King’s Tropical Inn stood at 5935 Washington Blvd in the 1920s and 1930s. It was known for its chicken dinners (I wonder if that’s where Mildred Pierce got the idea?) but, as you can see on this promotional postcard, they also served squab. Squab was a dish that I regularly came across when researching menus of the era so eventually I looked it up. Ugh! No wonder we don’t see it much anymore. Squab is the meat from young domestic pigeon and is widely described as tasting like dark chicken. Thanks a bunch but I’ll pass.
Kings Tropical Inn during the 1933 flooding in Los Angeles
King’s TropicaI Inn…..I used to go there with my grandparents. Loved the place. Night sky on the ceiling. Tropical lampshades on the lights on the table. Best fried chicken with honey, and the best cornbread ever. But mostly, I remember what Los Angeles was like then. So much natural beauty everwhere…… it was a paradise. I miss my grandparents and the life we had together. I want to go home. But it doesn’t exist anymore.
Hi Leslie – thanks for sharing your memories of King’s Tropical Inn and of Los Angeles in its heyday. Many of us never got to experience it and are rather jealous of people like you who did!
My parents took us to the Kings Tropical Inn for special occasions and we loved it! World’s best fried chicken in a wonderful setting with night sky and twinkling stars. The best!
Everybody agrees with you, Bernie!
I used to go to King’s with my grandparents, as well. I loved the place, all the gold fish in the pond at the waiting area. The corn bread and honey was the BEST. The owner was a super wonderful man. We went often enough that he would personally greet us. When my grandparents had their 50th anniversary, my mom planned a surprise dinner at her house. She wanted to make it a Hawaiian theme. We went down and talked with the owner if he could give us some “props”. He sent over a truck load. We were just missing the moving stars on the ceiling! Loved that place.
Thanks so much for taking the time to share your memories with us. Now you’ve made me jealous you got to experience all that! Lucky you!
I totally relate to your memory. We went there too, as a family. Loved it as a child. My parents, aunts and uncles and cousins all enjoyed being there. Only good feelings.
Does anyone have a recipe for the King’s Tropical Inn fried chicken? I’ve never been able to find anything close to the crispy, tender chicken I remember!
I’ve never come across it but I hear their chicken was delish!
Miriam, After nearly eighty years, I still remember Kings Tropical Inn for the VERY BEST FRIED CHICKEN I’ve ever eaten!!!!!!, but Never been able to duplicate it myself or eaten any thing or any where like it. The closest to it was 35 years ago at POLLARDS/POLLARDSVILLE on hwy 99, near Lodi,Ca. sure wish I could have a chicken dinner like KING’S again before my demise!! John King and I went to high school together and John took over the restaurant after his father died and I moved from Culver City never to see John again to possibly pry the recipe from him
Wow, so their chicken was that good, huh? No wonder it had such a sterling reputation. I hope you find a worthy replacement!
I grew up at Kings. My parents and my brother and I used to eat there at least once each week. They had the best salad with ‘French’ dressing, fried chicken with corn pones (real pone shape) and honey. I keep telling my wife about that place, but alas, it’s no longer. Too bad!
Thanks for your note. I hear that the food at King’s was great, especially the chicken. I’m really quite jealous to hear that you got to eat there at all, let alone at least once a week! Thanks for dropping by!
My Grand Mothers both worked there in the 60’s, when I was a baby. One as a cook & one as a waitress. I don’t remember the restaurant though. I wish I had more stories about them from the restaurant it sounded really different & like the food was incredible. I do remember the King family though I haven’t been in touch in years.
Ah, so both your grandmothers worked there. It’s a shame you don’t remember King’s – from what I understand, the place was in a league of its own.
I loved Kings Tropical Inn. the best French dressing ever. Best Cornpones….
We went there once a month. Lived in Baldwin Hills.
Thanks for stopping by, Robin. I’m jealous you got to go there at all, let alone once a month!
