myBurbank Talks
Down the Rabbit Hole: Closed Burbank Restaurants, Part 2
What if we told you that some of the most beloved eateries in Burbank's history are still alive in our memories? Join Craig Sherwood and Ross Benson as we take you on a nostalgic culinary journey through Burbank's rich past in this episode of "Down the Rabbit Hole." We kick things off by reminiscing about La Scala's famous salads and London Broilers' hearty sandwiches served from its iconic double-decker bus. We also reflect on the heartwarming community memories tied to Marie Callender's, which has now been replaced by a Chase Bank. Each of these eateries left a lasting impact on the local community, and we dive deep into their significance.
Remember the hidden menu codes and pecan pie secrets that made dining out a delightful adventure? This episode is packed with stories of unique dining experiences, from Market City Cafe's hot rolls to Milano's brief but memorable existence. We also share fond memories of places like Moe's, Moore's Deli, and Mr. Big Burger's, emphasizing their unique flavors and significance to Burbank High students. As we recount these beloved spots, you'll feel the joy of dining out and the sense of community these places fostered.
But that's not all—we also explore classic hangout spots like Pizza Pie, Pioneer Chicken, and Pup and Taco, filled with anecdotes about old friends and high school memories. From all-you-can-eat shrimp feasts to legendary eating contests, this episode captures the essence of Burbank's culinary history. We close by remembering iconic locations like Three Horsemen restaurant, Tony's Bella Vista, and Umami's, ensuring their legacy lives on in our hearts. Tune in and let us take you back to the flavors that defined our dining experiences in Burbank.
What if we told you that some of the most beloved eateries in Burbank's history are still alive in our memories? Join Craig Sherwood and Ross Benson as we take you on a nostalgic culinary journey through Burbank's rich past in this episode of "Down the Rabbit Hole." We kick things off by reminiscing about La Scala's famous salads and London Broilers' hearty sandwiches served from its iconic double-decker bus. We also reflect on the heartwarming community memories tied to Marie Callender's, which has now been replaced by a Chase Bank. Each of these eateries left a lasting impact on the local community, and we dive deep into their significance.
Remember the hidden menu codes and pecan pie secrets that made dining out a delightful adventure? This episode is packed with stories of unique dining experiences, from Market City Cafe's hot rolls to Milano's brief but memorable existence. We also share fond memories of places like Moe's, Moore's Deli, and Mr. Big Burger's, emphasizing their unique flavors and significance to Burbank High students. As we recount these beloved spots, you'll feel the joy of dining out and the sense of community these places fostered.
But that's not all—we also explore classic hangout spots like Pizza Pie, Pioneer Chicken, and Pup and Taco, filled with anecdotes about old friends and high school memories. From all-you-can-eat shrimp feasts to legendary eating contests, this episode captures the essence of Burbank's culinary history. We close by remembering iconic locations like Three Horsemen restaurant, Tony's Bella Vista, and Umami's, ensuring their legacy lives on in our hearts. Tune in and let us take you back to the flavors that defined our dining experiences in Burbank.
It's time for another edition of Down the Rabbit Hole, where the staff of my Burbank Talks, discusses topics from Burbank's past or dives deep into the history of the city. Now let's see what's on the agenda today as we join our show.
Speaker 2:Hello Burbank. Greg Schuett here, along with, of course, my stealthy partner Ross Benson.
Speaker 3:I see my tally light off and here we go. It is another day, another week. Tally-ho and deep in the media district we are.
Speaker 2:We are going down the rabbit hole again.
Speaker 3:Boy, oh boy, that rabbit hole.
Speaker 2:Rabbit hole. Rabbit hole, or I should say down the rabbit hole.
Speaker 3:Well, we have a heck of a part two our first show was very well.
Speaker 2:In fact, it was the most viewed show in all of our podcasts.
Speaker 3:I like that.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure how, why people decided it was worth doing, but I'm sure glad they did. And so we're back with part two now. Last time we did this, we, uh, a couple things happened. Number one was we only got halfway through, which we thought we'd get all the way through it. And we got halfway through, so we needed a part two. And then we found out later hey, we missed a lot of places.
Speaker 3:Wow, did we miss a lot of places. I've been in Burbank now coming up on 68 years and I cannot believe I feel like that sheet that I first did. It had like 67, but I've added we added 45 more places that come and gone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's amazing In fact, so there will be a part three.
Speaker 3:Part three is going to be the restaurants we missed, so See, that rabbit hole is just getting bigger and longer here in the town of Burbank.
Speaker 2:Deeper and deeper right.
Speaker 3:You said you know, and longer here in the town of Burbank, Deeper and deeper right, Deeper and deeper, you said you know. We had a great response to the first. I think because people, a lot of Burbank people, are longtime residents and remember their favorite place at the corner of the block or half across the town. Yeah, and that's why when we do this it brings back great memories, great food. I can smell the grease in some of these places.
Speaker 2:Well, let's get back. We're going to start off with the elves the elves.
Speaker 3:Not elves, elves.
Speaker 2:And the first place I have on the list here is called La Scala.
Speaker 3:La Scala, first place I have on the list here is called La Scala, la Scala, la Scala, la Scala, 3,800 block west of Riverside Drive. It's underneath what used to be the Disney building. It was part of that, next to where FedEx was, and now there's another restaurant down there, but La Scala. I learned of La Scala. They're in Beverly Hills and La Scala is now pretty famous in Beverly Hills. They have a salad that I make three times a week now, right, but La Scala.
Speaker 2:Right in the corner. Yeah, san Fernando, I mean it's Greenland and Riverside, that's right, but I think they didn't have a lot of parking there. That's always been the problem with that place is not a lot of parking.
Speaker 3:Well, have a lot of parking there. That's always been the problem with that place there's not a lot of parking. Well, you can park inside the Disney building, and a lot of people didn't know that?
Speaker 2:Yeah well, especially now, because I don't think any more Disney people are in that building. Nope, they've got 3,000 restaurants on Riverside Drive and nobody knows buildings to go see them. That's a problem. It is Okay, so moving on. It is Okay, so moving on. London Broilers Now London Broilers. I remember that place, huh.
Speaker 3:What was it next? To Pick and save? Yeah, go with a big parking lot. And you remember when the Daily Review or the Leader was in Nahas, right Across from that parking lot. I remember walking to London Broilers with Gary Mariano. All the time. Good sandwiches, good food in London Broilers, good place.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Had a great bar we're going up to another rabbit hole down the line of the stores like Pick and Save that we lost.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, A lot of those. Oh, there are stories up there.
Speaker 2:Yep, so yep, london, broiler. And I think they had a double-decker bus in the parking lot all the time, didn't they? Yep, they probably got from London, or something.
Speaker 3:I think they drove it in parades and other things. It was yeah, Little London Broiler, you know what's that song? London Bridge is falling down. Forget it.
