Remains of L.A.

Traces of L.A.'s past can still be found, in the kitsch of '50s diners and the decayed glamour of '40s hotspots… and sometimes the food is good, and there are nice people.

Tag Archives: Restaurants


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(1956) Beeps, Van Nuys

beepsMy friends Corey and Suze had both expressed an interest in going to Beeps, so David (my husband) and I arranged to meet them there for dinner. Then we were really late because we hadn’t counted on traffic being as rough as it was. There are few things I hate more than being late.

Beeps had been described to me as a diner, but it’s really more of a sandwich/burger stand with a tiny indoor eating area and a slightly less tiny patio. The counter has an order window both on the inside and the outside, and if you’re eating there they’ll bring you your food.

-I got a patty melt and onion rings. I’ve never had a patty melt with tomato on it before, and if I have my way Continue reading →


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(1967) Dinah’s Chicken, Glendale

dinahssignI walked to Dinah’s Fried Chicken for lunch; I figured I’d need the exercise to make up for the eating I was about to do. I grew up on the edge of the South, and sometimes right in it, and Dinah’s made me feel wonderfully comfortable and happy. Everything that is charming about southern decorating is crammed into this one room.

-Red walls and wooden tables, pretty wooden chairs, ceramic chickens and pictures of chickens everywhere. Painted along the top of the wall are pictures of open windows with flowerpots, which should be corny but somehow isn’t at all.

-I got two pieces of fried chicken, dark meat, and corn on the cob. It took a good deal of effort to not get mashed potatoes, but I did it. Everything is exactly perfect, down to the Continue reading →


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(1915) Watson Drugs & Soda Fountain, Orange

watsonsignDavid (my husband) and I were going to a play in Anaheim, so I looked to see what places on the list were nearby, and settled on Watson Drugs & Soda Fountain.

I love drugstore lunch counters. They were on their way out when I was a kid, but I have dim memories of them, of regular plain old drugstores where you could get grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and milkshakes. In old books they’re always such a staple, and take on a sort of romance for me in how very prosaic they are. I once told David (my husband) that my dream writing space would be a small apartment upstairs from a drugstore with a lunch counter, and he asked if the apartment would have a place for clients to sit when they came to ask me to solve crimes, because I was clearly getting being a writer confused with being a private detective in the forties.

–long counter with stools, and also lots of Continue reading →


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(1946) Original Tommy’s Hamburgers, Los Angeles

tommy signThere are lots of Original Tommy’s Hamburgers stands around L.A., but this is the original one. I’ve never been to a Tommy’s, but David (my husband) is a fan so we stopped by late(ish) Saturday. The parking lot made a square, with two places to order and get food, one in the wall and one in the stand-alone shack near the street. The counter at the wall had a long line, with none at the shack, which was where I wanted to get the food anyway, so we walked over to find out why. The counter guy explained that they wouldn’t be opening for five or ten minutes. The line looked longer than that so we decided to wait. It was maybe three minutes, and by the time our food came there was a long line behind us. All the people made it feel like a party. Possibly because so many of them were at least a little drunk.
-Bare bones steel and formica, but somehow charming nonetheless. It smelled good, and the lights made Continue reading →


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(1956) Little Toni’s, North Hollywood

It was incredibly hard to get a picture of this sign to show up on my camera as anything other than a block of light. But I stuck with it.

It was incredibly hard to get a picture of this sign to show up on my camera as anything other than a block of light. But I stuck with it.

Wasn’t planning on going to another place Friday night, but we went to a party at a bar and when we got there the kitchen was closed and I was hungry and Little Toni’s was just down the street, so David (my husband) and our friend Corey and I walked over. I had always assumed, for some reason, that it was a pizza-by-the-slice type place, with a counter and rickety tables. Turned out to be a sit-down restaurant, much nicer than you usually see open till 2 a.m.

-Getting there was confusingly difficult; it sits on a wedge-shaped corner where three streets cross at odd angles and none of the crosswalks seemed to lead there. We were finally forced to nervously jaywalk.

-Light wood walls and exposed Continue reading →


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(1959) Red Lion Tavern, Silverlake

red lion signRed Lion Tavern today. According to the website it started as a British pub, and became German in the ’60s. I haven’t eaten much German food, but seem to remember liking what I have eaten.