Martin, glad you have a page in honor of King’s Tropical Inn. Robin (above comment) is my older sister! Here’s what I remember about this great place:
There was Mina bird in a cage in the lobby who let out a loud chirp or said some words every now and then. There were clouds projected on the ceiling that slowly moved “with the wind.” Hawaiian music played in the background and there was a real “tiki” bar (that only my dad could sit at and have a drink).
As for the food… King’s French Dressing is what made me a real fan of green salad. Our family bought bottles of it at the cashier and it became my favorite dressing EVER! I’m a pretty good chef and I’ve tried to replicate that taste, but haven’t nailed it yet. The dressing tasted like the smell of fresh paprika, but using paprika to make the dressing doesn’t translate; like the smell of fresh-roasted coffee beans doesn’t translate into the liquid brew. The color was a dark orange and it had the consistency of a thick tomato sauce. I actually hired a private investigator to see if he could track down the original recipe. He did manage to locate John King Jr’s mother (the father and son both passed away early) who was living in Denver, CO. When he talked to her about the French Dressing recipe and my search for it to be able to taste it again, she had paranoid visions I was going to bottle it and sell it and make a fortune. Her answer was a resounding “no!” She’s probably not around anymore and it’s a shame. But I’ll continue to experiment and, who knows, I might get lucky!
As for the Fried Chicken dinner, that’s where we used the honey packets on the crispy chicken crust. Crunch! And the corn bread was also memorable.
Funny that KTI went through a flood in 1933. We had our own Baldwin Hills flood in 1963, and although we were about a mile from the reservoir, our house still got five feet of water and we had to relocate for about a year until it was redone.
If anyone out there happens to have any info on King’s Tropical Inn French Dressing, please share…
Best,
Randy
Hi Randy,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your memories of King’s Tropical Inn. The place sounds even more like heaven than I ever realized. The three things that people seem to remember are the chicken dinners, the French dressing and the corn bread. I’m a big corn bread fan, myself, so I really wish I could have sampled it. But I came along way too late for that, so I’ll just have to live vicariously through people like you and Robin! I’m going to post this on my Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/gardenofallahnovels ) and see if any can come up with the recipe goods!
I can still clearly remember going there with my siblings and parents back in early 1962 and recalling to this day the atmosphere and the excitement of knowing we were going to have dinner at King’s Tropical Inn and still to this very day I have a memento picture of myself my two brothers and little sister from the restaurant on Washington Blvd.
Wow Robert, King’s Tropical Inn must have really been something – I get more comments about it than another other place mentioned on my website! Thanks for stopping by!
I remember going there in the mid 1950s with my parents and my Aunt Lola and Uncle Harry. It was Uncle Harry’s favorite restaurant. Unfortunately I guess I was too young to remember the food. The only thing I’ve never forgotten was the finger bowls of warm water on the table to clean your hands after eating the chicken. It was the first time I had ever seen (or even heard of) them.
They had little finger bowls of warm water??? I love that!
Martin:
It’s all true: the crunchy chicken, hot biscuits with honey, crispy french fries and “Shirley Temples.” I grew up under the autographed lamp shades, throwing pennies in the koi ponds, and watching the stars in the ceiling. We have a picture of our family taken before 1958, celebrating what must have been a birthday, anniversary or graduation, seated at the large table on the right, the one in the foreground of the famous post card shot of the restaurant’s interior.
When the restaurant closed, we became regulars at Andre’s of Beverly Hills, on Wilshire Blvd, not too far away.
If only someone could come up with the recipe for King’s Tropical chicken (and biscuits) and SELL IT, capitalizing on the flavor as a true relic of Old Hollywood (Los Angeles and Beverly Hills.) Is it languishing in a safe somewhere in the Hollywood Hills? Is anyone in touch with the family?
Thanks for your research and reviving vivid memories.
Thanks for stopping by, Mickey. “hot biscuits with honey, crispy french fries and Shirley Temples.” OOOooo! Now you’ve got me drooling. They really must have done something special with their chicken – it’s the thing people most comment on about King’s Tropical. Perhaps it IS languishing in a safe somewhere in the Hollywood Hills!
