Stan’s was a popular chain of drive-in restaurants in the 1940s and 50s with more than a dozen locations around Los Angeles—most of them formerly Simon’s. This image isn’t a photo but a freeze-frame taken from Columbia’s “The True Story of Lynn Stuart” (1958) at the Stan’s on the southeast corner of Sunset Blvd and Virgil Ave across the street from the Vista Theatre. Although it’s from a movie, I think it gives us a real-life feel of what it was like to be parked at a Stan’s while waiting for our order of a cheeseburgers, double fries, and chocolate malted thick shakes. With all that neon tubing on the roof, I’d imagine it also look pretty cool at night.
The site that Stan’s used to stand on is currently occupied by a Crossroads clothing store. This image is from July 2024.
I looked at both photos before I read the text and when I saw the “now” photo and the roads around it, I thought of the area around the Vista…and sure enough!!! It seems like there’s six roads all converging at that intersection. It can take five minutes to cross the streets from one area to another!
Thanks, Martin. The memories! Love that stuff. Stan later sold out to another chain, and then they sold out to the folks who owned the Red Lantern restaurants. Reminds me of Bob’s Burgers in Burbank. Cozy 50s drive-in. I think they’re one of the last. They have their famous oldies car show every so often in Bob’s parking lot. Then they have the parade of vintage cars driving through beautiful downtown Burbank, usually weekends.
Huell Howser (who we all miss) did many feature stories on PBS about Hollywood drive-ins. I’m sure he mentioned Stan’s.
Unfortunately, there seem to be no reference images to explain why the building was originally created with those porthole openings that let in light to simulate a steamship deco look..sort of like the Coca Cola building in downtown. Also odd, is the boy like half-head sculpture bordering the Stan’s name, which might logically have a counterpart on the opposing side…maybe a girl? If it was simply added by the movie set designers, that may explain why we don’t see this at other locations. Too bad more folks did not take snapshots of this place that would have helped solve the mysteries. We can see a view of the Virgil Avenue side in (IIRC) the 1958 film Hot Rod Gang. Or was it Hot Rod Girl? Or Hot Rod Beach Bums Bingo Party? Well, its one of them.
That head is the head of the girl (waitress) who appeared on the cover of their menus. But I agree, it’s rather odd to have just a random head seemingly stuck up there. Maybe it was just for the movie shoot. Anything’s possible in Hollywood!