famous restaurants – Page 18

November 16, 2010November 16, 2010

Little Dom’s Restaurant from “90210”

This past Saturday night, I dragged the Grim Cheaper out to Los Feliz to stalk Little Dom’s – an Italian eatery owned by Warner Ebbink and Brandon Boudet of the Eat Heavy Restaurant Group, the very same team that was responsible for founding the 101 Coffee Shop that I blogged about yesterday. The GC and I had actually breakfasted at the Los Feliz-area establishment once before a couple of years ago, but at the time I had no idea the place was a filming location or a celebrity hotspot, so I, unfortunately, did not take any photographs while there. Well, imagine my surprise when just a few months later the restaurant was featured in a Season 2 episode of fave show 90210. I recognized the place immediately, and, let me tell you, just about fell out of my chair. And then this past September, I just about had a heart attack when the eatery appeared on 90210 yet again. And then, last week, when I came across these November 4th paparazzi photos of the cast of Glee – including Lea Michele, Dianna Agron, Cory Monteith, Amber Riley, Harry Shum Jr., Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Naya Rivera, and Chord Overstreet – dining at the restaurant, I just about died and immediately informed the GC that Little Dom’s was where the two of us would be spending our upcoming Saturday night.

Little Dom’s first opened in January of 2008 on the corner of Hillhurst Avenue and Avocado Street in the heart of Downtown Los Feliz in the space that previously housed the French bistro La Belle Epoque. Warner Ebbink, who so ingeniously designed the 101 Coffee Shop interior, completely gutted the former Epoque property and created the Manhattan-esque decor of his new Italian eatery from scratch. The interior designer/restaurateur searched far and wide, and I mean that literally, for the items that now make up his eclectic establishment. He purchased and then transported the wooden bar, which dates back to the 1930’s, from a former saloon in Eaton, Pennsylvania; he found the authentic leaded-glass windows, which now make up some of the restaurant’s interior walls, at an about-to-be-demolished building in New York City, and the picture of Yosemite National Park which hangs above the bar area was requisitioned from none other than Warner Brothers Studios. As the Eater website so aptly stated in their January 2008 review of the restaurant, “Warner Ebbink is an ace at making an entirely new space feel like it’s been there forever.” I couldn’t agree more! Sitting at the antique bar and looking around at the dimly-lit, tin-ceilinged space, I found it very hard to believe that the place had not been around during the heyday of Hollywood catering to members of the Rat Pack.

Besides the spectacular ambiance, Little Dom’s also serves up some fabulous food! I absolutely gorged myself on the Brussels Sprouts with Shaved Parmesan side dish and the Truffled Chicken Salad with Arugula Sandwich entrée – both of which were divine! And I just about died from excitement when I saw that they featured my very favorite dessert, Affogato – vanilla gelato with a shot of espresso (pictured above) – on the menu! I never actually knew that my favorite dessert had a name, nor had I ever actually seen it featured on a restaurant menu before, but I have been ordering a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso on the side as dessert for just about as long as I can remember. So, the fact that Little Dom’s had it named on their menu was simply amazing to me! The restaurant also breaks down their wine list into three sections – ”Tried and True”, “Your New Best Friend”, and “Go Out on a Limb” – which I thought was just about the cutest thing ever. The eatery’s prices were also extremely, extremely reasonable, which, needless to say, the Grim Cheaper was thrilled about. We both absolutely LOVED the place and cannot wait to go back there for another stalking/culinary adventure.

It should come as no surprise that, in the three short years that it has been in operation, Little Dom’s has become a big time celebrity hot spot. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there recently include Drew Barrymore, Jason Segel, Katherine Heigl, Josh Kelly, Rachel Bilson, Joe Jonas, Pixie Lott, Conan O’Brien, Ryan Reynolds, Megan Fox, Kate Walsh, Zachary Quinto, Michelle Williams, Spike Jonze, Vince Vaughn, Gisele Bundchen, Ron Livingston and, as I mentioned above, most of the cast of Glee. And while the GC and I, unfortunately, did not spot anyone famous on this most recent trip to the restaurant, we did see actor Michael Cera, who played Paulie Bleeker in the 2007 movie Juno, during our first visit there.

And the place is also a filming location! Little Dom’s appeared in the Season 2 episode of 90210 titled “Women’s Intuition”, in the scene in which Debbie Wilson (aka Lori Loughlin) confronts Sasha (aka Mekia Cox) about what she suspects is her fake pregnancy. That scene was filmed in the booth located closest to the restaurant’s front door.

Little Dom’s was also used in the Season 3 episode of 90210 titled “2021 Vision”, in the scene in which Mr. Cannon (aka Hal Ozsan) “accidentally” bumps into Erin Silver (aka Jessica Stroup).

In the scene, Silver sat in the booth located third in from the restaurant’s front door. That particular booth was, sadly, occupied while I was stalking the place, so I had to settle for taking a photograph in the one directly next to it.

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Silver’s Vespa was parked just outside of the restaurant, on Avocado Street, in the scene. And I just have to say here that I am absolutely hooked on 90210 this year. The series started getting pretty good last season, but I think it is just now finally beginning to hit its stride and I absolutely love it, love it, love it. Especially the brewing romance between Liam Court (aka my latest celebrity crush Matt Lanter) and Annie Wilson (aka Shenae Grimes). Those two are SO darn cute together!!!

Little Dom’s also appeared in the 2010 movie The Kids Are All Right, in the scene in which Nic (aka Annette Bening) and Jules (aka Julianne Moore) discuss the fact that their children’s biological father Paul (aka Mark Ruffalo) is now a part of their lives.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Little Dom’s restaurant from 90210 is located at 2128 Hillhurst Avenue in Los Feliz. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

November 15, 2010June 16, 2011

The 101 Coffee Shop from “Swingers”

One location that I have wanted to stalk ever since moving to Los Angeles over a decade ago, but didn’t because there were numerous erroneous reports floating around online which stated that the place had since closed down, was the 101 Coffee Shop which appeared in the 1996 movie Swingers. It wasn’t until Mike, from MovieShotsLA, pointed out the restaurant to me while driving by it after we finished our tour of Paramount Studios back in September that I realized the location was, indeed, still open for business. I added the cafe to the top of my “To Stalk” list that very day and when fellow stalkers Lavonna, Beth, Debbie, and Connie came out from Ohio for a Hollywood stalking trip a few weeks later, we all hit the place up for a quick bite to eat.

