Imperial Western Beer Company from “Blast from the Past”

I absolutely hate losing things – it is one of my biggest pet peeves, especially when the items can’t be replaced.  Such was the case with a group of photos I took of Union Station’s former Fred Harvey Restaurant back in June 2009.  Upon learning about the site and its appearance as the dance club in fave movie Blast from the Past, I toured it as a possible wedding venue and it promptly became one of my top contenders.  Closed since 1967, the historic and strikingly unique venue is a virtual time capsule of 1930’s glamour.  Though the Grim Cheaper and I ultimately got married elsewhere, Fred Harvey Restaurant left a mark on my heart and I vowed to do a post on it.  Somehow, I forgot and it was not until discovering that the space had been renovated and finally reopened (after 51 years!) as the Imperial Western Beer Company last October that I was reminded.  When I sat down to pen my post, though, I could not find my photos anywhere.  I still can’t.  Though I am deeply saddened not to have those images, the misplacement gave me a great excuse to get back out there to see the restaurant in its revamped state.

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Part of the Fred Harvey Company chain of hotels and eateries, the downtown L.A. Fred Harvey Restaurant, which I’ve also seen referred to as the “Fred Harvey Room” and “Harvey House,” initially opened along with Union Station in 1939.

The popular conglomerate, established in 1876, catered to commuters and travelers by offering quick, tasty meals in upscale locations dotted near train stations all over the U.S.  The company was also noted for only employing women who became known as “Harvey Girls.”  Per a 2009 Los Angeles Times article (which unfortunately is not online), founder Fred Harvey hired the fairer sex because they were less inclined “to get likkered up and go on tears.”

Union Station’s Fred Harvey outpost was designed by architect Mary Colter in the Art Deco and Spanish Colonial Revival styles.

With a colorful tiled entrance,

a large central lunch counter,

rounded leather booths,

a three-story vaulted ceiling,

a grand staircase . . .

. . . leading up to a mezzanine,

and dazzling patterned flooring,

the space really was a sight to behold – and still is.

Fred Harvey proved so popular that in 1941 the need to expand arose and a bar area was added in what was formerly an adjacent breezeway.

Colter was pegged to design the 2,300-square-foot addition and did so to spectacular fashion in the Streamline Moderne style.

During its glory years, the restaurant served more than 800 meals an hour and more than 100,000 hungry patrons each day, per L.A. Weekly.

As train travel waned following World War II, Fred Harvey patronage died off and the place was eventually shuttered in 1967.  It would stay that way for the next five decades, opening only for special events and filming.

Though recent years saw a definite want for a new eatery to open in the space, bringing the site up to code proved cost prohibitive.  So it remained vacant.  You can see what it looked like during that time here.

Finally, in 2014, restauranteur Cedd Moses of 213 Hospitality (the company also owns frequent film stars Casey’s Irish Pub, and Cole’s French Dip) stepped in with a grand vision to restore the place to its original glory and re-open it as a brewery/gastropub.  And thus, Imperial Western Beer Company – named in honor of the Imperial, a Southern Pacific liner that initially ran between Los Angeles and Yuma in the 1930s – was born.

The restoration process took four years to complete and, though the menu was modernized and the property brought up to code, aside from turning the lunch counter into a bar, the furnishings and décor were left pretty much intact.

The 1941 bar addition also got a revamp . . .

. . . and is now known as “The Streamliner.”

Of the finished product, Moses told L.A. Weekly, “To me it’s a love letter to our city.  We felt responsible to bring this back in a great way and hopefully do the space justice.  My only regret is that my father wasn’t here to see it.”  Sadly, Cedd’s dad, artist Ed Moses, who hung out at Fred Harvey Restaurant back in the day and even once dated a Harvey Girl, passed away shortly before the eatery opened.

Considering the property’s immaculately preserved state and years of vacancy, it is no surprise that it wound up in scads of productions.

In the 1999 romcom Blast from the Past, Fred Harvey Restaurant portrayed Club 40’s, where Adam (Brendan Fraser) dazzled Eve (Alicia Silverstone) with his swing-dancing prowess.

The exterior, which was heavily dressed with window coverings, neon lights, palm trees and awnings, made a brief appearance in the scene.

The Streamliner popped up briefly, as well.

In 1998, The Brian Setzer Orchestra fittingly shot their video for the swing classic “Jump, Jive an’ Wail” at Fred Harvey Restaurant.  You can watch it here.

Fiona Apple’s 2000 “Paper Bag” video, which was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, made spectacular use of the space . . .

. . . and gives us a great glimpse of what the lunch counter looked like prior to being transformed into a bar.

In the 2003 comedy Anger Management, Fred Harvey Restaurant portrays Mort’s, said to be on 86th Street in New York, where Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) stages a fake date to make his ex-girlfriend jealous.  The exterior of the eatery . . .

. . . as well as the interior . . .

. . . and The Streamliner all make appearances.

In the 2005 thriller The Island, the site masks as the Yucca Amtrak station where Tom Lincoln (Ewan McGregor) and Sarah Jordan (Scarlett Johansson) attempt to catch a train to L.A. . . .

. . . before James McCord (Steve Buscemi) is shot off the mezzanine . . .

. . . and into the bar below.

Fred Harvey Restaurant plays La Noche Cubana nightclub, where Abby (Katherine Heigl) and Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler) grab drinks and dance towards the end of the 2009 romcom The Ugly Truth (another one of my favorites).

And in the 2011 drama Atlas Shrugged: Part I, Paul Larkin (Patrick Fischler), Orren Boyle (Jon Polito), Wesley Mouch (Michael Lerner), and James Taggart (Matthew Marsden) discuss taking down Hank Rearden (Grant Bowler) while at Fred Harvey Restaurant.

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Until next time, Happy Stalking! 

Stalk It: Imperial Western Beer Company, from Blast from the Past, is located on the southern side of Union Station at 800 North Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles.  You can visit the gastropub’s official website here.  The restaurant is open weekdays starting at 4 p.m. and weekends beginning at 12 p.m.