Watch out, here it comes...
Beverly Hills.
I’d actually long ago figured that the place I knew had disappeared due to the death of theaters, bookstores, camera shops, certain eateries, and the like. Since I’d been away from it, the first couple of bombshells were that “Via Rodeo” shopping thing and the whole expansion of the Civic Center. But those are ancient news. I could later tell from occasional glances at Google Earth or Bing that many structures had bitten the dust, and the likes of me learned long ago that that kind of New is almost never Good.
I'd moved from Ohio to L.A. in 1972, on a whim, and lived in Hollywood until 1975 when I moved to Beverly Hills to be closer to my job. (I actually didn’t have a car during those first few years in L.A.) My apartment was on Clark Drive, one block north and west of Wilshire and Robertson, and I was there until 1979. My job was at Litton Industries’ corporate headquarters on Crescent Drive at Brighton Way, a nice walk or bike ride from the apartment. (I like other people’s geographic specifics, so I’m giving my own for those who wish to follow along at home.) This is why I feel a strong bond to the former Hills of Beverly. Though there was never much of a night life (just about none after the movie theaters were gone), the place bustled throughout the day.
BK tells a horror story in the notes, and a dream story in Kritzer Time. The place was obviously greater in his years than in the 1970s when I knew it, but it was still viable. What first killed me was reading about Chesterfield Records, which I never knew (but I knew many other great record stores). And the Ontra Cafeteria – I didn’t know that one, and I didn’t think I remembered Ontra at all, but I recently discovered that an amazing old one I fondly remembered at Hollywood and Vine was an Ontra.
So, working an office job at Litton, I soon learned my way around the area, and I can honestly remember spending two or three dollars on a nice breakfast or lunch in Beverly Hills. There was a comfortable old coffee shop on the SW corner of Brighton and Canon that, sadly, became a Tony Roma’s shortly after I started going there. (That was, for me, the first death.) I loved the little café next to the Beverly Canon Theatre. Walter’s Pastry and Tea Room. Ah Fong’s (downstairs!) Chinese restaurant on Beverly Dr. (I believe there was another in Westwood). Michelangelo’s on Beverly. The Café Swiss on Rodeo. The Magic Pan, which we’ve talked about, which I think was in the building on Brighton Way at Camden (NW corner). Another small but very charming coffee shop on that SW corner. The Café Beverly Hills on Wilshire near Roxbury (not to be confused with the Beverly Hills Café on La Cienega, another strong favorite). The Hamburger Hamlet (I think there were two there – one on Bedford or Roxbury, which later became The Ginger Man (?), and a small one in an elegant-ish department store on Wilshire whose name escapes me at the moment). The Red Onion on the NE corner of Beverly and Dayton. Bon Appetit, a great cafeteria-style deli lunch spot on Beverly. A small sandwich place called Marty’s (?) at or near the SE corner of Beverly and Dayton...
(HOW AM I DOING SO FAR???)
...and ohmigod the Luau on Rodeo, surely one of the nicer Polynesian/Tiki restaurants at the time. Later, the Saloon on Little Santa Monica, which I associate with an “upscale chili” craze of the late 1970s. La Scala (?) on Little Santa Monica had an affordable café (an annex to their more upscale restaurant) with the most delicious chopped salad. Was there a House of Pie farther down Little Santa Monica? (Correct me if I’m wrong on any of these!) And I was always charmed by the little coffee shop in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel – for some reason, those little old places tucked into corners of jernts like that always held a certain magic for me – it was called the Pink Turtle Café or some such. The Orange Julius on Wilshire near Beverly. Oh, here's a good one -- Ye Little Club, a small dark old comfortable bar on Canon that served up the most delicious cheeseburger in the world (not to confuse this with today’s TOD). And for God’s sake, Nate ‘n Al’s, which started this whole mishegas.
I’m bound to remember something else later, but those, DRs, are the places a normal person – not the celebrities and one-percenters – just a normal working class person working a normal day job in the Golden Triangle of Beverly Hills – could WALK to for something good to eat without even thinking about breaking the bank. If you wanted to break the bank, there was the Brown Derby (or maybe that wasn’t so expensive – I don’t remember), the Bistro, and any number of more famous upscale places that we knew about but which we only got to on the more special occasions. Further, almost every place I listed had something on their menu that I’d give anything to sit down to and enjoy again. And no chain restaurants – only a few local area ones like the Hamlet, nothing at all like the national chains that even a place like Beverly Hills must be blighted with now. Oh – the Cheesecake Factory, which BK mentioned – we did go there for desserts.
I don’t think there were any record stores in the Hills o’ Bev by the time I got there, so I’ll have to hold my reminiscences for when we’re talking about Hollywood or Westwood or other locales. For bookstores, BK mentioned Martindale’s (whose name I recall somehow included Doubleday’s – is that possible? Something like Martindale-Doubleday’s?). Hunter’s was a bit more upscale or had a reputation for deeper selection, I think. And in the Beverly Wilshire was Brentano’s. I got hours of fabulous browsing accomplished in these stores.
Now don’t get me started on movie theaters. Okay, just a little. The Beverly Theater with its Taj Mahal-type dome. The Beverly Canon. And my favorite, the Stanley Warner – which by then was called, a little oddly, the Beverly Theater - a magnificently ornate movie palace, reduced, like those others in their latter days, to revival and second-run films. Not that there’s anything wrong with that! But what a place to spend an evening, and it often seemed like I had the whole magnificent place to myself. Sadly, I probably did.
In those years I was much into photography, and soon became a familiar face at the two camera stores in Beverly Hills where I took slides to be developed. I think the first one was on Canon, north of Brighton Way, and the other was on Beverly Drive in the block with Bon Appetit and a lot of other stores I wish I could remember now. Beverly Hills Camera, and Beverly Hills Camera Exchange, I think they were called. Last but not least, Jack’s Camera Exchange on Little Santa Monica.
That Beverly Drive block also had one of those wonderful stationery stores that were special places to explore - special, meaning that stores like Staples don’t even come close to holding the excitement and mystery for discovering that perfect thing for whatever the task of the moment was, and of course they also had other wonderful things I’d buy and then find a need for. There was a great old luggage and gift store right around there. For groceries, Smith’s Food King had a following, and there was a Ralph’s around the corner.
One point, or pernt, to make is that during business hours, at least, Beverly Hills was – not the best, but one of the good urban walking areas of L.A. at that time. Hollywood and Westwood ruled, of course, as did Melrose later on, but there was plenty to do there if that’s where you found yourself. I’m sure it was more of a destination place when the theaters were thriving and playing first-runs.
I just looked on Google Earth and found the top block of Crescent Drive - GONE - covered by some new monstrosity between the City Hall and the Post Office building. One good and worthy unique thing, in addition to Nate ‘n Al’s, that MIGHT still exist there: the space-age or Googie-style Union 76 gas station on Little Santa Monica. If it’s still a gas station. If it’s still a 76. If it still has the revolving 76 sign. If. If. If.