Apparently, there is quite a bit of confusion surrounding this particular location, so I thought I’d put all the mystery to rest with today’s post. The diner, which is located on the first floor of the Best Western Hollywood Hills Hotel, originally opened in the 1930’s and was named the “Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop”. In 1994, the restaurant, which was faltering at the time, was taken over by a French chef named Susan Fine Moore and her husband, Michael, who revamped the property’s interior and updated its menu to include an array of standard comfort foods along with some Mexican dishes. Of the new menu, which vacillated greatly from L.A.’s typical low-fat fare, Fine said, “We kind of pride ourselves on being an oasis from all that craziness. There’s a new diet, a new fad every week, but actually people seem a little bit less obsessed than they used to be about diets. Otherwise we wouldn’t be so busy. Generation X is lovely – they’ll eat anything. And the older generation is figuring, I suppose, who wants to live to 108 if you can’t put butter on your potato?” Love it! The Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop really started to take off under the helm of Susan and Michael and it was at that point that the place, thanks to its high-quality food and laid-back attitude, started attracting celebrities. A few stars who were known to frequent the diner include Brad Pitt, my girl Jen Aniston, Sandra Bullock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Johnny Depp, Andy Garcia, Minnie Driver, Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, and Kevin Spacey. After losing their lease in July of 2001, Susan and Michael moved their restaurant two miles east to a new location at 1745 North Vermont Avenue, but the place, sadly, closed down shortly thereafter. In the meantime the former Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop space was leased to new owners – Warner Ebbink and Brandon Boudet of the Eat Heavy Restaurant Group – who opened a new eatery in its place.

That new restaurant is named the 101 Coffee Shop and, let me tell you, it is a VERY cool place. Ebbink, who has a passion for architecture as well as food, redesigned the property’s interior himself, modeling it after the old-time cafes of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Boudet serves as the head chef and, under his tutelage, the eatery still serves up high-quality comfort food, including macaroni and cheese, meatloaf and gravy, and tuna melts. For the foodies in your group, more highbrow offerings, like the Grilled Tandoori Salmon Sandwich, the Kale “Greek” Salad, and the Grilled Albacore Tuna Burger, are also on the menu. And, despite the change in ownership, the restaurant is still a big time celebrity hotspot. Fellow stalker Chas ran into both Nicolas Cage and Matt LeBlanc on two separate occasions while dining at the cafe. So, while the Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop is no longer in operation, the 101 Coffee Shop is alive and well, and, despite the remodel, is still very recognizable from Swingers.

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Then out-of-work actors Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau actually wrote the screenplay for Swingers over several meals at the Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop. (The restaurant seems to be something of a lucky charm for writers as the pilot episode of the extremely successful CBS comedy series Everybody Loves Raymond was also penned in one of the cafe’s back rooms.) According to a November 1998 New York Times article, Favreau and his good friend Vaughn used to frequent the diner regularly. Of the restaurant, Favreau said, “It was like a family atmosphere. We didn’t have a lot of money, and I lived in a tiny apartment up the block. I loved the people who ran the place, who made you feel like a big shot, even if you weren’t. Very good portions – you never left hungry.” Once the screenplay was sold, Favreau decided to use the restaurant as a filming location for no less than three scenes in the movie! The Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop first appears in the opening scene in which Mike (aka Favreau) talks to Rob (aka Sex and the City’s Ron Livingston) about how to get his girlfriend back.

That scene was filmed in the second booth to the left of the restaurant’s main door, which, despite the remodel, still looks very much the same today as it did in the movie.

The scene in which Trent (aka Vince Vaughn) tells Mike that he is “all growns up” was also filmed at the cafe. The booth where that scene was filmed is, sadly, no longer there. It looks as if the restaurant also had some sort of a grocery section at the time the movie was filmed, but it no longer does today.

The movie’s ending scene, in which Trent thinks a fellow diner is making goo-goo eyes at him, also took place at the former Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop.

In more recent years the coffee shop stood in for Winkie’s, the diner where Lorelai (aka Lauren Graham), Rory (aka Alexis Bledel), and Emily Gilmore (aka Kelly Bishop) stopped to grab a bite to eat while on their way to North Carolina to attend Mia’s wedding in the Season 7 episode of Gilmore Girls titled “Gilmore Girls Only”.

Randomly enough, Gilmore Girls filmed in pretty much the exact same spot where Lavonna, Debbie, Connie, Beth, and I ate lunch! 🙂 So cool!

In the Season 1 episode of Entourage titled “Date Night”, Vincent Chase (aka Adrian Grenier), Johnny ‘Drama’ Chase (aka Kevin Dillon), Eric Murphy (aka Kevin Connolly), and Turtle (aka Jerry Ferrara) grab some breakfast at the cafe on the morning of Vince’s big movie premiere.

Some filming for that episode also took place outside of the coffee shop.

The Entourage boys returned to the cafe to film the Season 7 episode of the show titled “Buzzed”, in which Turtle’s credit card is rejected after he tries to pick up the gang’s lunch tab.

The coffee shop was also featured twice in the 2007 movie In the Land of Women. It was first seen in the opening scene in which Sofia Bunuel (aka Elena Anaya) breaks up with Carter Webb (aka Adam Brody).

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And it was used in the ending scene in which Carter meets Janey (aka fave actress Ginnifer Goodwin).

