The Original Saugus Cafe at 25861 Railroad Avenue in Santa Clarita, serving diners since 1886. Photo from Google Maps, Copyright 2021 Google.
Also see:
-- Origins of Some Local Food Empires in Los Angeles County
-- Food & Beverages Straight Out of Los Angeles (and Pasadena).
| Restaurant | Established | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Original Saugus Café | 1886 | 25861 Railroad Ave, Santa Clarita |
| Big Dean’s Ocean Front Café | 1902 | 1615 Ocean Front Walk, Santa Monica |
| Philippe the Original | 1908 | 1001 North Alameda, Downtown Los Angeles |
| Cole’s | 1908 | 118 East Sixth St, Downtown Los Angeles |
| Fair Oaks Pharmacy & Soda Fountain | 1915 | 1526 Mission St, South Pasadena |
| Magee's Kitchen(1) | 1917/1934 | 6333 West Third St, Farmers' Market (Fairfax, Los Angeles) |
| Musso & Frank Grill | 1919 | 6667 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood |
| Barney's Beanery | 1920 | 8447 Santa Monica Blvd, Hollywood |
| Mijares Mexican Restaurant(2) | 1920 | 145 Palmetto Dr, Pasadena, CA |
| The Tam O'Shanter | 1922 | 2980 Los Feliz Blvd, Atwater Village (Los Angeles) |
| Mary's Market & Canyon Cafe | 1922 | 561 Woodland Dr, Sierra Madre |
| The Derby | 1922 | 233 East Huntington Dr, Arcadia |
| El Cholo | 1923 | 1025 Wilshire Blvd, West Los Angeles (also 1121 South Western Ave, Midtown LA) |
| The Original Pantry Cafe | 1924 | 877 South Figueroa, Downtown Los Angeles |
| Joe Jost's | 1924 | 2803 East Anaheim St, Long Beach |
| Formosa Cafe | 1925 | 7156 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood |
| Bay Cities Italian Deli | 1925 | 1517 Lincoln Blvd, Santa Monica |
| Lanza Brothers Market | 1926 | 1803 North Main St, Los Angeles |
| Millie's Cafe | 1926 | 3524 Sunset Blvd, Silverlake (Los Angeles) |
| Taix French Restaurant (originally Les Freres Taix)(3) | 1927 | 1911 Sunset Blvd, Silverlake (Los Angeles) |
| The Prince (originally The Windsor) | 1927 | 3198 7th St, Koreatown (Los Angeles) |
| Rock Inn | 1929 | 17539 Elizabeth Lake Rd, Lake Hughes |
| Wendill's Chicken House | 1929 | 10337 San Fernando Rd, Pacoima (Los Angeles) |
| El Paseo Inn | 1930 | Olvera Street, Downtown Los Angeles |
| Brighton Coffee Shop | 1930 | 9600 Brighton Way, Beverly Hills |
| Canter’s Delicatessen & Bakery | 1931 | 419 North Fairfax Ave, Fairfax (Los Angeles) (originally in Boyle Heights) |
| Halfway House Cafe | 1931 | 5564 Sierra Hwy, Santa Clarita |
| Cielito Lindo | 1934 | Olvera Street, Downtown Los Angeles |
| The Galley | 1934 | 2442 Main St, Santa Monica |
| Tom Bergins | 1936 | 840 South Fairfax Ave, Fairfax (Los Angeles) |
| Damon's Steak House | 1937 | 317 North Brand Blvd, Glendale |
| Lawry’s The Prime Rib | 1938 | 100 North La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Hills |
| Phoenix Bakery | 1938 | 969 North Broadway, Chinatown (Los Angeles) |
| Du-Pars | 1938 | 6333 West Third St, Farmers' Market (Fairfax, Los Angeles) |
| Pink's Hot Dogs | 1939 | 709 North La Brea Ave, Fairfax (Los Angeles) |
| Hawkins House of Burgers | 1939 | 11603 Slater St, Watts (Los Angeles) |
| Vince's Market | 1939 | 3250 Silver Lake Blvd, Atwater Village (Los Angeles) |
(1) Originally opened in Grand Central Market in Downtown Los Angeles in 1917, then moved to Farmers' Market in 1934.
(2) Mijares Mexican Restaurant in Pasadena appears to be Los Angeles County's oldest Mexican restaurant. It was opened in 1920 as a small tortilla factory by Jesucita Mijares, who migrated from Mexico and settled in Pasadena.
(3) Taix French Restaurant (originally Les Freres Taix) is L.A.'s oldest French restaurant.
And we wish to mention...
Miceli's, opened in Hollywood in 1949, lays claim to be the oldest Italian restaurant in Los Angeles.
Otomisan, opened in Boyle Heights in 1956, lays claim to be the oldest Japanese restaurant in Los Angeles.
Clifton's Cafeteria, once known as Clifton's Brookdale, closed in 2018. The restaurant, located at 648 S Broadway in Los Angeles, opened in 1935 as the second of eight Clifton's Cafeterias. After its closure, it was reopened as "Clifton's Republic," a high-end bar.
Greenblatt's Deli-Restaurant & Fine Wine Shop, an iconic Jewish deli on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood that opened in 1926, closed in 2021.
Casa La Golondrina, once an iconic Mexican restaurant at the heart of Olvera Street, closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and never reopened. New owners came to the restaurant in 2021, but quickly ended up in a dispute with the City of Los Angeles over responsibility for the replacement of aging plumbing in the restaurant's historic building. The structure, the two-story Pelanconi House, was built circa 1857, and its plumbing hadn't been replaced in many decades. After 93 years present in Olvera Street, the city evicted the dormant restaurant for unpaid rent.
Casa La Golondrina's predecessor restaurant was first opened by Consuelo Castillo de Bonzo as "La Mision" in 1924, located at the current site of Los Angeles City Hall. Although she was initially advised to call it a "Spanish" restaurant, rather than Mexican, she insisted and subsequent crowds enthusiastically affirmed her choice, calling her cuisine "Mexican cooking." Within a few years, however, the city forced Bonzo to close her eatery, making way for the building of the new city hall. By coincidence at the time, Christine Sterling sought out Mexican cultural vendors for the newly restored Olvera Street. Bonzo was invited to open the first Mexican restaurant there. In 1930, she opened Casa La Golondrina in the historic Pelanconi House, the oldest brick house in Los Angeles. Granddaughter Vivien Bonzo was the last family member to own and operate the restaurant when it closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
