Gary B says: “The Tail o’ the Cock in Studio City was a big hangout for a lot of Hollywood people, including John Wayne. We lived a few blocks from the Tail, and my dad would occasionally report he had bumped into Duke there. They had gone to school together in Glendale and were old pals.”
I have a specific, wonderful memory of this Tail O The Cock in Studio City.
When I was 10 years old, in late 58, my dad worked for State Farm Insurance in Orange County. Part of his job was to visit agents in LA, Hollywood and the SF Valley.
I had been on a couple sojourns with him earlier. I always got excused from school, all day and this time we ended up in the valley. We stopped at the agent’s office, it was around lunch time. My dad said,”Where’s a good place for lunch?”.
The agent said “Tail O The Cock, very close by”. This one was rural, nothing close by, except a movie/TV studio. So, we go in and it was dark, red leather upholstery in the booths . We sit down and in walk some actors dressed like cowbows, boots, spurs that jingled. Being all of 10 years old, I was impressed. These guys were TALL and good looking. In those days, this was Western time on TV (Bonanza, Rawhide, Sugarfoot et al .
They walked in like they owned the place..
They said “Hi” to us, I couldn’t talk.
Wish I could remember who they were and the name of the studio next door.
For a young boy who played cowboy a lot , I was in heaven!
I can’t remember what we had for lunch, it didn’t matter.
Cheers, Doug
What a great memory, Doug. Thanks for sharing it with us!
On another visit, same era, we went to the Brown Derby (not the hat) with an agent in Hollywood. It was fantastic to see all of the drawings on the wall. I had a “mixed drink”,
a Roy Rogers, 7-up with cherry juice! I don’t recall seeing any show biz people there, but it was terrific.
Great site, Martin, I still haven’t made it all the way through.
Thanks for the memories!
Doug
Tail of the Cock restaurant. I went there several times. My grandfather was a building contractor, and always wore a hat when we went out. We had dinners with many people, including my grandfathers brother, often. The food was always good and I would always get a Shirley Temple to drink while everyone else had alcohol. However, one night we went and I noticed my mother was really nervous and wanted to go home. I don’t remember exactly who the people were that she was nervous about, but later she said that they were famous mob people that she had seen in the news often. I don’t know if we left or not, but she was really worried.
The other thing I remember was that I was at home one morning. Dad had gone to work and left the garage door open. I was sick that day. We were going to go to the doctor for a check up, and I went out in my bathrobe to get in the car. Mother was not with me. There were two cars in the garage. One was my mothers car, and the other was a 55 ford, maybe medium to dark blue. The other car was not ours, though it was the same make and model. I looked inside and in the back seat were a shotgun and a Thompson Automatic machine gun. I went back in the house, and we didn’t get to the doctors until much later that afternoon. Oh, and the car was used in a robery of the Tail of the Cock, in Sherman Oaks. I always wanted to know more about what had happened that day, but never was able to find out.
But the tail of the cock restaurant is what I judge all other restaurants by. And there aren’t many like it any more. It was nice, quiet, and the waiters were very formal.
Oh my, Rick! Thanks for sharing all that with us! I’ll never think of this place in quite the same way again!
Great find. Started reading more about Tail o’ the Cock after recently seeing it in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza. Wish I’d been there back in the day- reminded me of the Cockatoo Inn. Great site, Martin!
Thanks, Phil. I’m glad to know you’ve been enjoying my various yesteryear offerings.
Ditto Phil! I was a teenager living in the SFV during the 70s myself, so watching Licorice Pizza movie is bringing back a flood of memories. As a young adult entering the world of banking in the 70s, I participated in many business meetings including the traditional “3 martini” lunch, at the Tail ‘o the Cock. I remember the bar better than the dining room, that was the usual busines setting and style back in the day.
You remember, Flookys, La Reina theater, the hippodrome, Hamburger Hamlet. We just watched Licorice Pizza, super fun movie. I passed by this restaurant a hundred times in the early 70s as a young teenager.
I spent one amazing day in 1986 at the Tail. I was newly arrived to LA and looking for a film job with my new film degree.
My dad, who had been a reporter, had an old friend, Jack Schermerhorn, who lived the valley and who he thought had some “connections.” In reality, he was a nice guy and old reporter who liked food and drinks, and was eager to get out of the house.
So I arrived in my 1979 Fiat Spider before the lunch rush, and I was the first customer for the valet. Jack’s wife dropped him off, and we sat down to lunch. I usually don’t drink at lunch, but Jack insisted, and we both hit the scotch. After the food was finished, we switched to B&B and spent the afternoon talking and drinking it, while Jack entertained me with stories of my dad as a young reporter. Pretty soon it was time for dinner, so we had another meal, more scotch, then more B&B. His stories were amazing, as was the food and atmosphere.
I felt like the tail was an “old time’ roadhouse of a place where execs would sneak over Caheunga pass to meet romantic partners, or have secret meetings. Dark, leather, booths. The place was full of people dressed in fashions of various eras, going back into the 50s I think. Little funny hats with feathers, skinny ties, all kinds of suits and lapels. I got the feeling that people there were dressing as they did in their era of success, and there were a lot of eras represented…. It was amazing.
Finally, it was time to go, and I gave my ticket (#1) to the valet. He brought me a gold Rolls-Royce convertible, as my Fiat had been hidden in the back and a more impressive car was in spot #1. I was tempted, but we left in the Fiat.
Both of us were well served, and Jack had trouble directing me to his house, so we drove around for a while and eventually found it. His wife was FURIOUS. Apparently he was not supposed to be drinking, and he used our lunch/dinner as a way to have a last, great blow-out. I never saw him again, and he died a few months later, but I was glad to be part of his last great bash, and to see the Tail before it was gone.
Hey Mike, thanks so much for stopping by and sharing all your wonderful memories.