere? Michele talks about Cafe LaMaze in National City, CA: I seem to run across your web site quite often in my searches for fun old places. A brief history as I was told Marcel opened the place in 1941 due to request from celebrity friends and a stop on there way to Mexico (it had become quite the hot spot due to prohibition) He found this location, and it even had a secret gambling room upstairs from what I heard. Gable, Flynn, Laurel & Hardy were frequent guest to name a few. I was puzzled when I noticed no mention of the the La Maze San Diego location. I was raised in Chula Vista and have been eating there since birth. An only slightly exaggerated assessment of me by D.E.:
Yesterday I went to a film party in Hollywood. I
have wanted to go to the Prince for years and finally found a friend
who would go with me. So I googled the Prince and found your site.
YOU ARE A GOD!
Oh, sorry, I'm not supposed to gush to people I
don't know. Sometimes I forget my southern upbringing. :) Anyway,
I have simply bathed in the beauty that you've created. I found so
many places that I've ventured to alone and of course thought I was
sorta strange (read UNIQUE). And now thanks to you, I have many
more bar stools to fall off of and more places to stuff myself.
Your work is simply marvelous and truly
educational.
And lastly, I was right all of these years
yearning to go to the Prince. The fried chicken and Hite beer were
fabulous and the surroundings one of a kind. (However, I could have
done without the Seafood Pancake.) The experience was at least a
nine out of ten. Carol G provides this important information:
A number of your readers have mentioned Ollie Hammond's. The La
Cienega restaurant featured an intimate room known as the cellar,
down a short spiral staircase from the main bar area. The room was
upholstered in red leather (half-way up the walls, booths, bar
front) and could hold about 20 people. Great info from Glen B. :
Hello, Michael S adds these suggestions: Just thought I'd let you know I do seriously love your site, and thought I'd comment on a few of the older restaurants you haven't been to yet. Petrelli's in Culver City has been around since the 40s but the current building dates from the 90s. It only LOOKS retro. The food's pretty good. Junior's in West L.A. has quite excellent deli food - it's been there since the '60s at least. Never been to Matteo's nearby, I know it's expensive, and was one of Dean Martin's favorite restaurants (a friend of mine was a waiter there and saw Dino there all the time back in the 80s).
Palermo in Los Feliz is good old style Italian American food,
plenty of red sauce, and also in a safe area . Little Toni's in
North Hollywood is also good, albeit old fashioned red sauce
checkered table cloth Italian-American like Palermo. One restaurant
in that area of West L.A. that you failed to mention was Anna's on
Pico, which has been around since the 1960s. Originally it had the
same ownership as Mario's in Westwood, which I'm pretty sure moved
to Santa Monica. Ken and Karen T suggest:
Mama Cozza's Italian Restaurant Alyssa shares these important memories:
A few places I didn't see mentioned on your phenomenal site/trip
down Another suggestion:
What about The Bistro and The Bistro Garden in Beverly Hills???
Great Marilyn B writes:
Dorando's was on Vine Street in Hollywood, more or less across the
street from the old Hollywood Ranch Market. I used to eat there with
my husband, both before and after we were married in 1961. We
started eating there ca. 1958; went over for dinner sometime in
mid-60s(??) and found the place locked up and decorated with police
tape! Mr. Dorando, it seems, had been shot and killed by some bad
guys who had a grievance against him. The food was very good -- veal
piccata, veal marsala, excellent cannoli (not the junk with
chocolate bits -- NO WAY). I have no idea what was going on here
that precipitated the shooting, but heard it had to do with "the
mob", whatever that means in CA. We missed it when it was gone. Interesting thoughts from Tia:
Hello there! I just wanted to say thank you for
turning me on to some real treasures/experiences!
I happened on your site recently when I Googled
"historic restaurants San Diego". I was about to embark on a site
visit of San Diego as a possible site for the International
Foodservice Editorial Council's (IFEC) 2009 conference. Our
membership is made up of the editors of the top foodservice trade
publications (Food Arts,
Restaurants & Institutions, Nation's Restaurant News, Restaurant
Business, Restaurant Hospitality, etc.) and the
publicists who represent national food manufacturers and commodity
boards.
As part of our conference, which is held in a
different city each year, we organize food tours that explore some
of the more interesting indigenous food-related foodservice
operations, farms, manufacturers and such. Which is why I was doing
some investigation on the topic.
Your site led us to visit Filippi's restaurant,
where we drank Chianti and signed the bottle to be suspended from
the restaurant's ceiling with all its brethren. We also sought
out Bali Hai restaurant and sampled a few of their finer tiki
drinks, collecting the collectable mugs, of course. I was sad to
hear that they don't serve a flaming drink--it's against the law
there I was told! In the Bali Hai neighborhood, we passed the
impressive façade of Humphrey's Half Moon Inn & Suites, but I'll
have to save for another visit--as I will the Turf Club and the
Your description of Filippi's contained a mention
of Reno's Casale's Half-Way Club, and since my husband and I have a
little cabin at Tahoe and often go over the hill to Reno for a movie
or a little video poker, we were anxious to check it out. Have to
say that we LOVED the place. We'd already been to Louis' Basque, and
don't know which I liked more--actually, I do: Casale's. What a
treasure! They even let us sign the ceiling fan.
We are big fans of
The Subway Inn (
... so many more. But, as you've said on your
site, so many have closed too--or remodeled themselves out of any
character...that's why I was so happy to see your listings.
