One of the feels-like-it’s-been-there-forever fixtures on LA’s restaurant scene is Canter’s 24-hour delicatessen on Fairfax Ave, just up from CBS and The Grove. But that wasn’t its original location. Canter Bros first opened at 2323 Brooklyn Ave. (now called Cesar Chavez Avenue) in Boyle Heights in 1931. Back then, Boyle Heights was largely a Jewish neighborhood. When the Jewish community started leaving the area in the 1940s and coalescing around the Fairfax neighborhood, Canter’s did too, and then again when they bought the Esquire Theatre and moved into its current location. This photo of the Brooklyn Ave location is from 1939 and shows us that, like many institutions, it came from more humble beginnings.
Canter’s delicatessen the founders inside the original location, 1930s:
Here’s the founders posing inside the original location in the ’30s. Love how the long-ago sun lays on the floor and mixes with shadows on those beautiful counter tiles.
My family use to go their for breakfast every morning. We owned Belfair Cleaners and the Ebony Room Bar down the street. Sam Rabin owned the Auto parts store on Blyln and Evergreen. MY DAD WAS Mr R. MENDEZ. If you men rremember this get in touch. I live in N.Y.C. Thanx.
One of my childhood memories. My father used to take us there growing up. We’d go there for their pastrami sandwiches that were so yummy. My father always referred to this as Brooklyn Avenue.
My mothers family immigrated to that neighborhood in the 1920’s.In the 1930’s they used to go to this Canter’s.
I was born in that neighborhood in the 1940’s. I remember the 4 of us would go to this Canter’s every Sunday and order a “Meat Plate”…Corned Beef, Pastrami, Tongue & cheese. We ordered or got a plate of Rye Bread, Pickles, Cole Slaw & Potato Salad. We sat there & made our own sandwiches. The whole thing cost between $3. -$7. ?
One of the feels-like-it’s-been-there-forever fixtures on LA’s restaurant scene is Canter’s 24-hour delicatessen on Fairfax Ave, just up from CBS and The Grove. But that wasn’t its original location. Canter Bros first opened at 2323 Brooklyn Ave. (now called Cesar Chavez Avenue) in Boyle Heights in 1931. Back then, Boyle Heights was largely a Jewish neighborhood. When the Jewish community started leaving the area in the 1940s and coalescing around the Fairfax neighborhood, Canter’s did too, and then again when they bought the Esquire Theatre and moved into its current location. This photo of the Brooklyn Ave location is from 1939 and shows us that, like many institutions, it came from more humble beginnings.
Here’s the founders posing inside the original location in the ’30s. Love how the long-ago sun lays on the floor and mixes with shadows on those beautiful counter tiles.
http://waterandpower.org/3%20Historic%20Photos%203/Canters_1930s.jpg
Thanks, Martin.
My family use to go their for breakfast every morning. We owned Belfair Cleaners and the Ebony Room Bar down the street. Sam Rabin owned the Auto parts store on Blyln and Evergreen. MY DAD WAS Mr R. MENDEZ. If you men rremember this get in touch. I live in N.Y.C. Thanx.
Hi there and thanks for your comment. I didn’t arrive in LA until the 90s.
One of my childhood memories. My father used to take us there growing up. We’d go there for their pastrami sandwiches that were so yummy. My father always referred to this as Brooklyn Avenue.
Well, Jeanne, it was on Brooklyn Ave, so technically your dad wasn’t wrong!
My mothers family immigrated to that neighborhood in the 1920’s.In the 1930’s they used to go to this Canter’s.
I was born in that neighborhood in the 1940’s. I remember the 4 of us would go to this Canter’s every Sunday and order a “Meat Plate”…Corned Beef, Pastrami, Tongue & cheese. We ordered or got a plate of Rye Bread, Pickles, Cole Slaw & Potato Salad. We sat there & made our own sandwiches. The whole thing cost between $3. -$7. ?