Another list of things long gone - Part I
I know this one will take awhile. Restaurants that I really enjoyed eating at, that no longer exist. The first and foremost can be found only in a few old relics among my family members, a sign that was rusting away last time I was in the Santa Monica Canyon and in the photo I use as my profile photo on Facebook. Ted's Grill, located at 146 Entrada Drive. It was opened in 1927 by Ted and Mabel Pemberton and purchased by my grandfather in the late 1930s or early 1940. His name wasn't Ted, but since the name was already so well-known, he didn't change it. Years later, people would call him Ted and he wouldn't correct them. Tuesday night was fried chicken night and it was wonderful. The steaks and seafood were excellent and my grandfather made amazing clam chowder and lemon meringue pies. The place closed in 1975 when the owner of the land wouldn't renew the lease.
In the area where there is now a big supermarket and Big 5 store, on Wilshire at Franklin there was once a restaurant called Friar Tuck's. I think there was another in the shopping center at Ocean Park Boulevard and Lincoln as well. They made great burgers and fries. I don't know when it closed.
Right across the street was a restaurant I was going to before I was old enough to eat solid food. Uncle John's Pancake House was a place that my father took me before my first birthday. He'd set the carrier with me in it on the table and sit there on a Sunday morning and read the entire L.A. Times from cover to cover. He started taking me there as far back as I can remember. They made pineapple pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes and Dad's favorite, pigs in a blanket. When I first moved to Las Vegas there was one there as well, but there aren't any left anywhere near the L.A. area as far as I know.
LaBarbera's was a great Italian restaurant that I went to for years before discovering it was owned by the family of a classmate. Loved the pizza.
The Norm's on Lincoln and Colorado closed earlier this month. I ate there as a kid, and again as an adult when I was working in Santa Monica. It was the one place where I liked eating tilapia. Their lunch special was good. It was near another place...
The Penguin, just a few blocks to the South where Lincoln and Olympic Boulevard intersect. The sign in the shape of a penguin is still there but it's a dental office now. It was my second wife's absolute favorite place to have a weekend breakfast. Even once we moved to El Segundo, we'd still make the drive to Santa Monica to enjoy breakfast there.
When I was a teen, and again when I lived in Santa Monica as an adult, if I wanted a good burger/fries/salad combo, I'd head for the old Bob's Big Boy at Yale and Santa Monica. The parking was sometimes challenging and so was getting a table at peak periods. But the Big Boy burger combo made it worth the struggle. It's gone through one or two incarnations since then.
It was the best late night place in town. It was the best deli on the Westside, and maybe even in a wider radius. It's been closed for over 20 years now, and only the sign and the memories remain. Zucky's was in a word, awesome. I always found the food and service first rate, and I was shocked at its sudden closing 20 years ago this past February.
Fratello's was another Italian place which I visited as both teen and adult. I've never been a big fan of osso buco myself, but friends I dined there with raved about theirs. In the 1990s, a friend became the karaoke hostess there, and so I'd go regularly to support her show. To sing the night away while sipping on diet soda and water. Good times.
At the corner of 9th and Wilshire were two eateries that I loved in my youth. A&W Root Beer was a place we'd often walk to from the Boy's Club to grab a burger and root beer. Diagonally across the street was The Great American Food and Beverage Company. Their "planked feast" was a ton of food served on a real wooden plank. It was too much for even two people to eat. They also served a gigantic ice cream dessert. Katey Segal sang there before making it big, and Paul Scarne, nephew of the legendary magician Paul Scarne did close-up magic there. I actually took magic lessons from him for awhile, but didn't stick with it. However he was an excellent teacher and to this day, the one illusion I wanted to learn is one I can still do.
Two blocks away was The Broken Drum, whose slogan was of course, "you can't beat it". It was a regular stop in my days at a youngster at the Boy's Club.
Over on Santa Monica Boulevard, between 3rd and 4th Streets was the best place to get a hot dog at a sit-down restaurant. Lum's had outstanding hot dogs. Always great, always fast.
I recall three locations of Hamburger Hamlet that I would go to, one in Brentwood on San Vicente, one in Westwood and one on Sepulveda, near National. Great burgers, great steaks, great steak fries. In the early 2000s, I used to meet a friend there to eat dinner in the bar as we watched Lakers' playoff games.
The Santa Monica location of The Pacific Dining Car, a wonderful steak emporium was once the home to Sir George's Smorgasboard, an all you can eat buffet that was a hungry kid's delight.
In the early/mid 1990s, I went to a lot of "gatherings" that were held at Flakey Jake's on Sepulveda at Pico. A computer bulletin board system that I was a member of held monthly (bi-monthly sometimes) gatherings there. Food was only okay, but great ambience and great place for a big group to gather.
Further North on Sepulveda was Victoria Station, in what looked like an actual railroad dining car. That location closed before the one near Universal Studios, where I last dined on one of their excellent prime rib dinners one night in the mid 1990s. My ex-girlfriend and I were going to see James Taylor in concert that night at the Universal Amphitheater and in return for her providing the tickets, I bought dinner.
