In this 1948 photo we’re looking south-ish on the western side of Vine Street in Hollywood at Tom Breneman’s Hollywood Restaurant which stood at 1525 N. Vine. It was where he broadcast his popular morning radio show between from 1941 and 1948. I do love the sign for the neighboring restaurant called Glorifried Ham and Eggs. I want to eat there for the name alone! Also visible is a bar called Radio Room, which has long intrigued me. Did they have a big radio in there like sports bars today have lots of TVs?
This is a screen shot of the Radio Room I took while watching RKO’s “Nocturne” (1946)
Here is the Glorifried Ham and Eggs menu:
This is roughly the same view in December 2020. Remarkably, a vestige of that building survives today:
I like the illustrations on the menu.
I would stop by to have breakfast for dinner, then nip in to the Radio Room
for a cocktail
some info on the Radio Room
https://www.fellers.se/Kid/1940s_Radio_Room.html
Very nice. Would love to have been in the audience listening to the band.
Thanks, Johnny. Info on that place is rare. It was a more happening joint that I ever suspected.
https://flemingsbond.com/glorifried-ham-n-eggs/
“He had a typical American meal at an eating house called ‘Gloryfried Ham-N-Eggs’ (‘The Eggs We Serve Tomorrow Are Still in the Hens’) on Lexington Avenue and then took a cab downtown to police headquarters, where he was due to meet Leiter and Dexter at 2.30.” (‘Live and Let Die,’ Ian Fleming, Pan Books Ltd., London, 1963, p. 34)
‘The Eggs We Serve Tomorrow Are Still in the Hens’ – that’s the most evocative motto I’ve heard in a long, long time.
That’s an unusual place for a bowling alley, as seen in the Nocturne screen cap.
The menu for Glorified Ham and Eggs is priceless. I like “From Pan to Mouth,” but I love “A few cackles and a squeal/America’s dish of taste appeal.”
Somebody spent a lot of time and effort coming up with that memorable motto!
Found an old matchbook with Tom Breneman’s Hollywood Restaurant on the cover. Phone # HO.3577 One side has the name and a picture of I’m guessing Tom. Other side shows the restaurant and address. All matches still in the book. Never used.
did that not become belaskos which i worked at in 1948??
Breneman died unexpectedly in 1948, so I guess it’s possible his restaurant then became something else called Belasko’s, but I’ve never heard of it (nor as Google when I did a search on “Belasko’s Vine Street Hollywood.”
This became my Dad’s (Gene Norman) 1st nightclub “The Empire”before he opened The Crescendo (1954-1964). The first opening headliner was Benny Goodman! I’m enjoying your work!
Thank you!
Neil
Hey Neil, thanks for stopping by. I didn’t know Tom B’s later became a nightclub. Do you know what dates The Empire was open?