Big THANK YOU to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for telling me about this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The 101 Coffee Shop, aka the former Hollywood Hills Coffee Shop from Swingers, is located at 6145 Franklin Avenue, on the first floor of the Best Western Hollywood Hills Hotel, in Hollywood. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

November 12, 2010November 12, 2010

Lucky Baldwin’s British Pub and Cafe from “The Big Bang Theory”

In the recently-aired Season 4 episode of fave show The Big Bang Theory titled “The Irish Pub Formulation”, Sheldon Cooper (aka Jim Parsons) refers to an Old Town Pasadena-area restaurant named Lucky Baldwin’s Pub. Ironically enough, just a few days prior to watching that episode, fellow stalker John from Northern California had mentioned that very establishment to me in an email. While John was vacationing in Los Angeles earlier this summer, he had ventured out to Pasadena and stopped by both POP Champagne Bar, my very favorite restaurant, and Lucky Baldwin’s Pub and had written to me to let me know about his experiences there. Amazingly enough, I had never actually heard of Lucky Baldwin’s before receiving his email, but John said that the place had a good atmosphere so I made a mental note to check it out in the near future. Well, imagine my surprise when just a few days later I heard the place referenced on The Big Bang Theory! I am so incredibly thankful to John because had he not mentioned the bar in his email, I would have written the place off as a fictional locale that was created by the writers of the show. So, once I knew that it was, in fact, a real-life establishment, I just had to stalk the place.

Lucky Baldwin’s is an incredibly cool little bar tucked away on a side street of Old Town Pasadena. It is a low key, down-to-earth place that boasts an extensive menu of British pub favorites, including Bangers and Mash, Fish & Chips, and Pigs in a Blanket. Because I have always been the type of girl who prefers chicken strips to chicken marsala, a place like Lucky Baldwin’s is truly right up my alley. The only problem with chicken-strip-serving-type establishments, though, is that they tend to not feature champagne – my drink of choice – on their cocktail menu, but I am VERY happy to report that that was not the case at Lucky Baldwin’s! A bar that serves pub food AND champagne – that is simply music to my ears! Lucky Baldwin’s was first founded just over fourteen years ago, in July of 1996, by an Englishman named David Farnworth and his partner Peggy Simonian and was named after Elias Jackson “Lucky” Baldwin, the California businessman who founded Santa Anita Park in Arcadia and who owned the land that now makes up the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden. In 2005, Farnworth and Simonian opened a second restaurant named Lucky Baldwin’s Delirium Pub a few miles away in the sleepy little town of Sierra Madre. According to the Old Pasadena website, Lucky Baldwins is “truly Old Pasadena’s favorite secret hideaway” and I couldn’t agree with that statement more – the restaurant is definitely a secret. I’ve lived in Pasadena for over a decade now and had never even heard of the place! It is definitely going to be a frequent stomping ground for me and the Grim Cheaper in the future, though, because we absolutely loved the place.

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In “The Irish Pub Formulation” episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon discovers that Leonard Hofstadter (aka Johnny Galecki) has spent the night with their friend Raj Koothrappali’s (aka Kunal Nayyar’s) little sister, Priya (aka Aarti Mankad). To protect Leonard’s secret, Sheldon comes up with an “iron clad alibi” about that night which revolves around the fictional “fun-loving and morally-loose Miss Maggie Magarie”. Of Maggie, Sheldon says, “You met her at Pasadena’s most popular Irish watering hole, Lucky Baldwin’s, where Maggie spends her nights tending bar with a head full of curls and a heart full of dreams.” I think it is so amazingly cool that the writers of The Big Bang Theory, which is set in Pasadena, chose a real life locale to refer to in the episode. I love, love, love it when real life places are mentioned in movies and television shows.

They did get a couple of things wrong, though. In reality, Lucky Baldwin’s is British, not Irish, and the restaurant does not currently serve pickled eggs or whiskey (or any other hard alcohol), as Sheldon alludes to in the episode. But the Big Bang writers definitely did their homework on this one because, according to our waitress, the bar is a popular hangout for both Caltech and Jet Propulsion Laboratory employees. On the series, Leonard, Raj, and Sheldon all work at Caltech, while Howard Wolowitz (aka Simon Helberg) is employed by JPL. The Bob’s Big Boy in Toluca Lake, which was also mentioned in “The Irish Pub Formulation” episode of The Big Bang Theory, is also, in fact, a real life locale. And while it might seem a bit crazy that I stalked this location due to a mere mention on a TV show, as you can see in this Yelp review, I wasn’t the only one to do so!

You can watch the hilarious “alibi” scene by clicking above.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker John for telling me about this location! 🙂

And a BIG shout out goes to fellow stalker Debbie who is celebrating a special birthday today! Happy Birthday Debbie!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Lucky Baldwin’s British Pub and Cafe, from The Big Bang Theory, is located at 17 South Raymond Avenue in Old Town Pasadena. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

November 8, 2010November 8, 2010

Villa Sorriso – The Restaurant Where Michael Jackson’s “Celebration of Life” Reception Was Held

One location that I stalked quite a while back, but, for whatever reason, have yet to blog about is Villa Sorriso Ristorante – the Italian eatery where the Jackson family hosted the September 3, 2009 “Celebration of Life” reception for pop star Michael Jackson following his burial at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale. I dragged my good friend Nat, who was in town visiting from the San Francisco-area, and the Grim Cheaper out to the Old Town Pasadena restaurant this past June to celebrate my 33rd birthday after the place had been high up on my “To Stalk” list for close to a year. And I have to say that the restaurant was definitely worth the wait! I absolutely fell in love with the place immediately upon entering.

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Villa Sorriso is absolutely HUGE and is composed of two formerly separate spaces that originally housed the restaurants Clearwater Seafood and Old Town Bakery. The 12,000-square foot property currently consists of a central outdoor courtyard that encircles a large silver fountain, a side patio with private cabanas that are available for rent, a martini bar and lounge complete with a separate VIP section, a private upstairs lounge named Zebra, and several indoor dining areas. Sorriso, as it was originally known, first opened back in 1991 and at the time was located at 46 East Colorado Boulevard, across the street from its current location, and was, ironically enough, the very first Pasadena restaurant my family and I ate at upon moving to the City of Roses a little over a decade ago. The eatery moved to its current location in early 2004, whereupon “Villa” was added to its name. Ironically enough, the Italian restaurant is actually owned by a Taiwanese-born aerospace engineer/investment baker named Jack Huang. After working in the aerospace industry for over a decade, Huang had a short stint heading up the worker’s compensation department of the popular Panda Express Chinese food chain, during which he became interested in opening a restaurant of his own. In 1994, Jack, along with his wife, Karen, founded his first eatery, Wok ‘N’ Roll Sushi, which was also coincidentally Old Town Pasadena’s very first sushi bar. In 2000, he purchased the already established Sorriso Ristorante from its original owner, Varo Angeletti, and set about revamping and updating the property which, at the time, was floundering. The restaurant became a hit and a few years later he moved it to its current, larger home. Instead of subletting the lease on the former Sorriso space, Jack decided to open up a tapas bar named Bar Celona in its place. And in November of 2009, he bought out the owners of the now-defunct Fred’s Mexican Cafe and opened up ix-Tapa Cantina, a spot which just so happens to be my very favorite Mexican restaurant in Pasadena.

