Frank Talk

EVEN THOUGH MOST RESTAURANTS fail within a year or two, there seem to be more than ever. Without a doubt, it’s a tough, competitive business. In Los Angeles, there are only a handful that have managed to last for generations. A few members of this elite club, almost all of them in downtown L.A., come to mind.

Cole’s started as Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet and was in business from 1908 until 2007 when it changed hands. Following a remodel, it reopened in late 2008. Many believe coleslaw was “invented” at Cole’s, but that’s not really the case. However, like it says on their sign, they do call themselves the “Originators of the French Dip Sandwich.”

This has long been disputed by another well-known eatery, Phillipe the Original. Their “French Dipped Sandwich” creation story varies a bit from Cole’s, but I prefer to stay out that controversy. Phillipe also opened its doors in 1908 and was taken on by new owners in 1927. It moved to its current location to make way for the Hollywood Freeway in 1951.

We’re proud to be among such great company.

In 1923, the restaurant that was to become the first El Cholo opened. Four years later, the founder’s daughter and her husband started their own version of the Mexican restaurant in a different location where it still stands today. Like ours, it remains a business that has been shepherded by succeeding generations. I have a special memory of my mother making the trip to the Western Ave. location to bring home some of the fresh green corn tamales El Cholo served from May to October.

Pacific Dining Car, the small downtown restaurant housed in a replica of an early railroad dining car opened in 1921. When speculators swallowed up the land it sat on in 1923, the dining car was wheeled down the city’s streets in the middle of the night to where it stands now. In the days before air conditioning, the couple that owned it put up a “gone fishing” sign and shuttered the place for three months during the summer. Pacific Dining Car is still in the hands of its founding family.

Since 1919 Musso and Franks has kept its old-school atmosphere as a mainstay on Hollywood Blvd. even after the original owners sold it to two Italian immigrants fairly early on. Recently, third and fourth generation family members oversaw a restoration project that refreshed it’s interior without sacrificing any of its historic look. Today, it’s rightly considered a venerable landmark in a rapidly changing area.

Families and dedicated co-workers have worked hard to offer the best.

Both our seventy-eight-year-old Lawry’s The Prime Rib, Beverly Hills and our nearly century-old Tam O’Shanter definitely deserve to be ranked among the kind of iconic L.A. restaurants I mention here. I’m certain we share the same qualities that have allowed these businesses such longevity.

At Lawry’s, four generations of the founders’ families and dedicated co-workers have worked hard to offer the best. We’ve adapted to changing tastes without losing sight of our original concepts. Our guests know they will consistently find great food, terrific service and one-of-a-kind atmosphere with us. Our goal is to make sure that every time you dine with us you feel special and appreciated. We believe this is the key to lasting success.

We wish all the other “elder statesmen” of the L.A. dining scene the best. We’re proud to be among such great company.

From the desk of Richard R. Frank