As a child growing up in the late 1940’s I was taken to King’s Tropical Inn at least twice a week. I continued going there at least once a week all through the 1950’s and the 1960’s up until and including the night they closed in 1968 on December 15th. What a grand place!! As has been noted here, they had –BY FAR– the best fried chicken ever. I also remember the corn pones and the salad with that wonderful French dressing. What I also remember from my adult years there was the wonderfully tropical and romantic bar area they had which served the best rum drinks in town (they rivaled the old Kowloon Restaurant on Pico for these). I can still remember the last bartender they had at King’s. He had been there for many years, remembered all his customers’ names, and always had a warm demeanor about him. His name was Connie Amba. Over the years I had met the senior Mr. King and got to know John King (the son) quite well. Stupid of me that I didn’t ask him about his recipe formulas the night he closed…I have a feeling he would have shared them at that time. I will forever remember that starry ceiling in the dining room and the cozy booths. It was a great place to take a date back then. There was a rare night when you would go there and not have a host of people waiting on the tiled bench area in the entry area waiting to be seated. Again–the best chicken dinner plates anywhere—EVER!!!
An addendum to my previous post…..I was there outside the location when they bullzozed the building and the quaint parking lot in front with its many individual car stalls….One of the demolition guys let me take one of the bricks from that building on which I noted the date of the restaurant’s closing–12-15-68. I have moved from Los Angeles to Rome, GA since my retirement, but I still have that brick with the date inscribed and all the fond memories it brings back to me of that place and of my wonderful life growing up in the City of the Angels while it was still the old Los Angeles I loved so dearly. Someone once said, “You can’t go back”….but that doesn’t apply to memories……RIP KTI and the whole King family….
Hi John, and thanks for stopping by my website and adding your memories of King’s Tropical Inn.
It sure must have been one heck of a place – this page for King’s gets more comments and traffic than any other place listed here, including the biggies like Ciro’s and the Mocambo.
What a shame it’s no longer around, but what a great memento you have in the form of a brick from the original building!
My husband and I loved going to Kings Tropical Inn. The fried chicken was excellent as was the service.
That’s what everybody says, especially their chicken. It sure must have been something!
I loved King’s as a child in the 1950’s. Oh how I loved the chicken. I remember the ceiling vividly. We lived in Mar Vista and went there frequently
Ann, can you describe the ceiling?
I came to this site looking for information on “King Chicken” which my mother used to get as take out in Studio City in the early 1960’s… I was 8-12 years old. This is what I remember as the best chicken ever. Was this a knock off of King’s Tropical Inn, a subsidiary, or a separate place ?
Hi Ned! Thanks for your note. Actually, I’ve never heard of King Chicken so I can’t answer your question. But from my research, I can say that there were a lot of places that specialized in chicken dinners, so I don’t know that King Chicken was necessarily a direct knock-off. But when it comes to chicken dinners, it’s King’s Tropical Inn whose name comes up most frequently.
My great grandfather was a cook/cahsier here. His brother in law was John King Jr. My grandma and mom spent lots of time at the resturaunt, but it closed before I was born. I wish I had gotten to experience it in it’s heyday! I’m working on my family tree and appreciate all the comments about this piece of my family history.
Correction to my statement, my great grandfather’s brother in law was John King Sr.
Wow Jillian! Thanks for taking the time to add your comment. Of all the restaurants and bars and nightclubs I’ve posted about, it’s King’s Tropical Inn which garners the most feedback – by far! It makes me wish I’d been able to experience it for myself. I bet you do too! I don’t suppose you have any of the recipes for the dishes on King’s menu? I get asked about it a lot – especially the chicken and the salad dressing. If you ever come across them, I’d LOVE to be able to share them on my site. People STILL talk about it!
John G. King was my stepfather. He died in the early 80’s. His son John C. King died not long after. Diana King, John G.’s daughter is still alive. John G. had many wonderful stories about Kings Tropical Inn that he would share with us. He would also make wonderful chicken and could guess anyones “secret” fried chicken ingredients…usually done through a bet of a free meal if he guessed correctly.