Villa Sorriso is an absolutely beautiful place that serves up some fabulous food and I honestly can’t recommend stalking the place enough. I ordered the crusted rosemary chicken entree while I was there and it was simply delicious!! My favorite part about the restaurant, though, had to be the fact that old black-and-white movies are projected onto the walls of the courtyard each night, as you can see in the above photograph. So incredibly cool!

For Michael Jackson’s “Celebration of Life”, the Jackson family rented out the entire restaurant to host 250 of the King of Pop’s closest family and friends. Guests included Macaulay Culkin, Mila Kunis, Corey Feldman, Al Sharpton, and Gladys Knight. The entire Jackson family – most notably Jermaine – has apparently been frequenting the restaurant since it first opened back in 1991, which is how they decided upon holding the gathering there. Quite a few industry parties have been held there over the years as well, including the January 2010 FOX Broadcasting Company’s UpFront after-party, at which Lisa Edelstein, Jesse Spencer, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Dianna Agron, Jane Lynch, Cory Monteith, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Jenna Ushkowitz, Emily Deschanel, Olivia Wilde, and Seth Green were all in attendance. You can see photographs of that party here. My girl Shannen Doherty has also been spotted at the restaurant in the past.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Villa Sorriso is located at 168 West Colorado Boulevard in Old Town Pasadena. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

November 5, 2010June 16, 2011

The Canyon Country Store Where Jennifer Aniston Used to Work

I just recently finished reading Jennifer: The Unauthorized Biography, a FABULOUS book about my girl Jen Aniston written by Sean Smith, a famed British biographer who has also penned bestselling bios about J.K Rowling, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake. According to the brief blurb about Smith featured on the book’s first page, the U.K. newspaper The Independent once dubbed the author a “fearless chronicler” and I honestly couldn’t agree with that sentiment more. The guy is a meticulous researcher and, while you wouldn’t think there would be much information about Jen that I didn’t already know, Smith managed to dig up a few factoids that had me spinning with excitement – one of which being that the actress once worked at the Canyon Country Store – a deli/market in Laurel Canyon – for a few months before becoming famous. Smith happened upon the market by chance, actually. At the time she worked there, Jen was living just up the road from the store in a home at the end of Ridgemont Drive and, while venturing up to her former abode while doing research for his book, Smith decided to stop in for a bite to eat at the small grocery store. While there, he happened to ask the owner if Jen had ever frequented the place and was shocked to discover that she had actually once worked there! According to Tommy, the market’s longtime owner, Jen did a little bit of everything at the store – from working the cash register to stocking shelves to making sandwiches at the deli counter. When she started landing jobs in the entertainment industry, she quit working at the market, but would still pop in regularly to buy cigarettes and other essentials. Well, as you can imagine, I just about died upon learning that information and immediately dragged my husband right on out to stalk the place.

The Canyon Country Store has actually been around since the early 1900s. At the time it was known as the Bungalow Inn Lodge and area hunters would congregate there each night to host picnics. The Inn burned down in 1929 and was subsequently rebuilt out of a more substantial brick material. A kitchen was added to the premises a few years later, whereupon food was served to hungry patrons. The property eventually evolved into a grocery store and then finally into the delicatessen/market/fine wine shop/coffee bar that it is today. During the ‘60s, the store became a regular hangout for Jim Morrison and his musician friends, who all lived nearby and would often gather together on the market’s front patio for spontaneous jam sessions. Everyone from Joni Mitchell to Three Dog Night to Frank Zappa has performed live at the market at one time or another. In his famous song “Love Street”, Jim sings of “this store where the creatures meet”. That store is none other than the Canyon Country Store and “Love Street” is actually Rothdale Trail, the street that runs behind the market which Jim and his longtime girlfriend Pamela Courson referred to as “Love Street” because of the many hippies and love children that would walk down it each day.

I had the pleasure of meeting Tommy while we were stalking the Canyon Country Store and, let me tell you, the guy could NOT have been nicer!!! Not only did he take us on our own little private tour of the place, but when I asked if I could snap some photographs, he suggested that I get behind the main counter and pretend to use the cash register like Jen used to do when she worked there! Well, as you can imagine, I just about had a heart attack upon hearing his offer and immediately jumped behind the counter to snap a quick pic. So incredibly cool! He also told us that Jen was an amazingly nice person and that she truly listened when speaking with people, which is a very rare quality indeed!

Tommy also informed us that when Jen was married to Brad Pitt, the two would often stop by to say hi and to grab a bite to eat at Pace Italian Restaurant, which is located directly below the market and is a place I am going to have to stalk in the very near future!

Because so many celebs live in Laurel Canyon, the Country Store is regularly frequented by stars. Sophia Loren, Jessica Biel, and Pamela Anderson have all been spotted there in the past and actress Christina Applegate (pictured above) is apparently a regular.

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And the store is also a filming location! The market was featured at the very beginning of the 1980 horror movie The Fog, although it looked quite different at that time. You can see a photograph of the market as it looked during the ’80s here. The Canyon Country Store has also been featured in the movies Breezy, Rainbow Drive, and the aptly-titled Laurel Canyon – none of which I have ever seen. 🙁

Tommy was also nice enough to walk us down to Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson’s former house, which is located directly behind the Country Store. You can check out some great interior photographs of the home, which is currently for sale for a cool $1,199,000, here.

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I, of course, had to grab a bite to eat while I was stalking the market, which the Grim Cheaper was not too happy about, especially when he discovered that the deli sandwich he ordered was going to cost him $8.99. He later said it was one of the best sandwiches he had ever eaten, though, and had to concede that it was worth every penny. 🙂 I opted for the market’s chicken salad, which was simply AMAZING! Honestly, some of the best chicken salad I’ve ever had in my entire life, and that means a lot coming from me as I am VERY picky about my chicken. I honestly cannot recommend eating at the Canyon Country Store enough – it is FABULOUS!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Canyon Country Store is located at 2108 Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Laurel Canyon. Jim Morrison and Pamela Courson’s former home is located just behind the store at 8021 Rothdell Trail. You can order Sean Smith’s biography of Jennifer Aniston here.