When I walked in it was almost too dark to see, but the waitress/bartender (I think I’ll just call her the barmaid, that’s sort of what she was dressed as, and while she brought the food she seemed to spend most of her time behind the bar, and I like the word “barmaid”) called out in a cheery way that I could sit anywhere.

-I’d heard that upstairs was very different so I checked it out first, and it was–a bright beer garden with a sky light and lots of loud people who all seemed to be sitting Continue reading →


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(1908) Philipe the Original, downtown L.A.

philippessignPhilippe the Original, which is always just called “Philippe’s,” claims to have created the french dip sandwich. I say “claims” because Cole’s, which is also downtown and opened the same year, claims the same thing. I’m planning on going there soon. I don’t think it matters a lot who did it first, as long as they’re both delicious. David (my husband) and I got to Philippe’s around noon, wanting to see it during the lunch rush. It was bustling but not overwhelming; he says he’s seen it with lines out the door.
-Everything about this place screams “been here forever” but not like it’s falling apart. It’s all very clean and well kept, just reeking of old-fashioned goodness. Strong wooden booths, long communal tables, sawdust on the floor.
-The counter where customers order food is long and shiny and, for me, almost nose-high. There isn’t really Continue reading →


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(1952) Tony’s on the Pier, aka “Old Tony’s,” Redondo Beach

TonyssignsurfTony’s, with its fresh seafood and all, seemed a little pricey for me (that’s definitely going to be an issue, going forward) but the bar, which sits on the roof of the restaurant like an octagonal hat, was said to have amazing views, so I thought I’d check it out. I wanted to walk on the pier anyway.
I go to restaurants alone all the time, but almost never to bars, because I don’t drink, and it seems weird to sit at a bar drinking club soda. It was fine at this bar, though, cause I just said I was there for the view and the bartender smiled said they don’t charge extra for the view and put a bowl of some kind of fancy chex mix next to me.
-Eight walls of windows looking out over the Pacific, wooden beams, ceiling fans that looked like they were woven from palm fronds, lots of wood, a peaked ceiling and, for some reason, what I’m pretty sure were fire-fighter hats hanging on each of the eight ceiling beams. Lights in huge colored globes hanging from the ceiling in fishing nets. This was one of the best rooms I’ve ever been in.
-At the table next to where I am sitting, Continue reading →


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(1969) Eat at Joe’s, Redondo Beach

eatatjoesI had a babysitting job down in Redondo Beach today, and afterwards headed over to Eat at Joe’s for lunch.
-Bright white walls with bright blue chairs, doors, windowsills, and beams. A color combination I find particularly lovely.
-Communal seating at long tables… for someone as (sporadically, randomly) shy as me, this is a bit difficult. When the waitress tells me to sit anywhere I slide into a seat at the far end of a table. Four chairs separate me from the two elderly couples at the other end. I overhear, “my dermatologist is worried about you,” and then they lower their voices.
-I have a hard time deciding what I want. I’m fairly hungry, but nothing seems right. Mostly because I’ve decided not to have meat after last nights bbq binge, and being allergic to eggs severely limits my options. I settle on a veggie burger and french fries. Meh.
-Free wifi, so that’s nice.
-There are a number of pictures of Continue reading →


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(1967) Pinnacle Peak, San Dimas

this is a little misleading, as the cow was higher than the sign

the sign and the cow

I told David (my husband) that he could choose which restaurant we’d go to tonight, and after a great deal of deliberation he decided on Pinnacle Peak (a perfect choice to show that I really mean “in and around” L.A., and that 1967 is actually a long time ago now, even if you wish it wasn’t.). Their sign is a covered wagon, and there’s a cow on the roof. The cow isn’t really doing anything, and it isn’t lit up at night, like the sign is. It’s just a cow, standing there, on the roof.

-We had heard that they didn’t allow ties, that if you wore one they’d cut it off and hang it on the wall, so I helped David (my husband) choose a tie we didn’t particularly like. The waitress showed us to our table and took our order, then came back a while later ringing a cow bell, talking about how there was a city slicker in the place, and cut off David (my husband)’s tie with big scissors, and everyone cheered. It was fun. I think they give you Continue reading →