The Brown Derby restaurant at 1628 Vine St being one of the most popular joints in Hollywood, it’s rare to find a photo of it without cars parked out front or people passing by or waiting under the awning. So I do wonder how this photographer managed to pull off the impossible. But it does give us a clear view of the building that compassed not only the restaurant, but the Record Room to the south and the 24-hour coffee shop to the north. Without and vehicles or fashions to narrow down the date of this photo, I’m going to guess sometime in the 1950s because I believe that’s when the coffee shop replaced the part of the building that had once held the Eddie Cantor Gift Shop (yes, that Eddie Cantor) in the 1930s and a liquor store in the 1940s.
Michael M. says: “My mother worked for the Brown Derby, and was brought in from the Los Feliz location to open the coffee shop. She was there until a work related injury permanently sidelined her in 1962. Their customer base drew from NBC, CBS, Capitol Records and, of course, the studios. She knew everyone, and loved her time there. This would have been around 1954.”
This is roughly that same view in July 2024.
The little building on the left of the tall buildings (with the truck out front of it) still looks like the old Derby roof slightly, just with a modified roof and archways. Is that the same building.
It does look similar, but it’s too close to Hollywood Blvd to be part of the Brown Derby building.
There is an article on this site. Says the site of the former Brown Derby Restaurant is now occupied by apartment hi-rise that paid tribute to the Hollywood Brown Derby with a replica Facade of the former restaurant.
You got good eye to catch that.
https://www.laalmanac.com/history/hi404c.php
Oooh thank you. I love all of this. I do like to look closely to see if anything was left the same..love exploring old LA.