Built in 1964 for Richard S. Preble, who cut his teeth at the International House of Pancakes, Preble's offered an affordable menu and specialized in homemade pies and hamburgers. The waiters still wear red jackets and bow-ties, crab louie is still on the menu, and theres a vintage phone booth in a corner that youll absolutely want to take a photo in. But for nostalgic millennials still mourning the loss, the pain might be too much. Somehow this iconic West Hollywood drinking den seems way older than it actually is thanks to its location inside Sunset Tower, an Art Deco landmark built in the 1920s as a luxury apartment building for the rich and famous. The chain not only included classic sports memorabilia and a menu of traditional bar food, but also hosted premieres and events with some of the top celebrities and sports figures in the world. A carhop, seen beneath the awning right of center, is serving customers. Our favorite area, though, is the back room: its usually the least crowded and feels the most like the kind of place you wouldve seen Frank Sinatra fall off his barstool. The Lamplighter was extinguished in 2010, but the building remained intact, paving the way for Corky's to make its triumphant return in 2010 under new ownership (aka the same folks who own the equally fantastic Paty's in Toluca Lake). After years of success, the owners sold the popular burger joint to Hardee's in 1982. And though it had fallen on hard times in the past, a massive refurbishment a couple of years ago brought it back to its glory days, complete with three separate bars, a dine-in train car, and a spacious rooftop. Please enter a valid email and try again. Nick's Cafe It then changed hands several times without any major updates. Sadly, the chain was short-lived. Open since 1939, Formosa is one of the oldest bars in the city, with more Hollywood history than the bathrooms at The Beverly Hilton. In the first place, our city tends to have such large concentrations of people that restaurants can thrive without catering to an American clientele. Built at the height of car culture, designed with Space Age flourishes to symbolize the progress of a new era. Ponderosa Steakhouse menu included steaks, seafood, and chicken entres, all of which come with their buffet for a nominal charge. This Koreatown bar has been in everything from New Girl to Chinatown to Mad Men, but has resisted becoming a money-grubbing tourist trap. The chain expanded across the country, with locations in high-traffic places like Times Square in New York City. It is not because of the way Italian restaurants exploded onto the scene, making pasta a household word. if( navigator.sendBeacon ) { You Probably Cant Name These Characters From The Office. During the '40s and '50s, every A-list celeb was a regular at Toots Shor'sfrom Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe to Jackie Gleason and Judy Garland. Located on Seventh Avenue, The Stage was one of the most popular delis in New York City after being founded in 1937 and was known for having a menu full of Broadway-inspired dishes. The diner, originally configured as more of an open-air patio-style spot that was later covered over to create the dining room you seen now, according to Rosenbluh, was named after the daughter of the original owners. BAR RESTAURANT MENU 1980'S . The newest Mel's outpost has been open since June 2018. RELATED:No-sugar-added recipes you'll look forward to eating. Having discovered spice, we wanted more of it. WebMay 23, 2013 - Old World Restaurant on the Sunset Strip in 1979. She lived in a little house behind the place until 1980, when they sold the restaurant. While the assortment of soups and triple-decker sandwiches bring in the out-of-towners, longtime diners tend to go for more comforting dishes: think fall-apart stuffed cabbage rolls filled with tender beef and covered in a sweet and sour sauce, plump sides of kishka, and steaming potato knishes. LA has its fair share of classic restaurants, and amongst them is a treasured subset: The Old Hollywood spot. 10 Awesome Vintage Baseball Cards Thatll Make You Want To Grow A 70s Mustache. Weve done the legwork and spent countless hours on finding innovative ways of creating high-quality prints on just about anything. Swanky Cafe Pacific has been a Park Cities mainstay since 1980, this place is a power-lunch haven for one-percenters who wish to dine on fine seafood. The Zagat people have just sent out a press release saying that Los Angeles is at the forefront of a revolution in cooking. Its been a staple of California dining since 1919, and the historic charm of this vintage restaurant hasnt faded one bit. If eating dinner in an over-the-top replica of a Japanese palace, complete with courtyards, a 600-year-old pagoda in the garden, and giant fishbowl cocktails, sounds like something youd be interested in, its time for you to pay Yamashiro a visit. Starting with a small shop in Indiana in 1954, Burger Chef eventually grew to over 1,000 locations and rivaled fast food giant McDonald's. ICYWW, it is the diner featured near the end of Sam Raimi's 2009 film, Drag Me to Hell.470 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood. xhr.send(payload); 101 Coffee Shop Country singer Kenny Rogers ventured into the chicken business in 1991. 