October 12, 2010October 11, 2010

Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe

Two Mondays ago, after Mike, from MovieShotsLA, and I finished our tour of Paramount Studios in Hollywood (which I still have yet to blog about), the two of us headed across the street to grab a bite to eat at a little restaurant that has been at the top of my To-Stalk list for close to a decade now – Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe. I hadn’t actually heard much about Lucy’s before our recent trip there, but had passed by it countless times and figured it had to be something of a celebrity hot spot due to its close proximity to three different Hollywood studios – Paramount, Raleigh, and the now defunct KCAL/KHJ. As it turns out, my hunch could not have been more spot on! Lucy’s was originally founded over four decades ago and has been attracting film, television, and music stars and well-known politicians pretty much ever since. Not only that, but Mike and I discovered that the restaurant is also a filming location! And the food there is absolutely AMAZING, to boot. As Mike said to me upon leaving the restaurant, “This place is a hidden jewel!”

Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe was first founded in 1964 by Los Angeles native Frank Casado, who named the eatery in honor of his beloved wife Lucy. Frank managed and worked at the restaurant, along with members of his family, for over two and a half decades until he passed away in 1990, upon which Lucy took over. She still owns and runs the place along with their daughter, Patricia, to this day. Amazingly enough, most of Lucy’s employees have also been there since the day the place opened, including our extremely nice waiter Ricardo, whom Lucy calls a “Juan-of-all-Trades”. 🙂 The Cafe originally consisted of only one single storefront – a tiny room lined with brown leather booths – but thanks to its immense popularity, the place has since expanded to include both the storefronts to the left and to the right of it.

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Ricardo was so incredibly proud of the restaurant’s history and excited that Mike and I were so very interested in hearing about it that he ended up taking us on our very own thirty minute private tour of the property and told us countless stories about the many stars who have dined there over the years. Included in our tour was Lucy’s large VIP/Private Party room, where most of their celebrity patrons dine.

The VIP room also just so happens to be the spot where the restaurant displays the piano that was gifted to them by musician Phil Collins, who is a regular patron! SO INCREDIBLY COOL! There is even a picture displayed on the restaurant’s walls of Phil tickling the piano’s ivories. LOVE IT!

Ricardo also showed us the restaurant’s ultra-cool looking front patio area, which he says gets extremely crowded each Friday and Saturday night. I am so going to have to take the Grim Cheaper back there to grab a drink in the near future.

My favorite part of the tour, though, had to be when Ricardo showed us Lucy’s extensive wall of autographed celebrity photos, accompanied by quite a few of his personal anecdotes from his various dealings with them.

It would be impossible for me to name all of the celebs who have dined at the restaurant over the years, but a partial list includes celebrity siblings Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal (who ate there quite often as children), Lyle Lovett (who often thanks the restaurant in the liner notes of his albums), Ugly Betty’s Ana Ortiz (who first met husband Noah Lebenzon while at the Cafe), the cast of Family Ties (who were regulars during the series’ seven year run), Ronald Regan, Dolly Parton, Tom Selleck, Harland David Sanders (aka “Colonel Sanders”), Bernadette Peters, Magic Johnson, and all of the members of the Eagles rock group. One of the restaurant’s most loyal patrons is former California governor Jerry Brown who has been eating at Lucy’s since the early 1970s and considers Lucy, Frank, and Patricia to be part of his extended family. He even used the restaurant as an unofficial office during his tenure as governor. And it was at Lucy’s that Jerry first met singer Linda Ronstadt. The Cafe now has an entree named after the former governor – the Jerry Brown Special, which consists of chicken and rice.

Most amazing of all, though, is the fact that the Dalai Lama himself is a regular! He has been eating at the restaurant at least once each year for well over a decade!

Lucy’s is considered something of a lucky charm among celebrities, as many now-famous stars were regular patrons there long before becoming household names – the most notable of whom is Drew Barrymore who has been dining at Lucy’s since before she could talk. In fact, Ricardo still remembers the day a young Drew told him that she had just been cast in Steven Spielberg’s latest movie. 😉

The actress continued to dine at Lucy’s long after becoming famous and even held one of her childhood birthday parties at the Mexican restaurant (pictured above).

And I just had to take a pic sitting in Drew’s favorite booth (which is the very first booth located on the right-hand side of Lucy’s main room) for fellow stalker and Drew Barrymore aficionado Ashley, from the Drewseum website. 🙂

Then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy once dined at Lucy’s back in June of 1968, just a few short days before he was assassinated at the Ambassador Hotel. The above photographs were taken as the senator was leaving the restaurant through Lucy’s rear door.

Lucy’s restaurant also appeared in the 2010 flick Greenberg, which was directed by Noah Baumbach, husband of Jennifer Jason Leigh. According to this Los Angeles Times article from March of 2010, Jennifer has been a patron of Lucy’s ever since childhood, which is why Noah decided to feature the restaurant in his movie.

Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe has become such a Hollywood landmark that in 2007 the Los Angeles City Council voted to name the intersection of Melrose Avenue and North Plymouth Boulevard as “I Love Lucy Square” in honor of both Lucy Casada, the restaurant’s owner, and Lucille Ball, who owned a portion of the Paramount lot back when it was known as Desilu Studios. So amazingly cool!

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As I mentioned above – and despite what many Yelp reviews may state – both Mike and I thought the food at Lucy’s was absolutely spectacular! I opted for the ground beef tacos, which were AMAZING, and Mike ordered the cheese quesadillas, which he said were fabulous. I honestly can’t recommend stalking this place enough!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe is located at 5536 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood, directly across the street from Paramount Studios.