So thanks again! And keep up the good work! First, please accept my heartfelt thanks for what you have done and are doing. Since I was a young child (born in 1964 in Pasadena) I bemoaned the loss of many local great restaurants (the Tahitian, Bullocks Tea Room, the original Pasadena Athletic Club coffee shop, Blums, etc, etc.). Your site has provided so many great ideas of where to eat (you are spot on about the Prince being so amazing, I am considering buying them new red lamp shades as the ones they have are in horrific shape..........when I snuck into the banquet room in the back, which was obviously half of the original lobby, I could see all of the original California Restaurant Writers awards for the Windsor up on the balcony), and have made living in Los Angeles more fun than it would be otherwise. p.s. I think the $11 (maybe $12) minute steak at the HMS Bounty is one of the best deals in Los Angeles, amazing atmosphere, a steak, salad, and baked potato for $11. A questions from Nick: You have a wonderful site. I ran across it while looking up info on a restaurant my grandfather used to own. His name was Patrick Mitchell. He passed when my mother was 7 years old. I dont know much about it other than he owned it. Do you know how I can find out more info about it. I remember my grandmother telling me that it was a chain. Also she said it had gambling parlor in a private area. Not sure about that though. Please let me know any info and thanks. Birgit R reports on some changes: i just wanted to write you a note saying thank you for your wonderful website. my boyfriend and me are Europeans living in los angeles and we always loved the "time machines", so we were very happy to find your site with many new places to go. yesterday we read about the Buggy Whip and decided to visit it. it was absolutely wonderful - great atmosphere, really good food and very nice service. we will certainly go there again. We both love the Dolores on Santa Monica Boulevard and we were very very unhappy to see that it changed the owner only very recently. of course the remodeling has started already - they replaced the old sign, they are not open anymore for 24 hours - now they close at 10 pm. you can't play lotto anymore, they changed the menu, reupholstered the booths - and took down the dividers between the booths. i don't know what they will do with the big dinner room in the back, but right now it is empty. and this is just the beginning! our waitress told us there will be more changes and remodeling. the Dolores was always a very nice place to go to, the food was nothing special, but it the service was supernice and it had the perfect time machine feel. it would be nice if you have the time to update the information on your website. i also send you a photo i took 2 years ago with the original sign that is gone now. maybe you can use it. thank you for your great work and dedication to all those wonderful places. it is really sad to see them go. Enthusiastic Words from Victoria T:
Hi! I absolutely adore your
website. I happened upon it accidentally and am so glad that I
did!
I grew up and lived in Los Angeles
(from the mid-1950's until the early-1980's). I haven't been
back since I moved to the East Coast, but get homesick almost
every day. (You can't turn on the TV or watch a movie without
seeing some part of the city.)
I'm married to a "good 'ol boy" who
has absolutely no interest in visiting the Los Angeles area, but
I definitely want to return some day (as a tourist) and visit
all the spots I recall from my early days (e.g., Griffith Park,
Travel Town, Hollywood Blvd., Los Feliz, the Bonaventure, Palos
Verdes Peninsula, Santa Monica Pier, etc., etc.).
It was such a wonderful walk down
memory lane to see all the awesome pictures and trivia on your
website. It made me feel very much at home again.
I don't know if you can help me, but
I've been wracking my brain trying to find out about a spot in
the downtown area when I was a child. It was a manmade
waterfall (near the Dept. of Water & Power, I believe). It had
a catwalk that I recall vividly because I tried to walk across
it when I was about 12, and slipped/fell. I'm sure it probably
isn't there anymore. I also wanted to see if the old Pioneer
Chicken on North Western Avenue (above Hollywood Blvd.) is there
anymore. I don't believe it is, but not sure.
Now that I've discovered your
fabulous site, I'm going to be a frequent visitor -- believe
me!
Al C. shares these memories: I loved your history on LA Restaurants that aren't there anymore. It brouhgt back a lot of wonderful memories of our family going out to eat almost every Sunday during the 50s. I was somewhat disappointed that you did not include one of our favorite places. We used to go to Wilson's Restaurant on La Cienega, just North of San Vicente, at Blackburn. It might be described as somewhat of a coffee shop, but it was good homestyle family food. One of the few places that had Spencer steak on the menu. The soups were homemade and delicious. The also had another restaurant, but I forget it's name. It was a similar style and located at the NE Robertson and Beverly Blvd. in about the same time frame. Thank you and keep up the good work. Stephanie H has a few questions:
Thanks so
much for what you are doing! We are longtime frequenters
of old LA and I use your guide frequently when we want to check
out the new old places we don’t know about.
My 96 year
old father who is usually a treasure trove of these and but who
sometimes just gets it a “little” bit wrong keeps referring to a
restaurant called the Heist or the Hoist or the Heights
(???!!!), located somewhere with a view of LA (l in the
foothills of the San Gabriels or the San Bernadino mountains -
Alta Dena, Redlands, Pasadena?), and suggests this was a good
steak and burger place, nice ambiance with some connection to
horse racing – owned by a jockey? A jockey’s mother?
I have a feeling this was a 1930s – 1950s operation.
You get the
idea. But I also bet you are the person who just “might”
have the clue we need. Any thoughts? appreciate your insight or your suggestions for other ways we might research this place. Keep up the good work! Lorenzo points out this important history:
FWIW, Schaber's had a North Hollywood location on the north
side of Victory, west of Laurel Canyon. More great info from Marilyn B:
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THAT'S ALL FOLKS - THE END!
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