Speaker 2:Well, now you have to go to Lake Havasu to see London Bridge. It's no longer in England, it's in California. Now Lake Havasu is in California, correct? Yeah, I've actually seen it and driven over it. Wow, it's a bridge. Let's move on. The next one. Well, next one. It has a little asterisk for it. Our next one is Marie Callender's, but we have listed two here, but it's really one, because there's really one in Burbank, and the other one getting honorable mention with us, it was in Toluca Lake and how far out of Burbank was the one in Toluca Lake.
Speaker 2:I could throw a baseball from Burbank and hit it in Toluca Lake. It was could throw a baseball from Burbank and hit it in Toluca Lake. It was at Mariota and Arcola, arcola and Riverside.
Speaker 3:Which is now a Chase Bank.
Speaker 2:We needed a Chase Bank, didn't we?
Speaker 3:Yeah, right, but talk about Marie Callender's for a second. They're burgers and that salad bar, the salad bar, alone.
Speaker 2:The salad bar was outstanding. I always had fresh croutons.
Speaker 3:And you could go back as much as you want. And our good friend Stan Lynch loved the waitresses. Yes, he did At all those restaurants. But he would love that Monte Crisco. Yes, you know the ham and cheese dipped, you know, in French toast batter or whatever. Dip it in, oh my. But I remembered a secret when the waitresses and if you remember the waitresses, at both they were owned by the same guys, ray and so forth when they would write down the order, I learned that I loved the cbo dry. Oh, cbo dry. The code for it was cheeseburger onions, no dressing, oh, okay so I'd say to the waitress I'd like a CBO drawing.
Speaker 3:They'd look at me like how do you know that?
Speaker 2:How do you know that? How do you know that? Because we went in there. I remember we used to go there after we'd cover a football game, right, we'd go there on Friday nights because you know there'd always be a crowd at Bob's and everybody would go down the and it was funny.
Speaker 3:I had a good friend that was a manager over there and he had me help him once for their Thanksgiving Christmas pie order. You know what I learned how they make their pecan pies. Back then they would put the pecans in and you know how they got them to rise. They'd take their finger and go like this in the batter. Really, 30 years ago you could do that. Nowadays you can't do that.
Speaker 2:But that's how they made him rise.
Speaker 3:With a glove on. You can Yep, that was.
Speaker 2:That was.
Speaker 3:Bill, wasn't it? His name was Bill right Bill Davis. He was the manager there.
Speaker 2:Bill Davis, and yeah, he took care of us too.
Speaker 3:Oh, he did. He loved when, he just loved when we came in, Because you know, we always came in that last hour and he'd still get us helped out. Yep, Good old Marie Callender, See, and people will remember.
Speaker 2:Well, you know it's funny, we're not even talking about the pies. The pies were outstanding, you know, and they picked them right there on the premises. Well, they had some other.
Speaker 3:They had chicken pot pie too. Yes, and they still. Last week I bought one at you know, somewhere in the box.
Speaker 2:But back then I don't know if there's any Marie Callenders left. I know there was one in Glendale that had actually a full bar in it too Pacific and Glen Oaks, right in that area by the 134. I don't think it's still there anymore.
Speaker 3:I think there's a restaurant there, but not a Marie Callenders.
Speaker 2:I don't think Marie Callenders is.
Speaker 3:Oh, somebody told me somebody recently saw one out in the East San Gabriel Valley. What about their cornbread?
Speaker 2:That's right, that's right. I forgot all about that.
Speaker 3:With hot honey, oh and butter, the apple butter.
Speaker 2:Yes, and once again, that was made right there on the premises. It sure was.
Speaker 3:See this rabbit hole. Do you not get the taste of that cornbread right now? Yes, absolutely. You know, I'm tempted to go home and I buy Marie Callender's off the shelf. Now you can make it at home. Never the same, because I know they put a little sugar here and there. Yeah, but boy.
Speaker 3:I'm trying to remember the one up on the hill, hill that was on san fernando, we're uh, across from ralph's now there's a mcdonald's and okay, that's right near the cornell theater now there's another rat I don't know that we can get to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there it sure is. Um, yeah, so that that and that one closed first and right um at big windows.
Speaker 3:You sit out out front. It was a great place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, three counters. Witchers were always nice people too.
Speaker 3:Always hired the high school kids, the cute girls. I remember that was one of their things. Nowadays you can't do that.
Speaker 2:That's why Stan wanted to go there all the time.
Speaker 3:Those were the nights that he couldn't get into the car hop service at Bob's and bug the girls. For what was it? An iced tea with 12 sugars. Yes, you know, good old Steve. Okay, rest in peace.
Speaker 2:Let's move on here to oh Market City Cafe.
Speaker 3:Oh, what a salad bar there too.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was actually surprised when they went out of business. I don't know if that was part of a chain or just a single place, I don't know if that was part of a chain or just a single place.
Speaker 3:No, that was a chain. He was closing that one down and he had one in Glendale or another eastern valley, but you remember the cow that they had.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I wonder you know they had business there because it's right by the EMC and everything. It was on San Fernando Road, right by Palm Yep it was right on the corner.
Speaker 3:And do you remember the hot rolls? Yes, With the salad bar. Oh man, Another good. You don't get a great. Where in the city can you have a great salad bar? And that was one. Had a lot of choices, the cold plates down in the. You know out front when you walked in.
Speaker 2:And yeah, yep, okay. Well, let's move on here. Here's what didn't last long, didn't last long at all, but it made our list, of course, and that was Milano's.
Speaker 3:Now, do you remember how many calls did you take from Mike?
Speaker 2:Well, he must have called here every hour, on the hour, you know, and he knew nothing about the restaurant business or about the store business or anything else. And, boy, we tried to help him. We set up advertising for him, we did a lot for him trying to help him out, but it came down to the same problem that's always at that location.
Speaker 2:At that location, yeah, and it was on Palm, just below 3rd Street, right between the parking structure and 3rd Street, and the problem being is that, yeah, they have a parking structure but it was not convenient to park anywhere and go in there and he really thought that he was going to get all the business from the condos above.
Speaker 3:Right, and those are senior, older people that live in that. But also Cartoon Network was across the street and he tried to open during COVID, if you remember, and that office building was empty.
Speaker 2:I think he was in his 70s or something and he was retired and trying to do this for his wife and his wife got ill or something and then all of a sudden he closed one day.
Speaker 3:There was a sign on the door out ill or whatever. I just saw there is a new place coming soon into that place. Hopefully it'll be doing better than Milano's did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we enjoyed Milano's. I was just trying to think Before Milano's it was something else Varian.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there were two of them, I was just trying to think it was before Milano's. It was something else Varian, something. Yeah, it was a yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there were two of them. Oh, we missed that on our list, didn't we?
Speaker 3:Well, we'll have to put that in show three.