October 7, 2010October 6, 2010

The Dresden Restaurant

A couple of months ago I was flipping through one of my favorite stalking tomes, Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer’s Guide to Exploring Southern California’s Great Outdoors, when I came across a blurb written about the legendary Dresden Restaurant in Hollywood. And while I had actually eaten at the Dresden once before upon first moving to Southern California almost a decade ago, at the time I had no idea it was a filming location! So, I immediately called up the Grim Cheaper and begged him to take me there that very night. But being that we were just a few weeks away from our upcoming nuptials at the time, he quickly put a nix on my plans with the caution that “we shouldn’t be spending money right now”. I acquiesced, but have been itching to stalk the place ever since. Thankfully, the two of us finally made it out there for dinner two weeks ago, with the GC pretty much kicking and screaming the entire way. But as it turned out he absolutely LOVED the place – and the $32 dinner bill that came at the end of the night. Yes, you read that right – our dinner, including one cocktail a piece, was only $32! We ended up eating in the Dresden’s bar area and ordering up a smorgasbord of happy hour items, including French onion soup and quesadillas, and, let me tell you, the food was not only INCREDIBLE, but the serving sizes were absolutely HUGE. The staff there was also amazingly nice and answered all of my silly little questions about the extensive filming that has taken place there over the years. All in all, it was quite the successful stalk and I honestly cannot say enough good things about the place!

The Dresden has been a Hollywood staple since it first opened in the 1950’s. A paint store originally occupied the premises, but the space was converted into an eatery named Pucci’s Cafe sometime in the late 1930s. It later became known as the Dresden Room, named so for the china dolls which decorated the restaurant interior. In 1954, a man named Carl Ferraro purchased the restaurant along with his wife, Sara, and remodeled it twelve years later. The interior has been left virtually untouched since that time and walking through the front doors is like stepping back in time a good fifty years. One look at the restaurant and it is easy to see why the place has become a favorite of location scouts.

The Dresden’s most memorable film appearance was in the 1996 flick Swingers, in the scene in which Mike (aka Jon Favreau) meets and makes a fool of himself in front of Nikki (aka The Replacements’ Brooke Langton), his neighborhood Starbucks barista.

The scene also showcased the Dresden’s legendary long-running musical act, Marty and Elayne, who have been playing at the restaurant nightly since 1982.

Ironically enough, the big fight scene in Swingers, which supposedly takes place outside of the Dresden’s rear entrance, was actually filmed a few miles away in the parking lot of the famous Musso & Frank Grill in Downtown Hollywood. The Dresden’s real life rear entrance is shown above. For the scene, the producers covered over Musso’s back awning with the word “Dresden” . . .

. . . but forgot to cover over Musso’s “Oldest in Hollywood” sign, which can blatantly be seen in the background during the fight.

In 1990’s The Two Jakes, the Dresden was used as the Green Parrot night club where J.J. Jake Gittes (aka Jack Nickolson) meets up with Tyrone Otley (aka Tracey Walter).

In the 1996 flick That Thing You Do, the Dresden stands in for the Blue Spot jazz club where Guy ‘Shades’ Patterson (aka Tom Everett Scott) meets musician Del Paxton (aka Bill Cobbs).

In the 2000 romantic comedy What Women Want, the interior of the Dresden was used as the Chicago-area Back Door piano lounge where Nick Marshall (aka Mel Gibson) and Darcy Maguire (aka Helen Hunt) meet up for a late night drink. The restaurant was re-decorated considerably for the filming, with white twinkle lights being added to the walls and mirrors being added to the back of the booths.

The Dresden was transformed into the Escupimos en su Alimento (which translates to “We Spit in Your Food” LOL) Mexican restaurant for the 2004 flick Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

And while The X-Files also shot scenes at the Dresden at one point in time, I am not sure of exactly which episode it appeared in. Supposedly the restaurant was also featured in Bugsy, but I scanned through that flick earlier today and did not see the Dresden pop up anywhere.

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The Dresden has also long been a celebrity magnet and even boasts an extensive headshot wall-of-fame at its front entrance to prove it. Just a few of the luminaries who have dined there over the years include Dolly Parton, Nicolas Cage, Julia Roberts, Kiefer Sutherland, Adam West, Danny Aiello, Jay Leno, Keanu Reeves, David Lynch, Frank Sinatra . . .

. . . “Thriller” director John Landis . . .

. . . and fellow stalker Owen’s main squeeze Jennifer Love Hewitt.

I honestly cannot recommend stalking the Dresden enough! When people say that L.A. has no history, it is places like this that I think of. I cannot tell you how cool it was to be dining at a restaurant that has not only been in operation for over five decades, but also boasts an extensive film resume and has seen the likes of everyone from Frank Sinatra to Julia Roberts walk through its doors. If that’s not history, I don’t know what is!

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: The Dresden Restaurant is located at 1760 North Vermont Avenue in Hollywood. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.

September 21, 2010September 21, 2010

The Restaurant Where Brenda and Donna Ate Veal Brains on “Beverly Hills, 90210”

One location that I have been on the lookout for for over eighteen years now is the Paris restaurant where Donna Martin (aka Tori Spelling) and Brenda Walsh (aka Shannen Doherty) ate veal brains in the Season 3 episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 titled “Too Little, Too Late/Paris, 75001”. Because almost two decades have passed since filming took place, though, and because there were virtually no clues visible in the background of the veal-brains-eating scene, this one proved to be a VERY tough find. So, a few weeks back I finally decided to call in the team – Mike, from MovieShotsLA, Chas, from ItsFilmedThere, and fellow stalker Owen – and, amazingly enough, Owen found the restaurant in record time – in less than an hour, in fact! Not joking! I really need to start taking lessons from Owen, as he always comes up with extremely innovative ways of tracking locations down. In this particular case, he decided to contact a few of the guest star actors who appeared in the episode, one of them being a girl named Lindsey Rosin. Now, to someone like Owen who has never in his life watched an episode of 90210, the name Lindsey Rosin doesn’t mean a whole lot, but to all of us diehard fans out there, the girl is a celebrity! For those who are not in the know, Lindsey just happens to be the daughter of 90210’s longtime executive producer Charles Rosin and, as a child, she appeared in several episodes of the series, including the “Too Little, Too Late/Paris, 75001” episode. When Owen told me he had contacted her, let me tell you, I just about died from excitement! Even more exciting, though, was the fact that not only did she write him back almost immediately, but she also knew exactly where the filming of the veal brains scene had taken place. YAY!

