Tag Archives: Restaurants
Harvey’s Broiler, 7447 Firestone Blvd., Downey, California, circa late 1950s
When Harvey’s Broiler opened at 7447 Firestone Blvd in Downey in 1958, the Googie-style combination coffee shop, restaurant, and drive-in was the largest of its type in Southern California. The car at the far right is a 1957 Chevrolet convertible, … Continue reading
Mother Goose Pantry restaurant, 1959 E. Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, California, circa late 1920s
Most examples of mimetic architecture are just big examples of what they sell: a lemonade stand in the shape of a lemon, a florist in the form of a flowerpot. But the Mother Goose Pantry, which stood at 1959 E. … Continue reading
The May Company department store, at Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, 1944
In this color photo from 1944, we’re given a glimpse into wartime life at one of Los Angeles’s busy intersections – Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave, where the popular May Company department store stood on the northeast corner, with its … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Color photo, Restaurants, Stores and Shopping, Wilshire Blvd
7 Comments
Biltmore Hotel, from the corner of 5th and Olive Streets, downtown Los Angeles, 1943
This grand building is the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The photographer was standing on the corner of 5th and Olive in 1943, when the world was fighting WWII. This was a time when Los Angeles was flooded with … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Downtown Los Angeles, Hotels, Los Angeles, Pershing Square, Restaurants, WWII
Leave a comment
Hoosegow Cafe, 7732 Washington Blvd, Culver City, California, circa late 1920s
The word “hoosegow” was a popular slang term in the 1920s and 30s meaning “jail.” But why anybody thought a jail-themed café would make a fun night out is a mystery to me. But the owner of the Hoosegow Café … Continue reading
Fatty Arbuckle’s Plantation Club, 10920 Washington Blvd, Los Angeles, circa 1928
Poor ol’ Fatty Arbuckle. In the early 1920s, a series of highly publicized rape trials in which he was found innocent irreparably damaged his reputation and he was held up but the more conservative elements as an example of the … Continue reading
Exterior view of the Brown Derby Restaurant, Hollywood, circa 1938
In this circa 1938 shot of the Vine Street Brown Derby in Hollywood, we can see that it was still sandwiched by the Eddie Cantor gift shop to the north and the Satyr Book Shop to the south. But if … Continue reading
Fish Shanty Restaurant at La Cienega Blvd and 4th Street Beverly Hills, circa 1950s
I don’t know what to look at first in this photo. Is it the gaping whale mouth that decorates the Fish Shanty restaurant that used to stand at the diabolical four-way intersection of La Cienega Blvd, San Vicente Blvd, Burton … Continue reading
Aerial view of the Melody Lane Drive-in restaurant on the southwest corner of Wilshire Blvd and Western Ave, Los Angeles, circa 1940s
The aerial shot really shows how Los Angeles was a horizontal city in contrast to the verticality of New York or Chicago. What we’re looking down at the Melody Lane drive-in restaurant on the southwest corner of Wilshire Blvd and … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Aerial photographs, Restaurants, Theaters, Wilshire Blvd
Leave a comment
Coffee Pot now a seafood restaurant, 7275 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, 1930
I’m guessing the conversation went something like this: “Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Let’s take that drive-in place at 7275 Beverly Blvd shaped like a coffee pot, cover it in oyster shells and turn it into a seafood restaurant. … Continue reading