Speaker 2:Be in show three. Another reason you have to listen and you know what, if you're out there and you remember what was there, let us know, tell us, tell us what we're missing, because that was another one that we had done advertising for and I remember something with a P and I remember I still have gift certificates that they traded for advertising.
Speaker 2:Somebody told me they're at the farmer's market down on 3rd now not Burbank, I was going to say those in Iraq gives you nothing but the thing heavy. Okay, that's a terrible joke. It doesn't even deserve a.
Speaker 3:Mike, it was nice working with you. It's unfortunate that, with a list of all these other restaurants, you're on that list of coming on.
Speaker 2:Let's move on. Um, I'm looking at our. Oh, next up is Come and gone. Yep, let's move on. I'm looking at our. Okay, oh, next up is somewhere that we that Moe's, moe's, moe's, that was at the former International House of Pancakes IHOP and you know, and when he, you know, he kind of fixed it up a little bit, but he always left the V of the structure of the IHOP at the front door. That was always there. He never moved that. You could always see the always look at that and picture the old IHOP that used to be there. And he was there, probably.
Speaker 3:Well, now he was actually there after. Hamptons I was going to say what about Hamptons and Newman? Wasn't the actor Newman own one of those? I thought?
Speaker 2:he owned Hamptons or something we talked about Hamptons in the last show.
Speaker 3:Go back to Moe's for a second. Do you remember those burgers they had? What a dozen, two dozen custom burgers.
Speaker 2:And then they had what do you call it? A burger bar?
Speaker 3:Yep.
Speaker 2:And you take your burger up there and then put all kinds of stuff onto it and everything else. Had a great bar in there too.
Speaker 3:People following this show don't think that we like food or anything. We could tell you exactly what was on some of these salad bars.
Speaker 2:I can tell you what was on all these burgers too, so they had a good bars. I can tell you what was on all these burgers too, so they had a good burger. I didn't go there because I thought it was a little pricey, even back then. You know, and to me a good burger. You can get a good burger for a cheaper price at times, you know.
Speaker 3:Now $19.20, $30 for a burger.
Speaker 2:Absolutely ridiculous, but moving on. So yeah, and actually Moe's did finally leave and he actually owned a restaurant by the Tewke Lake Tennis Center also. I think he might still own that too, or still run that.
Speaker 3:The guy that, ramsey Schilling, his son has that restaurant on Riverside because you remember they advertised with us. Oh, that's right. I can't think of the name of it, but I hear I see it in TV shows right now and maybe we should go knock on their door and see if they want to advertise.
Speaker 2:Oh, we'd like that. Moving on next is one of the things that we've lost a lot of here in Burbank. We just don't have many anymore, and that's a deli that was Moore's Deli. That was located right across from the Hoopscow.
Speaker 3:Moore's Deli. You know you're right. Where can you get a pastrami sandwich back in the day?
Speaker 2:No, no. Where could you get out of jail to go get a pastrami sandwich back in the day? You'd get out of jail and walk across the street on third street there and there you go moore's deli but oh the food.
Speaker 3:And they had that room. How many people remember that room in the back, all those writers and animators would come down from cartoon network and they started drawing on the walls and the guy would supply pens and ink and sharpies and it was became famous yeah, I've heard that the, the old cartoon network building now, is actually where they had a lot of drawings done.
Speaker 2:Um, they've had to take a lot of that out, but they've tried to save some of those right on the staircases good old spongebob, not spongebob up the cartoon.
Speaker 3:I forget who was, but some of it was, yeah, copyrighted, so they had to paint that. But I hear there were rooms or stairwells that the employees didn't put up copyrighted stuff and they're still there.
Speaker 2:What a treat I'm a hollywood production studios now, so they've moved in there the moore's deli yeah, that was and that was, you know, like I said, not a lot of good. I know you're a big deli fan.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love pastrami sandwiches with corned beef on rye, and what was good is not only the straw meal rye, but a darn good dill pickle with it, yes. Or good coleslaw I know you're a coleslaw fan.
Speaker 2:I love good coleslaw.
Speaker 3:And they had good potato salad with it, yep.
Speaker 2:Too bad, morse booked out of town. Well, let's go back to uh, another burger place now and uh, mr biggs burgers.
Speaker 3:Anybody been in burbank a couple of years remembers mr big burgers that's right there.
Speaker 2:It was on the corner of, I want to say, east and san fernando, that's correct, and and pretty much an iconic place.
Speaker 3:Oh everybody, burbank High, that was the place to go. You didn't have Tommy's, you didn't have all these other places, mcdonald's, or any of those. It was Mr Big Burger's. But the taste in that burger, mr Big Burger's, you know, that is one thing I find. You can go to a place like Mr Big Burger's, like Clint's, it had a definite taste.
Speaker 2:A unique taste, a very unique taste.
Speaker 3:Mr Big Burger's and their onion rings were the huge onion rings and their malts and all that's a thing people remember. I guarantee you ask somebody. Gary Brick's been here longer than us and I could bet you he could say Mr Big Burger's was one of his favorite places and he made a good burger.
Speaker 2:Yes, he did Absolutely, and he knew that you not only toast both sides of the bun, but you don't put the meat against the bun on the bottom, and that's what keeps it crispy.
Speaker 3:See, we learned that. Thank you very much, Mr Brick.
Speaker 2:So let's move on here. Now we're moving on to. Well, here's an Orange Julius. Wow, Remember Orange Julius. There were a couple locations here in Burbank.
Speaker 3:There's a couple of places. Oh, corner Cottage still has one of those machines that make the whipped orange. Okay, you remember that? Oh that, yeah, you can make them at home now.
Speaker 2:Well, you know, we used to go to, now, the Orange Juice. We're talking about the first time. It comes to my mind, it was right across from NBC I think it's called the Commissary now, right next to where A&O Liquor was.
Speaker 3:Little tiny, tiny, tiny place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, now, right next to where A&O Liquor was Little tiny, tiny, tiny place. Yeah, and if you picture the structure, it was an Orange Julius at one time, right, and we used to go there all the time. You know, back in the Stevenson days we used to ride our bike down from Stevenson down to California.
Speaker 3:What was that? Ice cream that is kind of like an Orange Julius. What are they called? A?
Speaker 2:50-50 bar.
Speaker 3:And they're exact. Yep, and I just saw somebody the other day, I forget on what TV show they were trying to duplicate. You know that taste of Orange, Julius. All it was was, I think, orange, carbonated water and some whipped cream.
Speaker 2:I remember back in the day we all figured out that the cool way to do it was to put a raw egg into it. You used to put a raw orange juice with a raw egg. Now, back then we were all brave and everything else. You remember the Rocky film too, using four or five eggs and just do them straight. But yeah, we used to put a raw egg into our orange, julius, and it was a great taste. But boy, now you look at the salmonella.