Speaking of prime rib, the last stop on the first part of this tour down restaurant memory lane served some of the biggest prime rib portions I've ever seen. They also had a salad dressing that got me to stop choosing my usual favorite of Italian dressing or back-up of French dressing. Tractons, on La Cienega near Rodeo Road, had this amazing green goddess dressing for their salads. The prime rib wasn't just huge, it was tasty too.
In the area where there is now a big supermarket and Big 5 store, on Wilshire at Franklin there was once a restaurant called Friar Tuck's. I think there was another in the shopping center at Ocean Park Boulevard and Lincoln as well. They made great burgers and fries. I don't know when it closed.
Right across the street was a restaurant I was going to before I was old enough to eat solid food. Uncle John's Pancake House was a place that my father took me before my first birthday. He'd set the carrier with me in it on the table and sit there on a Sunday morning and read the entire L.A. Times from cover to cover. He started taking me there as far back as I can remember. They made pineapple pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes and Dad's favorite, pigs in a blanket. When I first moved to Las Vegas there was one there as well, but there aren't any left anywhere near the L.A. area as far as I know.
LaBarbera's was a great Italian restaurant that I went to for years before discovering it was owned by the family of a classmate. Loved the pizza.
The Norm's on Lincoln and Colorado closed earlier this month. I ate there as a kid, and again as an adult when I was working in Santa Monica. It was the one place where I liked eating tilapia. Their lunch special was good. It was near another place...
The Penguin, just a few blocks to the South where Lincoln and Olympic Boulevard intersect. The sign in the shape of a penguin is still there but it's a dental office now. It was my second wife's absolute favorite place to have a weekend breakfast. Even once we moved to El Segundo, we'd still make the drive to Santa Monica to enjoy breakfast there.
When I was a teen, and again when I lived in Santa Monica as an adult, if I wanted a good burger/fries/salad combo, I'd head for the old Bob's Big Boy at Yale and Santa Monica. The parking was sometimes challenging and so was getting a table at peak periods. But the Big Boy burger combo made it worth the struggle. It's gone through one or two incarnations since then.
It was the best late night place in town. It was the best deli on the Westside, and maybe even in a wider radius. It's been closed for over 20 years now, and only the sign and the memories remain. Zucky's was in a word, awesome. I always found the food and service first rate, and I was shocked at its sudden closing 20 years ago this past February.
Fratello's was another Italian place which I visited as both teen and adult. I've never been a big fan of osso buco myself, but friends I dined there with raved about theirs. In the 1990s, a friend became the karaoke hostess there, and so I'd go regularly to support her show. To sing the night away while sipping on diet soda and water. Good times.
At the corner of 9th and Wilshire were two eateries that I loved in my youth. A&W Root Beer was a place we'd often walk to from the Boy's Club to grab a burger and root beer. Diagonally across the street was The Great American Food and Beverage Company. Their "planked feast" was a ton of food served on a real wooden plank. It was too much for even two people to eat. They also served a gigantic ice cream dessert. Katey Segal sang there before making it big, and Paul Scarne, nephew of the legendary magician Paul Scarne did close-up magic there. I actually took magic lessons from him for awhile, but didn't stick with it. However he was an excellent teacher and to this day, the one illusion I wanted to learn is one I can still do.
Two blocks away was The Broken Drum, whose slogan was of course, "you can't beat it". It was a regular stop in my days at a youngster at the Boy's Club.
Over on Santa Monica Boulevard, between 3rd and 4th Streets was the best place to get a hot dog at a sit-down restaurant. Lum's had outstanding hot dogs. Always great, always fast.
I recall three locations of Hamburger Hamlet that I would go to, one in Brentwood on San Vicente, one in Westwood and one on Sepulveda, near National. Great burgers, great steaks, great steak fries. In the early 2000s, I used to meet a friend there to eat dinner in the bar as we watched Lakers' playoff games.
The Santa Monica location of The Pacific Dining Car, a wonderful steak emporium was once the home to Sir George's Smorgasboard, an all you can eat buffet that was a hungry kid's delight.
In the early/mid 1990s, I went to a lot of "gatherings" that were held at Flakey Jake's on Sepulveda at Pico. A computer bulletin board system that I was a member of held monthly (bi-monthly sometimes) gatherings there. Food was only okay, but great ambience and great place for a big group to gather.
Further North on Sepulveda was Victoria Station, in what looked like an actual railroad dining car. That location closed before the one near Universal Studios, where I last dined on one of their excellent prime rib dinners one night in the mid 1990s. My ex-girlfriend and I were going to see James Taylor in concert that night at the Universal Amphitheater and in return for her providing the tickets, I bought dinner.
Speaking of prime rib, the last stop on the first part of this tour down restaurant memory lane served some of the biggest prime rib portions I've ever seen. They also had a salad dressing that got me to stop choosing my usual favorite of Italian dressing or back-up of French dressing. Tractons, on La Cienega near Rodeo Road, had this amazing green goddess dressing for their salads. The prime rib wasn't just huge, it was tasty too.
posted by me at 11:31 AM
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