As it turns out, Brenda and Donna’s Paris restaurant was named Le Chardonnay and it used to be located on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. Sadly, though, the eatery closed its doors for good just about a decade ago. Since that time, the property has undergone several renovations and has re-opened as a few different restaurants, including the now-defunct French bistro Carafe and the Danny Masterson/Wilmer Valderrama/Ashton Kutcher-owned eatery Dolce. Today, the space which once housed Le Chardonnay is an upscale Chinese food restaurant named Philippe Chow and even though it no longer looks anything like it did when it appeared on 90210, I just HAD to stalk the place. So, this past Friday afternoon, since we were in the area running some errands, I dragged my dad there to grab some lunch.

Philippe Chow is a SUPER cute little restaurant that serves up some FABULOUS food! Especially the chicken satay in cream sauce, which the restaurant is famous for. The food is pricey, though – a bottle of sparkling water cost me a whopping $10!!!!!!!! – but, as they say, you get what you pay for, and the grub at Philippe Chow is EXTREMELY good! The service was also fabulous and definitely lacking in the typical hoity-toity attitude one comes to expect from upscale L.A. eateries. I honestly can’t recommend the place enough!

In the “Too Little, Too Late/Paris, 75001” episode of Beverly Hills, 90210, Brenda and Donna go out for dinner on one of their very first nights in Paris, France. Neither one can speak the language very well and they end up ordering the one item on the menu that contains a word they recognize, Cerveaux de Veau – “veau” meaning veal. As it turns out, though, Cerveaux de Veau actually translates to veal brains – something they don’t discover until after they have already sampled the dish. The scene is absolutely hilarious, mostly due to the comedic antics of Tori Spelling, who spits a bite of the brains out onto her plate and then proceeds to gargle with a glass of water. And they say Tori Spelling can’t act! In my never-to-be-humble opinion, I think she was FABULOUS in that particular scene –

– which can watch by clicking above.

And while there is absolutely no trace of Le Chardonnay left on the Philippe Chow premises, there is some good news about this location. After doing some research online, I discovered that Le Chardonnay was actually an almost-exact replica of the famous Restaurant Vagenende in Paris, France, which is still open, and as you can see in the above photographs, looks VERY similar to the restaurant which appeared on 90210. So, while Le Chardonnay is no longer stalk-able, Vagenende thankfully is! And, believe you me, if I ever go back to Paris, I am FOR SURE going to stalk the place!

Beverly Hills, 90210 is not the only production to have filmed on the Le Chardonnay premises. Back when the restaurant had first been purchased by Wilmer Valderrama, Ashton Kutcher, and Danny Masterson, it was used in the Punk’d episode in which Ashton plays a prank on Wilmer by having a jealous boyfriend pretend to destroy his beloved Escalade – which you can watch by clicking above.

At the time Punk’d was filmed, Dolce had yet to open and was undergoing an extensive renovation process, and, as you can see in the above screen capture, the walls had yet to be painted and were still the same color pink that they were on 90210. Love it!

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Philippe Chow also recently appeared in the Season 5 episode of The Hills titled “Can’t Always Get What You Want” as the spot where Kristin Cavallari and Brody Jenner meet up and discuss his wanting to get back together with ex-girlfriend Jayde Nicole.

Philippe Chow is also something of a celebrity magnet. Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there include Charlize Theron, Rihanna, Nick Nolte, Matt Kemp, Stephanie Pratt, Kelly Osbourne, Paris and Nicky Hilton, Lauren Conrad, Lindsay Lohan, Nick Jonas, Sofia Vergara, Selena Gomez, Lamar Odom, Kobe Bryant, and Kim and Khloe Kardashian. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any celebs while we were there, though.

Big THANK YOU to Owen – and to Lindsey Rosin! – for finding this location! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Philippe Chow, the former Le Chardonnay restaurant where Brenda and Donna ate veal brains on Beverly Hills, 90210, is located at 8284 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. You can visit the Philippe Chow website here. Vagenende, the restaurant that Le Chardonnay was modeled after, is located at 142, boulevard Saint-Germain, in Paris, France. You can visit the Vagenende website here.

September 15, 2010September 15, 2010

Pickwick’s Pub from “The Office”

This past weekend, I dragged my husband (that is SO weird to say!) out to stalk Pickwick’s Pub – the Woodland Hills watering hole that stands in for the Dunder Mifflin gang’s favorite local hangout, Poor Richard’s Pub, on fave show The Office. And while there is actually a real life Poor Richard’s Pub located in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where the series is based, thankfully, both the interiors and exteriors which appear on the show can be found right here in Los Angeles, just about ten miles away from Chandler Valley Studios where the series is taped. I am ashamed to admit that I spent more than a few hours online trying to track down this locale and came up completely empty-handed. Thankfully though, fellow stalker Lavonna was also in on the hunt and managed to find this Poor Richard’s page on the Dunderpedia website, which led us to the right place. And while Poor Richard’s Pub is referred to almost weekly on The Office, Pickwick’s has actually only been used for filming twice.

Pickwick’s Pub has been a San Fernando Valley staple for over three and a half decades, ever since it first opened way back in 1974. The watering hole suffered a brief set-back in 2004 when it burned to the ground after a disgruntled customer set fire to the place. The rebuilding project took a full year to complete, but in 2005 the bar reopened and has been going strong ever since. And, let me tell you, the place is not your ordinary, everyday pub. The menu is quite extensive and features everything from traditional British fare such as bangers & mash and Irish beef stew to Indian delicacies like chicken curry and pork korma to such American favorites as chicken pot pie and homemade mac and cheese. There is also an extensive breakfast menu, which is available all day. And, let me tell you, the food was excellent! Our waitress was also extremely nice and answered all of my silly little questions about the filming of The Office. Unfortunately, she didn’t work at Pickwick’s at the time either of the episodes was filmed, so she didn’t have much insider information to share with me. 🙁 Pickwick’s is a super cute and cozy little place and seems to be mostly inhabited by regulars. It definitely has a hometown feel to it and is exactly the kind of place I picture Pam and Jim grabbing a drink after work. 🙂 Pickwick’s also features a trivia night every Wednesday starting at 8 p.m. and an 80’s acoustic band which plays live every Saturday night – both of which sound like an absolute blast! 🙂

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As I mentioned above, Pickwick’s Pub has appeared twice on The Office – first in the Season 3 episode titled “Cocktails”, in which Pam Beesly (aka Jenna Fischer), Roy Anderson (aka David Denman), Kelly Kapoor (aka Mindy Kaling), and the rest of the Dunder Mifflin crew cut out of work early in order to grab drinks together at their favorite local hangout. It is at Pickwick’s that Pam admits to Roy that she and Jim once kissed.