Speaker 3:There were a couple of orange, julius, and then they had the pineapple, I think, and there were just two or three, that's it.
Speaker 2:And the other one, of course, is where Yakis is now over on Alameda and Maine. And that was an orange Julius for a long long time. That's right, it's been a Yak Julius for a long long time.
Speaker 3:That's right.
Speaker 2:It's been a Yankees for a long long time too.
Speaker 3:Yeah, but you know again this rabbit hole. Think of Orange Julius. You know these young kids they have no clue.
Speaker 2:Don't they have Orange Julius now in some of the malls? Oh really, I don't know, I don't go to malls too much I I don't know I don't go to balls too much. I think they do. I'm not sure, but I think they do.
Speaker 3:You just again. You're making me want an Orange Julius right now. So bad.
Speaker 2:Well, a 50-50 bar It'll do. Oh, amazing. Well, moving on here Now, I don't remember this place. I saw you put it on the list here and I'm a little perplexed by it.
Speaker 3:It's called Pages. Pages was, I found out. Lancers was originally called Pages.
Speaker 2:See, I don't remember that.
Speaker 3:Yep Many, many years ago. When it first opened, it was called Pages Do you have any idea when it changed to Lancers. No, but we'll do some research.
Speaker 2:Well, of course, you know.
Speaker 3:I guarantee Don.
Speaker 2:If you're actually watching this video. Hopefully, by the time I get to the editing part, I'll be able to pull some information up and throw it in the script.
Speaker 3:You know we can always call our historian, old man Burbank Don Baldessaroni, who grew up here when the dirt was delayed and he could probably tell us when Pages was there. I didn't know that was ever called Pages and no relation to the baseball player Pages who has played today, who played for the Dodgers, but he was Major League debut today but his name was not Pages, pages.
Speaker 2:Pages, pages or something. Yeah, I don't get it. You know All I know is he got in? The dodgers one tonight. Yes, he did. Now you know when we're recording this show, so, um, that's we got. Oh, here here's one. That's a long time. Burbank restaurant, that you know, pierrot's not.
Speaker 3:A lot of people went to pierrot's. It was a fantastic fish house. Yeah, I never, I never. It was never busy. If I recall, the owner's daughter went to chef school and the owner opened up a restaurant for her. It was there at Niagara, I think, next to Dick Clark, lock up from Dick Clark, naomi Florence, one of those.
Speaker 2:Now it's a Mexican restaurant there.
Speaker 3:It was also after Piero's, it was Michael's, michael's which had the best.
Speaker 2:In fact, we don't have Michaels on our list, do we?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's somewhere. What?
Speaker 2:do we have on our list Might?
Speaker 3:be on our latest list.
Speaker 2:Oh, okay, it might be on the list we're going to talk about later, so let's go back.
Speaker 3:Where can you get Jambalaya? That's a sad thing. There's no more Michaels and you remember the head chef at Michael's also had. There was a little tiny orange Julia stand on the San Fernando Road, I think, just very small. It was near one of the walkways and Michael's, a famous chef, apparently robbed or was involved in some robberies and they arrested him and he fought it and then that's when he became the chef after Piero's and that was Michael's and that was owned by, I think, one of the baseball coaches at Burroughs, or football coaches' sons. But Craig Durling and I used to go in there. They're A-2-Fay and they're Jambalaya and oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:Well, back to Piero's. Yeah, Did you ever stop at Piero's and eat?
Speaker 3:You know those were my youngin' days and I remember my parents. I wasn't a big fish fan. You had to pull bones out of fish.
Speaker 2:It's funny, you and I both weren't fish fans, but we both love fish now. Yeah, what's up with that?
Speaker 3:Well, it took too much time to pull the bones out and I remember taking a bite of some fish, some fishing when I was young, and oh, what is this? And this takes too long, forget it.
Speaker 2:Well, to me, that's the entire story of sunflower seeds. You know, being a baseball guy, every player used to have Coach you want some sunflower? Yeah, you want some seeds. You want some seeds, no, no. Why I go? Because it's too much work for too little food. By the time I get the shot, there's nothing hardly to eat, and so to me it just wasn't worth all the trouble. I want to take a bite out of something.
Speaker 3:And then after Michael's it was something else and they had a great karaoke bar, a karaoke night, and I remember friends from high school used to go there like every week for karaoke.
Speaker 2:I can't remember the name of that.
Speaker 3:I'll think of it.
Speaker 2:One of our listeners will Email us. Please, people, please, please, please, email us if we've forgotten something or we're missing something, because we really want to go over everything. Give everybody their fair. Look here. Okay, so moving on, from when is my list here? Oh, we're on another page here, aren't we? After that, we go to what was a staple in Burbank and to this day I don't know why the franchise. What happened? I'm sure there's a reason, but kinder chicken.
Speaker 3:Yep, not a lot of people, if you remember next to Savon Savon Drugstore.
Speaker 2:Savon Drugstore boom, boom.
Speaker 3:Pioneer Chicken was there.
Speaker 2:There was one uptown, in fact, I knew a couple of people that worked there, the one on San Fernando, it was right next to.
Speaker 3:Dodie's or Ralph's, ralph's. Yes, that's not Delaware, that's one north of Delaware. Yeah, anthony.
Speaker 2:That's your neighborhood. Now, yeah it is.
Speaker 3:I should know. You should know those things. I don't, yeah, I should. But you know what? Didn't have good chicken. I have stories. Oh yeah, the one down next to now CVS, but Savon Drugstore, debbie Mobley, a good friend of ours. Years ago she worked there. I don't know which husband, but her and Paul met there and I remember taking breaks from Savon Drugstore. I worked at Savon.
Speaker 2:Go in there and get their two-piece sandwich for two bucks or something. Well, our next one here is going to bring back a lot of memories for our Burroughs crowd, especially Besides being a great pizza place, but it was a place that was one of two places back then that you could get to get some food and get back to school on time during your lunch pass, and that was called.
Speaker 3:Pizza Pie. How big was that place? I think this studio is bigger.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was absolutely tiny. It's on the corner of Reese and Magnolia and it was just a tiny little white building. I remember.
Speaker 3:Windows on three sides, a door in the back. I still don't know how they could throw the pizzas in there, but at lunch if you went to Burroughs.
Speaker 2:And you got. He had pizzas ready to go too. He could always get one or two slices, yep.
Speaker 3:And he had enough to cover the lunch bunch for Burroughs. And then, when they closed, they moved over on Alameda where Winsentire was, which was a market Alpha Beta. I believe. Alpha Beta. Yeah, after they closed, winston Tire took over that parking lot, one of the little tiny holes in the wall. There there's a barbershop and some other stuff was Pizza Pie.
Speaker 2:I remember Pizza Pie the one with Magnolia and Reese was absolutely phenomenal. That was back in the 70s, you know back in the day. Let's move on here. Another iconic place, once again at Burroughs. It would be pushing the envelope to walk there and walk back to Burroughs. You could make it and that was.