Wow, Tonya – thanks for stopping by and sharing that info with us. Now you’ve got me wondering how many free meals John had to give away to clever guessers!
He would guess other restaurants ingredients…and he got a lot of free meals.
Thanks for the memories. King’s Tropical Inn was the primo treat dinner out in the 1950’s when I was about 6-10 years old, and everyone has it nailed – Shirley Temples, YES. The hands-down indisputably most wonderful fried chicken against which all others have failed to measure up in the subsequent 60 or so years, YES. The corn pones with honey, YES. The bowl at the end with hot water AND a slice of lemon floating in it, YES. Moving water everywhere, with fish in “tropical” pools where you could toss a coin and make a wish, to amuse the youngsters while mom and dad finished their dinner, YES. Stars and clouds projected on the unimaginably large ceiling dome, YES. It wasn’t just a great place to eat – for a youngster, it was a magic place to be, a fantasy land long before Walt Disney opened Disneyland. When you walked through the door, you were in a different, exotic tropical world. It wasn’t just a meal; it was an experience and one I feel very lucky to have had. I know of nothing that is like King’s Tropical Inn. It’s really true that they just don’t make them like that any more.
Wow, Brian, now I really, >> really >>, REALLY wish I’d been able to dine there. Everybody has such great memories of King’s. Thanks for sharing yours with us.
Hi. Noticed several responses about the great experiences and memories of
King’s Tropical Inn. I worked there, in the 50s, and know how the chicken was
prepared (I also was/am a cook/chef back then) knew John King pretty well and
the main cook, “Papa Joe” who was terrific for many years, as well as the
General Mgr, Eddie Mousseau, who lived down the street from me. Can share
many great moments if interested. Tom P.
Hey Tom – of all the places I’ve posted about on my site, King’s Tropical Inn garners – by far! – the most interest and conjures the most memories. I would LOVE for you to post any and all the great memories you’d take the time to share with us. Thank you!
I would LOVE to see you share the info on how the chicken was made. I’ve never encountered fried chicken with a coating that was as thin and crisp. Damn that was good. Thanks for the memories!!
Hi, Tom,
Just happened to look up “King’s Tropical Inn” on my computer, started reading through all the comments and came across yours who mentions “Papa Joe” who happens to have been my father. He passed away in 1978 but worked there for about 40+ years and always spoke highly about the “King Family”. They were not only his employer but the only “family” he knew here in America because he was first generation immigrant from the Philippines. The King Family was instrumental in bringing our family to America and for that we will be forever grateful.
I never knew my father very well because he was always working and came home long after I had fallen asleep. He was very protective over the recipes especially for the fried chicken. So protective that he was offered a lot of money for this recipe and a job elsewhere but refused it. My mother was not thrilled because we could’ve certainly used the money since we lived on a month to month existence. He was very loyal to the King Family. He was so loyal that he never even shared the fried chicken recipe with my mother.
I love to cook and if you happen to hold the secret to this amazing fried chicken recipe, I would be grateful if you can share it with me since I thought it was lost forever.
I do hope you read this and answer soon.
Thank you,
Mary Ann
Thank you Mary Ann. And Tom, if you do have the recipe, there are a lot of folks who’d love to have it!
I fondly recall going with my parents when I was a young girl. When I was old enough to drive I started dining there with friends. That domed, massive high ceiling with the starry night sky and moving clouds, the sound of water everywhere flowing from the fountains, fake palm trees hovering over our heads, cozy bamboo booths with thick wood tables, lamps with palm-painted shades, and humidity from the fountains just as if we were in a jungle….it simply couldn’t get better than that. We would park our cars and then enter a garden wonderland, and for an hour or so stuff ourselves with the most excellent chicken on the planet and atmosphere that wasn’t just visual; it was tangible. A treat of a unique dining experience that has gone unmatched before, during or after…and let me wanting.