323-467-1175, 101coffeeshop.com. Sign up for How To LA, delivered weekday mornings. It was colorful and exotic, sweet and spicy with a tropical tinge that we all found overwhelmingly seductive. Since the early 2000s, New York City has seen the death of many iconic diners. According to an old menu on eBay, you could get a steak for less than $5 or a spaghetti burger (intriguing!) TEST YOURSELF: Can You Identify These TV Game Show Hosts? You've hit your max! Sure, the food isnt anything particularly special (and comes at Beverly Hills prices), but for a fun breakfast in the area, this place cant be beat. NOW: When Western Dental left the space a few years back, San Francisco-based restaurant chain Mel's swooped in and got to work peeling back all that drywall. Click to enlarge. Lots of it. In 1991, country singer/songwriter Kenny Rogers ventured into the fast-food business. One of the real revelations of the last decade has been the delicate food of Vietnam. But the original McDonald's drive-in, which was founded in 1948 and located in San Bernardino, California, isn't a McDonald's restaurant anymore. Founded in Minnesota in 1975, the popular spot offered "a celebration of food," which started with free chips and two salsas (one hot and one mild). The last location closed in 2012. Delish editors handpick every product we feature. With the first one opening up in New York City in 1991, they started popping up all over the place: Chicago, Cancun, London. Opened in 1966, this legendary Boyle Heights restaurant has tremendous bean-and-cheese burritos that were immortalized by the late food writer Jonathan Gold. But in 2018, its parent company filed for bankruptcy. Mexican chain Chevys was founded in 1986 in California. Plus, Uncool Burgers relocates to West Hollywood, and Spoons Patisserie goes on hiatus. But after 24 years, the We may earn commission from the links on this page. The cocktails are strong (they make a particularly good Old Fashioned), the crowd is weird and over-the-top, and most importantly, youll always be able to walk right in. Put those skills to the test. There's still one Casa Bonita location in Coloradoand it has official landmark status. The place got a jolt of fame from Jon Favreau's 1996 movie, Swingers, although the screenplay may actually have been written with a certain diner on Beverly in mind. Most of us couldnt get enough of it; before the decade was over Los Angeles was the Thai restaurant capital of the country, with virtually hundreds of little Thai places dishing up mee krob and pahd thai. 6 Sweet Tomatoes/Souplantation Shutterstock Founded in the In the 1980s, the restaurant began to decline, as it switched up menu items in favor of more chicken and fish. However, after filing for bankruptcy in 1998 the company was acquired and sold in 2001. Here's The Best Restaurant Buffet in Every State. To read and save unlimited articles, sign up to become a Delish member. Or places like Chinois, which created a new sort of Chinese-French hybrid. Can You Guess The Name Of These 80s BMX Riders? Ham is still very much on the menu. The last Kenny Rogers Roasters operating in North America was located in the Ontario Mills mall in Ontario, California which closed on December 31, 2011. You find it at places like City Restaurant, where Indian, Korean, Thai and Japanese dishes share the menu with the foods of France, Italy and the Americas. November 2019. (Guzzle & Nosh/Flickr Creative Commons), Rae's diner in Santa Monica. Seating is limited to the original U-shaped counter, and you have to jump into a seat as soon as it's vacant (similar to the Apple Pan). But in 2011, Marble Slab and MaggieMoo's merged, and the MaggieMoo's brand was folded into Marble Slab locations. Still love buffets? Hollywood Landmark Restaurants of the 1950s! Follow Eater editors each week as they share their favorite dishes around town, By submitting your email, you agree to our, The freshest news from the local food world, Remembering the Restaurant Design of the 80s and 90s in Los Angeles, Sign up for the Frequented by rock n roll heads, actors, and their assorted groupies since the 70s, you never know who or what you might see at the Rainbow. Serving perhaps the greatest pastrami in America, Langer's is a fantastic diner in Westlake offering everything from reuben sandwiches and corned beef to matzo ball soup and lox. (Guzzle & Nosh/Flickr Creative Commons), A pair of red booths by the rock wall inside Pann's, near LAX. The interior of Cindy's diner in Eagle Rock. Maybe they're where epic movie deals were signed, iconic TV shows were filmed, or legendary actors got hammered after set. His chain restaurant, which focused on causal dining, never grew to tremendous popularity. In the '90s, better known as the era of gimmicky restaurants, a set of iconic athletes (Wayne Gretzky, Andre Agassi, and Joe Montana, to name a few) teamed up with Planet Hollywood to open the Official All Star Caf. } ); But fast forward a few years, and you'll see that the decade wasn't always kind. Chi-Chis was a Mexican-restaurant chain that once operated in the United States and Canada but exited those countries in 2004. Holloway Dr., Horn St., & Sunset Blvd. By 1986, Gino's was no longer in operation. The space is essentially a series of massive interconnecting dining rooms, each filled with various fireplaces, wood-paneled walls, and of course, hundreds of framed acting headshots. Norm's Popular menu items at Steak and Ale included the signature herb-roasted prime rib, Kensington club, New York strip, filet mignon, and spicy grilled chicken pasta. There's nothing like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and there's nowhere that did it quite like Ponderosa Steakhouse (or Bonanza Steakhouse, depending on which location you went to). Meanwhile, chefs who really cared about fish started going to the Japanese fish markets and we suddenly started hearing a whole lot less about fish flown in from France. Save. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008. It has to be one of the only diners in L.A. still operated by its original owners and it's an essential stop on your way to or from LAX.6710 La Tijera Blvd., Los Angeles; 323-776-3770; panns.com. In 1936, Chasen's opened and instantly drew in a flurry of Hollywood clientele. Our Mexican restaurants had always served salsa, but compared to the kim chee sitting on the tables in some places in Koreatown, it was hardly even hot. We can't resurrect all the Armet & Davis gems we've demolished or abandoned, but we can still find a few vintage gems dotting the landscape. 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