Speaker 3:Pup and Taco, pup and Taco, pup and Taco. It was like wham bam. Thank you, ma'am. Here's your. Was it the taco or the burrito or the combo?
Speaker 2:that was, you know I don't know what was in the taco it was a pup, and I'm sure the pup wasn't all beef either, you know but you remember there was also a pup and taco up on glen oaks across from foster freeze at angelino yep, which is now a duncan donuts oh, there's, a chinese place, a drive-thru chinese place.
Speaker 3:Now, boy, these places, how they rotate.
Speaker 2:Now it's a dunkin donuts up and taco oh my goodness, I mean that. And now it's a. Uh, then taco bell took over there.
Speaker 3:That's right, that still is a taco bell yep, they remodeled it and drive through and I've used it many a times yep, okay, after, well, after Pup and Taco, we go to a place that wasn't here too long.
Speaker 2:It was here probably maybe seven or eight years, maybe at the most, at the corner of Riverside Drive and Maple. What was the name of the place? It was called Red Maple, red Maple, and they have now since left Burbank. They, I guess, wanted a bigger location and they moved over to right across from Trader Joe's Trader Joe's on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake now. Much bigger place, much bigger place.
Speaker 3:Brian who owns it is a great guy. I see him every so on. He's on the board of Toluca Lake Chamber now. But do you remember when they Red Maple? I remember we did their opening. He had that used to be a shoe repair place. Yes, and he had that used to be a shoe repair place. Yes, I remember my dad taking me there, I think it was Victor's Shoe Repair, wasn't it? It was a Victor's no it wasn't Victor's, it was.
Speaker 2:I remember back in the day we used to go to Lucky's. That was in the corner of Pass and. Alameda, and they had all those shops in the parking lot of Lucky's there across the alley Yep, shops on the parking lot of of lucky's there across the alley yep, and they were facing toward the parking lot and they were businesses that weren't facing toward riverside but they were facing toward yeah, and what else was the shoe repair place? Their?
Speaker 3:place and I remember my dad always getting his shoes worked on there. But then when brian took it over, him and his partner to make a red maple, they converted that whole place. The power in that place was the old knob and tube. I remember him showing me the fuses and everything that they changed and then it became uh, on the corner there's a sushi place now or a pokey place, but he moved down, like you said, to uh mariotta, or across from trader jo Joe's Nice place, great guy, great food, do you remember?
Speaker 2:And then didn't they make that custom if you got coffee or yeah, they put a picture of something on there for you or something, yeah.
Speaker 3:That was a new trend back then, boy.
Speaker 2:A rabbit hole. I was never a cappuccino guy.
Speaker 3:Yeah, me either, but I remember them doing that. It was kind of neat.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Probably still do it.
Speaker 2:Um, after all here, okay, now here's one. If you remember this place, you're pretty good I I do, of course, because I was there for the, the, the grand opening of it.
Speaker 3:Really.
Speaker 2:And it was called Roy Rogers roast beef sandwiches. Right Now that is at the corner of Valley and Riverside. Is that where it was? Yeah, and that was the very first restaurant there. It was built as a Roy Rogers roast beef sandwiches and it lasted there for a long time no, I shouldn't say last. It's probably made five or six years and then it went out of.
Speaker 3:Uh now we we got an office, so probably preface it. Roy rogers was pretty famous back in the day as a cowboy and on quite a few westerns and so forth and that's how that chain came about. I don't think the guy that owned it was called Roy Rogers, but Well, I think he, well, he had a stake in it, right, exactly.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he didn't Maybe a horse in it or two, but yeah Well, maybe a horse stake in it, I don't know. Okay, moving on from Roy Rogers, which I just called Tender Greens Today, by the way, is it called?
Speaker 3:Tender Greens yeah, yeah, you're right. But we have a list of what other things were over there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, we'll get into that. So, moving off from let's see here, we just left Roy Rogers Now oh here's a place that for a long time, if you've been to karaoke or I think they even did porn star karaoke and things like that, and that's sardos sardos.
Speaker 3:I have another one written down here. I kind of crossed that sardos. Guess who was famous over there for porn star karaoke, ron jeremy. I'll never forget I used to go to the vons, he's in prison now.
Speaker 2:Now, isn't he?
Speaker 3:He's dying in prison. Apparently he got dementia or whatever and they found that they can't. You know he doesn't remember anything and yeah, but I'll never forget. One night I went to Vons, 301 North Pass and the parking lot was packed, I mean full, at 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock at night. I'm going. How many people shopping avon? No, everybody said ron jeremy is over singing karaoke with all the other porn stars. Wednesday night porn star, whatever you know what?
Speaker 3:the food there was terrible yeah, my sister knew the owner uh sal, I'm not sal, I get the guy's name he tried, he really tried and then, like I just read his memorial of the restaurant on some web page and he said you know, with the prices you can't pay waitresses now and the price of food, you got to bring something in some shtick and well, no, what you got to do is actually have good food that people will actually go to the restaurant you know, I mean it was crap.
Speaker 2:that's the bottom line, that's the reason it became good for karaoke. Yeah, I think the part we kind of must have passed up there was Salerno's, salerno's. Salerno's. That's been a long time. You remember Salerno's right?
Speaker 3:On Riverside Drive and I remember one day I walked by there and saw a cockroach in the window and said I won't be eating there anymore.
Speaker 2:Well, that was Slerno's Submarine Sandwiches though. Right, but you know that was originally before it was down closer. I want to say it was down closer near China Trader or in that area, and then he moved down two or three blocks down.
Speaker 3:Because he wanted that outdoor. It used to be a dry cleaner.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I think when they sold, when China Trader got bought out, they wanted that whole block for development or something and he got thrown out with bathwater type thing, you know. So I think his name was Ernie, his name was ernie, that's his, that was his name and that's the place I actually used to go to all the time for a ham and cheese uh, submarine sandwich all the time and it was great.
Speaker 3:now I think I never saw what you saw but it happens, it's, it's a business, but we, you know, salernos, you know, the names are so close. How about Sorrentino's?
Speaker 2:Sorrentino's. Sorrentino's was.
Speaker 3:Known for fish too.
Speaker 2:Yes, that was right on the corner of Riverside and Pass.
Speaker 3:What color was the building? It was green. It was green. I went to school with Gina Sorrentino. She was in my class. Oh, her family owned it. She told me what days to go there and eat, but that was more of a classy place again.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, but Sorrentino's was right on the corner Right down from the China Trader.
Speaker 2:That's right and it was there for a long time and then became FedEx. No, no, before FedEx it was a Sony repair shop or something. That's right, yep repair shop or something that's right, and then became a FedEx or Kinko's.
Speaker 3:Kinko's. That's right. They merged into FedEx and now there's going to be a six-story building.