Wow Rhonda, thanks for taking the time to give us such a vivid description of King’s Tropical Inn. I can see why so many people have such fond memories of the place! I envy you, and everybody else who got to dine there. I can only experience it through you!
My high school girl’s service club (the Travailleis from Hamilton High School) had our annual luncheon there in the late 1950s. At that time the restaurant was considered “not to be in a good area”, but we were not a moneyed group and the Beverly Hills restaurants that our wealthier classmates’ clubs went to were out of our reach. So we wound up at King’s Tropical Inn. It was a bit shabby by then, but still a bit romantic, like something out of the movie Casablanca. We had a good time. The staff was nice to us. I am happy to see that someone still remembers the place.
Thanks for sharing your memories, Janice. It seems many people remember it. I’ve received more comments on King’s Tropical Inn than any other restaurant, cafe or nightclub in Los Angeles.
Hi ,,, Glad to hear you had a good time ,, I probably was part of the service
” crew ” for that event ;;; I don’t remember anyone thinking the place to be
“shabby” at that time ( 50’s ) , or , that it was a “Bad Area” either,, I went to
school just up the street from Hamilton High ,, at Chaminade Prep ,,, and
worked at King’s during my High school years. The ” Polynesian” themed
King’s was a bit “Rustic” , and yes, romantic with “ambiance”, great food and
a energetic staff — the place was ” always clean ” ,, John King ran a “tight ship”
lots of good memories there.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing that with us, Tom!
As a kid in the 1930’s and 40’s, I was often taken to King’s Tropical Inn by my parents. I loved the place. Everything about it was corny but that is what made it memorable. I agree with those praising the chicken dinner. It was the best! When my folks asked where I would like to go to dinner, my answer was always the same – King’s Tropical Inn. In the early 1950’s, my girlfriend and I were engaged. I took her to King’s and presented her with the ring. She has always said that was a memorable evening. We have now been married for 61 years.
Thanks for sharing that, Jerry. King’s sure must have been a special place – everybody seems to have nothing but the fondest memories of it.
I grew up going with my folks to King’s Tropical Inn whenever my dad could afford taking the five of us out to dinner. This was back in the 50s when I was quite young. I think my taste for chicken was born in that wonderful restaurant. I loved the chicken noodle soup with the mini-noodles. The salad was great and I found that Kraft Catalina dressing is as close today and Kings dressing was back then. Biscuits were tasty, great with butter and honey, and of course, the chicken was wonderful. Desert was always a scoop of chocolate ice cream. I miss the nostalgia of the place. Today, the closest I can get to duplicating the menu is to buy a couple of chicken breasts from KFC, make Lipton’s chicken noodle soup with the mini noodles and a salad using the Kraft’s Catalina dressing. Try it and I guarantee it will bring back memories of those that ate their and give those who didn’t, a taste of what it was like, less the ambiance.
Thanks for stopping by, Jan. Of all the restaurants in LA’s history that I have highlighted on this website, it’s King’s Tropical Inn that garners the most attention and evokes the most memories in Angelenos. And thanks for your recipe to recreate a meal at Kings!
I only went there once, because we didn’t go out to eat much when I was a kid. But I got to eat there once after some service event I worked. Our group ate in the dome, and I remember the chicken as the best I’d ever had. I wish I’d been able to go more than once!
Everybody seems to recall King’s the way you do, Paula – best! chicken! ever!
I used to go there a lot when I was a little kid. There was a mynah bird in the waiting area and fountain with gold fish swimming around. Just like everyone says, the chicken was the best and so was the salad; I loved the french dressing and chilled peas. Same with the corn pones and biscuits and honey. They used to let me go back into the kitchen to “help” out. Such nice people. I feel so fortunate to have lived in Southern California, and particularly Culver City, in the 50’s. People today have no idea what they missed. It was a completely different place than it is now.
Lucky you, Nick! It sounds like a truly wonderful place.
Yeah, absolutely. It was a great place to live for a kid…even into the 60s. I graduated from Culver High in ’69. I can’t get over how Culver City is now a super trendy place! So different than when I was growing up.