The mirror which Roy subsequently breaks in a fit of anger is, of course, not there in real life.

Neither is the Toy Chest game machine where Toby Flenderson (aka Paul Lieberstein) spends the evening trying to win Pam a duck.

The bar showed up again in the Season 4 episode titled “Local Ad”, in which the Dunder Mifflin gang gathers together to watch the airing of their recently-filmed local television commercial.

A picture of Steve Carell during the filming of that episode is even on display on the official Pickwick Pub website. So darn cool!

The exterior that is shown on The Office is actually Pickwick’s back entrance, which looks EXACTLY the same in person as it does on the show, except for the Poor Richard’s signage, of course. Love it!

Fellow stalker and Office aficionado Owen, who I am EXTREMELY jealous of!, recently made a stalking pilgrimage to Scranton, Pennsylvania where he got to visit the real life Poor Richard’s Pub, which in reality is located inside of a bowling alley. As Owen wrote when he emailed me the above pictures, “Does that carpet not scream bowling alley?!?!” LOL

Sadly, the bar was closed when Owen showed up to stalk it, but as you can see in the above photograph, which I got off of the Poor Richard’s website, the place does bear a striking resemblance to Pickwick’s. Both bars have a very British/Tudor-style look to them and both also appear to display Christmas lights year-round.

Big THANK YOU to fellow stalker Lavonna for finding this location and to fellow stalker Owen for loaning me his photographs of the real Poor Richard’s Pub to display in this post! 🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Pickwick’s Pub from The Office is located at 21010 Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. You can visit the bar’s official website here. The real Poor Richard’s Pub is located in Scranton, Pennsylvania at 125 Beech Street, inside of South Side Bowl. You can visit the official Poor Richard’s website here.

August 18, 2010July 26, 2010

Nate ‘n Al’s Delicatessen

One location that I have been wanting to stalk for quite some time now is the historic Nate ‘n Al Delicatessen in Beverly Hills, but because I don’t get out to that area very often, the restaurant had remained an unchecked item on my extremely long “To-Stalk” list for over a year. Until a couple of weeks ago, that is, when I finally dragged my fiancé to grab a bite to eat there after we had stalked Will Rogers Memorial Park from 90210, which is located nearby. And I have to say that the place was definitely worth the wait! Although rather pricey (despite what some online reviews might state), the landmark restaurant serves up some FABULOUS food. And thanks to its huge deli counter, brown leather booths, and pastrami sandwiches stacked as high as the eye can see, eating there was like visiting a little slice of New York City right here in Southern California.

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Nate ‘n Al’s has been a veritable institution in Beverly Hills ever since it first opened way back on May 24, 1945. The deli was founded by Al Mendelson and Nate Reimer, who originally met while working at Boesky’s Deli in Chicago. The two entrepreneurs eventually decided to open their very own deli-style restaurant a few years later and figured LaLaLand was just the place to do so. At the time of its founding, the restaurant was Beverly Hills’ sole delicatessen and could only accommodate a scant 30 patrons. It became such an immediate success, though, that it was later expanded to its current, larger size which can hold up to 120 diners. Nate retired just a few years after the restaurant’s opening, but Al stayed on to helm the place and it is his ancestors who are still running it today. And I am happy to report that the restaurant is still going strong. According to this 2005 Daily News article, each year Nate ‘n Al’s serves up 130,000 matzo balls, 16,000 gallons of chicken noodle soup, and 80,000 pounds of corned beef! As I stated above, the food is phenomenal, but it’s also fairly expensive, so be prepared.

Because of its fabulous food and laid-back attitude, Nate ‘n Al’s has long been a celebrity magnet. You won’t find any autographed pictures decorating the establishment’s walls, though, because as founder Al Mendelson advised: “If you want them in the booths, keep them off the walls.” 😉 Just a few of the stars who have been spotted there over the years include Max Mutchnick (one of the co-creators of Will & Grace), Lew Wasserman, Suzanne Pleshette, Tom Poston, Robert Wagner, Neil Diamond, Jon Voight, Doris Day, Nicollette Sheridan, Jay Leno, Roseanne Bar, Adam Sandler, Dick Van Dyke, Jack Nicholson, Dustin Hoffman, Jodie Foster, Nancy Sinatra, Courteney Cox, Rodney Dangerfield, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Tony Curtis, Sharon Osbourne, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Television host Larry King loves the place so much that he not only dines there every single morning (not kidding!), but he also purchased his house in Beverly Hills for the sole reason that it was within walking distance of the deli! Love it!

And while we didn’t spot any celebs while dining there, fellow stalker Karen was lucky enough to be seated next to Jason Reitman on a recent visit to the deli. Her daughter snapped the above photo of the Juno director on the down-low during their meal. Love it! Jason wasn’t the only celeb that Karen and her daughter spotted at Nate ‘n Al’s that day, though – Larry King and Clint Howard were also dining at the time. Lucky girls! As Karen said, talk about “hitting a trifecta”! From what I’ve heard, the best time to spot celebs at Nate ‘n Al’s is in the morning, which means I’ve gotta go back there sometime soon to grab some breakfast!

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And the place is also a filming location! In the Season 5 episode of Entourage titled “The All Out Fall Out”, Nate ‘n Al’s is the spot where Vinnie Chase (aka Adrian Grenier) finds out from his business manager that he may need to file for bankruptcy. The 1957 flick Pal Joey, which starred Frank Sinatra and Rita Hayworth, was also filmed at the historic restaurant.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! 🙂

Stalk It: Nate ‘n Al Delicatessen, from Entourage, is located at 414 North Beverly Boulevard in Beverly Hills. You can visit the restaurant’s official website here.