Speaker 2:Yeah, six-story. Oh, my goodness, it's going to be a monstrosity. Yeah, it does not fit the neighborhood. So more to come on that on the MyBurbank side. Trust us.
Speaker 3:Right, but now the next place. Let's get back to a burger here.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm not going to just say a burger. I'm going to say, and I think I've got to go back one here, oh, to a double place here, and all I'm going to say is Malibu chicken. What does that tell you? Malibu chicken.
Speaker 3:Oh, a sizzler. A sizzler, sure, avo chicken a sizzler and we had two sizzlers in Burbank.
Speaker 2:We just lost the last one. Maybe what three or four years ago?
Speaker 3:how many years ago more than three or four, probably more like ten now, but we did have one up there at Providence in Glen Oaks.
Speaker 2:But again, fantastic, fantastic salad bar oh the salad probably the best salad bar by far and you remember we knew the manager one over here at hollywood way.
Speaker 3:He was just great. But malibu chicken and the steaks weren't that great unless you had brand new set of dentures yeah, yeah, the state, all the other stuff. Yeah, you know, and their, their clam chowder soup and their taco bar and just scissors was and they're still around. There's one up in I know, uh, la canada, we've lost it here in burma.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's unfortunate I went one time to the sizzler on ventura boulevard it was down around, oh I don't know, somewhere between down in Vineland or something, that area and we went during, you know, when I was coaching ball and it was after a game, and we went to the Sizzler and back then they had all-you-can-eat shrimp. They had the all-you-can-eat shrimp there, and so I said, yeah, I want the all-you-can-eat shrimp and I started eating shrimp. Now here's the secret when you did that, they would also give you a baked potato. They'd give you some bread and a steak and all that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but the secret was you don't eat that stuff because all that bread doesn't fill you up. So I started on those breaded shrimp, those little breaded shrimps. How many later? Okay, so I'm up, 7 to 10 at a time. So I'm up to around 115. And I'm just, you know, now it's become a, it's a challenge now. Now it's become a, I'm going to wear a badge of honor. So I get up to around 115 or whatever, and I said, sir, please, another round, please. He looked at me and says no, no more, that's it. I said, sir, I go. It says it's all you can eat. And I have eaten all I can, exactly as I said. He looked at me and says I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry. He refunded our entire meal to us and threw us out, you know. So I got a boy. I'll tell you what. I did not really eat shrimp for a while after that. That was a A learning experience.
Speaker 2:Oh, you can eat shrimp. Yeah, I remember, boy, that was a. They all did that. That was a thing for a while, and I think there were too many people like me out there who Well, you know you say that and I'm not proud of it.
Speaker 3:Back in my young teen days I did a food contest at Tommy's and ate 13 Tommy burgers.
Speaker 2:Holy cow.
Speaker 3:And talk about sick laughter, that. But you know what I'm not proud of that. Now I look back at those days and, oh, I can do this, watch this.
Speaker 2:Now I can barely get through anything and you know, big as I am, I'm dieting Good old shrimp. You watch the hot dog eating contest.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:After that Joey Chestnut guy or whatever it is, he can eat what, 50 or 60 or whatever they are. But you know what? They don't show you afterwards. As soon as the time expires and they're done, all those guys turn to the side and they lose it. They all lose it right away. They don't keep that in their stomachs. So that's the part they don't show you. But there's a bucket next to every one of those guys and yikes Well, I thought it was pretty funny, if you are really into the Dodgers.
Speaker 3:They showed them when they went to Korea and they had a wing-eating contest with all the new guys and new coaches and all, and it was team building. I think that one of the guys went through 125 wings and could have kept going, you know. But I tell you we really built team building for the Dodgers this last year.
Speaker 2:Yep, well, moving along, moving along. So, um, after the scissors, here's a place that um was originally built for this restaurant and it was called Spoon's Spoon's. It was on the corner of First Street and Cypress, right there. I'm not sure what it is now. It became a Hooters after.
Speaker 3:I think it's empty currently. Okay, but it was a.
Speaker 2:Hooters. Yeah, but it was Spoon's first and we used to go there. All it was good food. It was kind of like an Island's Right. But the shakes there, that's what was kind of neat. You know Spoons and Spooning you had to spoon your shake, you couldn't just use a straw and the shakes were just phenomenal, just phenomenal.
Speaker 3:It's just you know you think about. I guarantee everybody listening to this you can name a place that their specialty was something, but like spoons, you had to use that ice cold spoons to take out the rest but didn't make it through the straw. You know the old malt days and all these places had things that you really wanted and I bet you everybody listening to this show will think of the different restaurants we've mentioned and it'll put that taste in their mouth, hopefully good taste.
Speaker 2:I was disappointed when I found out that I never knew what the difference between a shake and a malt was. I found out later.
Speaker 3:When you shake like oh.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, they just throw some powder into it. Ah, just some powder, that's it. And that's what makes the demult taste and it's like, really, that's all it is. It's just some powder.
Speaker 3:But also back in the day they used some real ice cream.
Speaker 2:You know there's no malt ice cream, Right, Okay, let's move on from spoons. Next comes I think this is what you were talking about a second ago is it's had many incarnations over the years, but for a long time it was called Steve's Charburgers.
Speaker 3:They were pretty well known for that word charburger Right and that was on the corner of Victory and Brighton. That's right.
Speaker 2:And it's been many things now since, and we need to come up with a list of all the things. It's been too.
Speaker 3:You're right, because Blazin' Burgers were then there. They're gone. Now it's a Mexican restaurant with a guy and his wife are doing a great job. You know what's different about that location? Got to drive through One of the last places and this guy had to, I hear, be able to get his business license. That's in there currently. He had to keep the previous name in the name of the restaurant, so it was grandfathered in, but he's also open until 10 o'clock at night for that drive-in.
Speaker 2:I remember we went to Blazing Burgers one time to eat and it was during a summer day, 105 outside, yeah, 105 outside. And so we were going to go in and go inside to eat because it was 105 out and the tables were in the sun. And the owner goes I go, we want to. No, no, we don't see inside, that's just for our storage now. And it's like really so off we went. That's when it turned into.
Speaker 3:It was something else, the Chinese or some other type of brand of food. It wasn't a burger place. Oh, it was a burger place, yeah.
Speaker 2:But that's why I think they're out of business, because you can't sit down in the hot sun or just get food, only to go. Right, you really can't so Moving along, moving along. Let's see, here we have next up on our list. We get into the teas Ooh, and we go to Teresa's.
Speaker 3:Now, how many people remember Teresa's? It was owned by Teresa, I think, and it wasn't there too long a couple years, but her homemade dressing and her pies. Corner of Sparks and Olive.
Speaker 2:Which has now become a Starbucks.