King’s is the only restaurant I remember going to as a kid. Always with my grandparents, who lived near Olympic and Pico. The most special of days were those when grandma and grandpa would take me and my two brothers to Disneyland, with short lines and 50-cent E tickets for the best rides, followed by chicken dinners at King’s Tropical Inn with the starlit ceiling. Fond memories.
Our family frequented the restaurant in the forties and fifties. I have the distinction of falling in one of the ponds fishing for coins. In addition to getting wet, I got my backside tanned.
My Mom had some connection to the owners, but I never understood what it was. It may have been through my grandmother, who owned a cafe closer to downtown on Washington.
I haven’t heard the expression “tan your backside” in AGES. Guess it’s one of those phrases that’s dying out.
The Kings Tropical Inn Chicken is the best fried chicken ever. It has spoiled me for appreciating any other Fried Chicken. Everyone I know who’s ever eaten there says the same thing. It would be great to know how they made it.
My family and ate at KTI on a regular basis. We started eating there in the late 50s. My dad was in the produce business and supplied Kings with their produce. I love their ambiance, as a kid of 6, I didn’.t appreciate it until I ate at other chicken restaurants and realized just how good everything they served was far superior to all the others. I would like to give everyone out there a heads up on a dressing that comes so close to King’s salad dressing I have a hard time remembering the difference. It’s Krafts Catalina dressing. King’s dressing lovers should try at least one bottle and try to tell the difference.
Thanks for stopping by, Jan. King’s sure must have been something special. Everybody has such great memories of the place.
Just reading all the comments and seeing mine and Randy’s. We loved that place. It was a real treat. Randy is still trying to replicate that French dressing.
Robin 3-16-2023
I ate there with my family. Best fried chicken I have ever eaten. Very light as I recall but I was quite young. My dad’s dry cleaning plant was down the street on Hines Ave.
Mickey,
See my post above. I hired a PI to track down the French Dressing recipe and he found Mrs King, the woman who had it. But she refused to share it. I imagine all the recipes are gone now.
OMG, I can’t believe she refused to share the recipe? I assume the restaurant had been long gone by then? What’s to gain by locking it up?!?!
Best chicken ever a fun place and don’t forget the minor bird that would say where’s your report card bring it back that chicken was to die for
I went to Kings in 1948 with my family (I was 8) and the food and ambience was as good as stated in all the prior comments. On the first few occasions we parked in their lot which had gravel. There was also a few live chickends running around. I know you mentioned a dance floor in the Selznick book but I don’t recall one. I have read all of your books and have been at most of the restaurants etc having lived in LA my whole life. Look forward to the next book in trilogy!
My family went to King’s often throughout the 1940 into the 1960’s. I went there as kid and took my future wife there on dinner dates. Jonny King and my dad were friends. when we showed up without a reservation he would meet my Dad in the restroom and from there to a table. We signed many lanterns over the years. All of the testimonies about how good the chicken was are true. Simply the best fried chicken ever. the chicken noodle soup was also special . the restaurant was one of a kind, and simply the king! I heard that Johnny Kings son, after closing the restaurant retire to Hawaii.
There may be a connection with a relative or friend their. the receipe would
would be worth a fortune.
Hi Jack and thanks for stopping by. What do you mean Jonny would your dad in the restroom? Was that a way of being discreet when getting you guys a table?
Hey ,, It’s Tom P. here ,, WOW ,, Lot’s of comments about King’s
Tropical Inn,,,,, Can’t believe that NO one knows how the chicken was
made,,,, of All the people that knew the King’s ,, and the daughter of
” Papa Joe ” ,, He was a Amazing cook ,, Not just the Chicken ,, but
the meals he would prepare for everyone After the Close for the day;
simply the Best always ,, I guess at some point I should show someone
how to make the Chicken ( Yes,, I DO know how it was prepared ) and
several Cooks & Chefs have tried ,, but they have Not duplicated it,, YET.