Musso & Frank Grill (bhampton1963, Flickr)
For dineLA.com
Los Angeles can’t lay claim to Christopher Columbus or the Pilgrims, but the county still has plenty of history, and that’s reflected on the plate. Here’s a sampling of some of LA’s most enduring (and endearing) restaurants.
Sam Mortarana and wife Jennie opened Casa Bianca in January 1955. The corner restaurant grew so popular that they expanded three times. Children Ned and Andrea currently run the Eagle Rock classic, and still employ time-tested family recipes. Stone-lined gas ovens produce pizzas like the Deluxe, topped with mushroom, green pepper and house-made sausage. Newer entrees include pasta arrabbiata and chicken piccata. Ned Martorana believes the key to Casa Bianca’s success boils down to two words: “being consistent.”
Lithuanian immigrant John Isaac began serving Southwestern chili at his Green Bay bar in 1900. Thirteen years later, the chili grew so popular that he renamed the establishment Chili John’s. Son Ernie moved to Los Angeles and launched Chili John’s of California in 1946, installing the U-shaped counter and, since he was an avid fisherman, painting the mountain lake mural. For the past 20 years, the Loguercio family has owned Chili John’s. Gene recently passed away, but wife Debbie has carried on with sons Anthony and Alec. At first, the menu was limited to chili, spaghetti and beans. The Loguercios still use the original recipe, but added chicken and veggie version. They make two icebox pies, lemon and pineapple, both with crumbly Graham cracker crusts. As Debbie Loguercio said, “It’s just real food, no filler.” Closed in July and August.
In the ‘20s and ‘30s, there were more than a dozen cafeterias Downtown, but only Clifton’s remains. Robert Clinton grew up in his grandfather’s multi-story restaurant, which was inspired by trips to the Brookdale Lodge in the Santa Cruz Mountains. To replicate the national park surroundings, he hired unemployed Depression-era artisans, including stone sculptor Francois Scotti and muralist Einar Peterson. To stay relevant in an area without department stores and movie palaces, Robert Clinton and father Donald have tweaked the menu. “Tastes of the different people on Broadway have changed,” but you’ll still find classics like strawberry cream cake, hand-carved roast turkey and fruit-studded Jell-o.
Alejandro Borquez and wife Rosa came from Sonora and opened El Cholo on the city’s then-western border in 1923, billing themselves as a “Spanish café.” “Back in those days, Mexican food was not perceived as well prepared or sanitary,” says great grandson and current owner Ron Salisbury. The stigma is long gone, but the sign remains outside the sprawling hacienda-style café. Chef Roberto Juarez oversees all four El Cholos, where menu items are marked with the years of introduction. Original dishes include chile con carne, albondigas and green corn tamales, which are available May through October. Salisbury’s rule for continued relevance: “Stay very true to standards and history.” Note: USC students get a 50% discount since Salisbury attended the school.
Christian Anthony Fosselman launched his eponymous ice cream company in 1919, in Iowa. He moved west in 1924, and over eight decades later, grandsons Chris and John continue the tradition in Alhambra. The brothers have kept in step with the changing neighborhood demographics, adding flavors like taro, green tea and lychee. To satisfy traditionalists, they still offer flavors like lemon custard, peppermint and English toffee. Fall flavors include an October-only black licorice. The enormous banana split comes with a choice of any three scoops and any three toppings. No matter the flavor, Chris Fosselman remains committed to “doing things the right way, making it so good you can’t resist it.”
Al Langer had sharpened his knife skills in East Coast delis for 12 years by the time he relocated to LA in 1936. He passed away in 2007, but son Norm, his wife Jeanette and daughter Trisha run the show at the MacArthur Park institution. The old school deli features brown booths and a painting of Langer hand-slicing his famous pastrami, which is sugar-cured and seasoned like corned beef, then smoked and spice rubbed. Langer’s bestseller is #19 on the menu, a pastrami sandwich with Swiss, cole slaw, Russian dressing and warm re-baked rye. Other popular choices include corned beef, egg-studded chopped liver studded and frothy egg creams.
The oldest restaurant in Hollywood dates to 1919 and still maintains a retro glamour. Jordan M. Jones, the great grandson of long-time co-owner John Mosso, now runs the restaurant. “As a child, all the waiters knew me and my brother liked maraschino cherries, so they’d bring maraschino cherries,” says Jones. “Now they bring extra olives for my martinis.” The staff has serious staying power. Musso & Frank has only had three chefs in the past 84 years. Current chef Silvestre Moya relies on original recipes that were developed by long-time chef Jean Rue, including flannel cakes at breakfast, steaks and sand dabs at dinner.
In 1927, Marius Taix, Jr. opened Taix French in his father’s hotel in Downtown LA’s bygone French Quarter, then moved to Echo Park in 1962, always specializing in the cuisine of his family’s native France. Marius’ grandson Mike currently runs the sprawling restaurant and lounge. Signature plates include roast chicken, onion soup and escargots. You’ll also find specials like roast duck with green peppercorn sauce and halibut with tomato-cumin sauce. Mike Taix has adjusted the menu to keep pace with “the development of a late night scene and in response to Echo Park's emergence as a hipster area.”
“Tex” Taylor and wife Margie opened their eponymous steakhouse in 1953, then relocated nearby in 1970. Son Bruce Taylor took over in 1978 and opened a La Cañada spin-off in 1996. In the low-lit original, long-time chef Fernando Mendez cooks cuts of aged Prime beef at 700 degrees in a gas broiler, highlighted by the culotte, a three-inch-thick center-cut of top sirloin. What’s the key to Taylor’s endurance? “We’re about as good as all the high end steakhouses,” says Taylor. “We use some of the same meat suppliers…our portions are beautiful and we do it for about half of what the other places do.”
When the Bernheimer brothers built their nearly century-old hilltop mansion, it housed a bowling alley, a monkey house and priceless Japanese treasures. For the past four decades, the Japanese-inspired palace has been a Japanese restaurant with stunning city views. Andy Ulloa and stepfather Tom Glover, Jr. currently run Yamashiro, where chef Jason Park prepares dishes like Kurobuta pork carnitas with scallion-risotto cake and Asian BBQ baby back ribs with mashed sweet potatoes and Asian five-spice cornbread. The one recipe that remains is Norman’s Mai Tai, invented by their late bartender, a native Hawaiian.Casa Bianca, 1650 Colorado Blvd, Eagle Rock, 323.256.9617
Chili John’s, 2018 W Burbank Blvd, Burbank, 818.846.3611
Clifton’s Brookdale Cafeteria, 648 South Broadway, Los Angeles, 213.627.1673, cliftonscafeteria.com
El Cholo, 1121 S Western Ave, Los Angeles, 323 734 2773, elcholo.com
Fosselman’s, 1824 West Main St, Alhambra, 626.282.6533, fosselmans.com
Langer’s Deli, 704 S Alvarado St, Los Angeles, 213.483.8050, langersdeli.com
Musso & Frank Grill, 6627 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, 323.467.7788, mussoandfrankgrill.com
Taix, 1911 W Sunset Blvd, Echo Park, 213.484.1265, taixfrench.com
Taylor’s Steak House, 3361 W 8th St, Los Angeles, 213.382.8449, taylorssteakhouse.com
Yamashiro, 1999 N Sycamore Ave, Hollywood, 323.466.5125, yamashirorestaurant.com