Speaker 3:I never forget. But I had a good friend, Glenn Duke, who passed away, former fireman, he owned that house right behind it and he knew Teresa pretty well and I remember I'd go to his house and Teresa would give him this and that and pies and pretty nice. She moved into Glendale. She closed Burbank Place when Starbucks offered to take it over and she opened one in Glendale and I don't think it was.
Speaker 2:We went there occasionally, but it was never very crowded inside, you know, and it just didn't seem like it was a priority.
Speaker 3:But the food was very good.
Speaker 2:The food was good. The food was good. The next one I keep trying to remember the name is so familiar, but I can't remember the place at all and that was called the Three Horsemen.
Speaker 3:Oh, I'm sorry, Sorry, three Horsemen, think about it. Three Horsemen. Oh, I'm sorry, sorry, three horsemen, think about it. Three horsemen. Pickwick, three horsemen, that's right. Across from the arenas where we used to have riding rings. Yeah, that's right and it was part of Pickwick Bowl, right.
Speaker 2:Because I don't remember it that well, because I always went into Pickwick Bowl but I always went through the back door.
Speaker 3:See.
Speaker 2:So I don't remember, and I just knew that there was a bar entrance there where you could get food. I didn't, at least ever see a name and I remember the counter.
Speaker 3:The Three Horsemen had a counter and you know when you bowled you got food from there. But I remember going to that restaurant. It had good food, fish and chips like stuff like that. It was very good.
Speaker 2:I think closed down. For the last couple years the Pickwick was still a bowling alley, but there was no restaurant anymore.
Speaker 3:For our long-time Burbank followers. We'll remember the Three Horsemen.
Speaker 2:As soon as you gave me the place, I remember it. The name was familiar to me. I kept looking at the name and saying I know that place.
Speaker 3:I think I have a picture and I'll have to look. Before they tore the Pickwick down, the three horsemen were still up on the building. There were three horses and under it it said three horsemen.
Speaker 2:Somebody sent us a video the other day of them knocking down the Pickwick sign and it's like too bad, they couldn't have saved that somehow. You know the guy in the valley who saves signs, valley Relics. Yeah, too bad they didn't save that sign, but I guess they can't save every sign. Moving along, moving along Another the. This time it's the dip.
Speaker 3:The dip. You talk to any police officer, any motor. The dip was famous. Five points their coffee. Yep, the dip was famous. Five points their coffee. The dip was just and five points being Burbank.
Speaker 2:That's right. Victory Lake, Lake, yeah, and because Victory went two different directions and Burbank went all over. It was what a mess there. In fact, as we know, any time there was an accident or something there, it always would take two police officers to direct traffic at that intersection, because it was just so complicated.
Speaker 3:I'll never forget when the power lines fell on a car at that intersection. Traffic was screwed up in the whole San Fernando Valley because when you shut that intersection down there was nobody moving. It screwed up. You couldn't get off the freeway, you couldn't go east, you couldn't go west, you couldn't go north, you couldn't go south. You were screwed. And I'll never forget watching them, that line that had fallen on a vehicle and they couldn't do anything until they de-energized everything right and now the dip is the uh costco gas station but there was a restaurant in the dip and I remember it was a drive-thru.
Speaker 3:It was a burrito place and I gotta look because I just found the picture of a car that launched out of it. I'll look at tonight and I will put it on our list of other places okay, yes, please do send me that picture for our, our next show. Oh, I will oh the dip, along with a picture of you directing traffic.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, there we go. Next up here's a favorite of many people for a long time and the pizza was great there. The Italian food was great, Tony's Bella.
Speaker 3:Vista. You know that was one of Ron Howard's and Rance Howard's favorite places. He talked about going in there all the time. I happen to know some of the family that owned it, you know, and yeah, Tony's Bella Vista was probably one of the top pizzas in Burbank.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Top Italian restaurants.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:You know? I mean, I'm not sure why they.
Speaker 3:Well, it was a land family issue between who's owning this and who's that? And the funny thing is I had some leg surgery a couple years ago and one of the family members made me Italian food while I was convalescing. I thought if I closed my eyes I'd think I was eating at Tony's Bella Vista. It was that good. And my good friend Christina Spratt, who helps us out quite a bit, she's in that family Boy, a great group of Italians that know how to cook.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure. Right now they're resizing that whole block up into smaller places right.
Speaker 3:Pizza place is open. Pizza place is open. Pizza place is open. I've just told that the and we need another pizza place in Burbank.
Speaker 3:Well, there's now three over that neighborhood, but Bagel Boys, bagel Boss, is opening. The stuff came off the window yesterday. I was told they were just waiting for a permit or two. We're going to see them the next couple of weeks with a nice patio and the place the cupcake place that was up two blocks other side of UME Credit Union. She downsized and she's moved over there, so there's three new restaurants right next to each other.
Speaker 2:There's parking.
Speaker 3:Lots of street parking over there.
Speaker 2:Moving on to I think it was only here for maybe five or six years at the most called Umami's. How did you say that? Yeah, umami's.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That was over. That took over for Papu's Hot Dog Show.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:So they became Umami's, a high-end burger Good burger, but high-end. I didn't like the fact that when they first opened it, if you wanted a drink they would sell you a bottle of Coke or something that was eight ounces or something for $3. And you know, one eight-ounce bottle ain't going to do much for you. So by the time you get it you're spending $15 on three or four Cokes just to get the usual amount of drink you know, that was just to wash the taste down.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it was good. They had, you know, dipping trays and everything else. The food was good, the burger was good. My understanding was the guy who owned it. They bought a lot of locations at once, a lot of locations at once, and they just couldn't sustain them all. And my understanding is that it came down to he just couldn't. He walked away. He just closed the doors one day, gave the keys to the landlord and said I'm out of here. So there you go, and I mean all that remodeling, everything else they did.
Speaker 3:It wasn't a sports celebrity or some celebrity that I don't think so, but he just walked away. It's amazing.
Speaker 2:Let's see here Moving on. Oh okay, now here's one that only are really, really older listeners are going to remember. But it was, it was. It was infamous. It was one of the great places in in the 50s and 60s.
Speaker 3:You could see it a block away.
Speaker 2:Yes, and it was called Vandy Camps. Oh, corner of Victory and Olive.
Speaker 3:With their big windmill, or big, what was it?
Speaker 2:It was a big windmill yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I remember it used to move and rotate around the building Blue. I could picture it like it was there tomorrow or yesterday. It was blue, right, you know, the neon lighting on the edge of the windmill and the waitresses wore little Scandinavian type things and I think it was a.
Speaker 2:there's another one that lasted I think it was in Glendale, near Las Pilas or something for a long time.
Speaker 3:I can visualize it, yep.
Speaker 2:But the one in Burbank. It didn't make it.
Speaker 3:And we will touch on other restaurants. There were several. That was a pretty famous intersection for restaurants. Yes, it was, still is.
Speaker 2:Still is Well. Next is another one of our dearly departed delis Victor's Deli, and I know how you feel about delis.
