This unremarkable café with the forgettable name holds a unique place in Hollywood history: it was the first restaurant in Hollywood. According to one source I read, it started with a guy (John, I assume) serving hot dogs to the commuters en route to Universal Studios. In 1916 it opened at 6750 Hollywood Blvd as John’s Chop House. Then, in 1919 he moved two doors along to 6754 and reopened as John’s Restaurant. Two years later, he was on the move again, now at 6382 Hollywood Blvd as John’s Café, which is what we can see in this photo. (In case you’re wondering, the longest-running still-open restaurant in Hollywood as Musso & Frank Grill opened in 1919.) My thanks to Al Donnelly for piecing together John’s Café’s history. One of the sources for this info came an interesting website of miniature recreations of places in yesteryear Hollywood. It’s worth your time checking out: Ghosts of Hollywood.
The Wilcox building which housed John’s Café came down in the late 1930s. This is what 6382 Hollywood Blvd looked like in August 2022.
I wonder what that place was to the right of “John’s Cafe” with the big “Th” beginning the name?
Thanks for that link, too! Quite interesting. I wonder what he meant by this: “Ciro’s opened in 1940 and quickly became the dinner/dance club of choice for the entertainment industry elite. Today it is occupied by the Comedy Store. Of all the paranormal Hollywood ghosts Ciro’s seems to harbor the most malvolent.” I don’t recall hearing anything about paranormal activity there.
I wondered about that too. Ghosts and paranormals aren’t really my jam, so that sort of thing doesn’t often come across my transom.
I have heard the comedy store is haunted. I don’t Know if it was from one of the Ghost shows that are out, or just reading about the history of Ciro,s. But I thought it was well known that the comedy store is haunted.
I have an unopened bottle of Ciro’s Labeled bourbon my dad got there at some point before he was married. I don’t know how it survived my teens, and my sister and brother’s teen years?
I don’t know about that, Mark, but I know someone who knows about such things far more than I do, so I’ll ask him. But the bigger mystery is how that Ciro’s bourbon is still intact!
Mansheffer Drugs on the corner gave way to The Sun Drug Company (the signage here). The Owl Drug Company occupied the corner in the new building which replaced Wilcox Auditorium (ex-Wilcox Hall, which served as city hall for the old City of Hollywood before annexation).
Those models are amazing! Thanks for the link.