Speaker 3:Victor's Deli was you know? You come in off that alley, off the back next to the lock shop. Tell us where. It was Hollywood Way in Magnolia, and I remember the owner of Victor's Deli. He used to own a place up on Magnolia called Shuggy's, Shuggy's, Shuggy's and it burnt down and it was all of one storefront but it was a great little deli. Well, when he didn't want to rebuild there, he bought the deli there and it changed the name to Victor's again. Do you remember what we used to get in the middle of the night on his pie run?
Speaker 2:um, good old martino, martino pies, cupcakes, key cakes, cakes, but then the pies um ron, ronnie, ronnie right, the pie guy ronnie was the pie guy and he had five dollars and he would.
Speaker 3:He'd have the Martino's run. He'd go from Coral Cafe to a couple places on Magnolia, to Victor's Deli Yep. We would wait there 132 in the morning, they were still hot. He'd sell us a dozen for five bucks, yep. And then from there he went right down to the studio, to the commissary at Warner Brothers, to fill them up with pies and then over to the hot dog show and over to Bob's.
Speaker 2:Martino's had a lock on this city when it came to every day getting fresh pies and foods and everything else.
Speaker 3:But good old Victor's Jelly, again a great. They were known for their coffee, their morning breakfast. They had the counter. You sit there, you know, and all the traffic would race down Hollywood Way and unfortunately it burned down interesting what happened to this other place?
Speaker 2:oh, we won't talk about that. Is that a?
Speaker 3:place burned down too. Yeah, well, but then, uh, at some time in there, yonans, yes, occupied the building. I remember that. And but when victor Deli, I'll never forget I went skydiving a week before, jumped out of a perfectly good airplane, out of a bad parachute, and I rode it down and I broke my leg. And I remember shooting pictures of that fire. We had Fire Chief Mike Davis there, kurt Reynolds there, and I shot a picture of them with the fire going up and my doctor said you go to any more fires with your leg cast on. I'm going to put you in a cast up to your hip, but I got pictures of that fire. I still have them. That was a major intersection. Send us a picture. Do we have a fire? Oh, I will, I'll come up with that. That was one of my old famous shots. But it also burnt down. Dennis Lights, the closed store next door.
Speaker 2:When it burnt down, it got into the attic and it spread into the business next door and now it became a Rite Aid, which has now become an empty building. Yep, there's a piece of property right there which I'm not sure who can go in there, because when they built that Rite Aid there's a a lot of controversy because they put a building with no windows.
Speaker 3:Right, somebody told me that there is a market chain looking for that size store over in that neighborhood, but I don't want to. We'll see.
Speaker 2:But they got to then put windows in, that's going to be expensive.
Speaker 2:There's also not a huge parking lot for the size square footage of that store well, you know, but if you take that side parking lot where they had the uh, the um drive-through for that, which never worked, by the way, um, that was your drugstore, wasn't it my drugstore? I remember I went there during the uh, I actually picked that drugstore because during the pandemic you couldn't, you know, go in places. I I'm going to pick that place so I can go there and drive in and get the whooshy-dooshy through the machine what was that called the machines, the vacuum machines. And I get there and I was sitting there for maybe you know, dodging right down the car, I was sitting there probably 10 minutes in that place going. So I finally called them. I said, hey, you know I'm sitting out here. They said, oh yeah, that's worked for years, I go. Well, how about a sign or something? How about letting people know that? So now I'm at the CVS over by Verdugo and Parrish, and they have a drive up and there's no vacuums needed.
Speaker 3:Well, they do have vacuum too on the other side. Oh, okay, you just go to the window, but they don't use it.
Speaker 2:They don't use the vacuum at all.
Speaker 3:Okay, well, I don't really test the vacuum anyway, the story about that you know drugstore is kind of like my story of Eden Park. Eden Park.
Speaker 2:If you watched our last video, you actually would see a picture of Eden Park there.
Speaker 3:And if you come up to me in public and then start laughing at me about Eden Park. We're going to go eat there. There we go. Stories of the places that we have in Burbank is just like Rite Aid Wow, but what was before?
Speaker 2:it was a Rite Aid, wasn't it a Thrifty's? No, I think the Thrifty's was across the street where Porto's was.
Speaker 3:No, they were up at Magnolia in California Thrifty's, but I thought, because I remember Rite Aid had an ice cream counter. Oh yeah, with the weird dip thing that they made their cone out of.
Speaker 2:Now they had one, the pet place over on Olive.
Speaker 3:Oh, next to Tom McCann's.
Speaker 2:What was the name of that? That was the place that had the ice cream. That was the Thrifty's, that was the Thrifty's Right. That's the place I'm thinking of. The Thrifty ice cream was always the best. Oh, okay, I thought Rite Aid had. Okay, so that's the place I'm thinking.
Speaker 3:The Thrifty Ice Cream was always the best. Oh, okay, I thought Rite Aid had.
Speaker 2:No, I don't think Rite Aid ever had ice cream.
Speaker 3:See, I could be wrong folks.
Speaker 2:I am an ice cream connoisseur. Of course I mean, look at me. Of course I love ice cream.
Speaker 3:But I remember at Thrifty's they had the ice cream Instead of a scooper. It was built round and it would go into the cones. Weird, yes, and if you got a three decker ice cream instead of three round balls, it was three. Yeah, weird, yeah, oh yeah, and it was good ice cream now, folks, if you remember what I just brought up, that ice cream scooper you probably have an old can opener in the drawer in your kitchen.
Speaker 2:Okay, let's. Next up is a, a newly departed Mexican restaurant that was there for a long time, yeah it was, and it's called.
Speaker 3:Viva's, viva's Cantina, and it was there for it was.
Speaker 2:Right across from the Pickwick.
Speaker 3:And next to the Equestrian Center, which was not in Burbank, craig, yeah, well. Well, the front gate is.
Speaker 2:The front gate's in Burbank and after that you're in LA. But I remember, you know I.
Speaker 3:It's kind of like Lakeside Golf Course you drive in the Rancho area. They were regulars there. The bar was loose and wet and they poured heavy and different bands were in there all the time and now they moved on For a long time it was closed and then it got bought and now it's another restaurant that has been. I hear it's changed some operations and changing things, but Viva's Cantina, viva's.
Speaker 2:Cantina Viva's Cantina, absolutely. Here's one for you. I'm not sure if they had food there. Now, right, our next one, but I know that it was a rowdy place. It was a place that the police went to often, and not because they were there to get a drink. It was because they went there to arrest people. That was called the Whiskey Bend. The Whiskey Bend, in fact.
Speaker 3:They had food there, right, Yep. And the last I heard the Whiskey Bend and Whiskey.
Speaker 2:Bend is where.
Speaker 3:Up at Bethany in San Fernando. If you drive by there now you couldn't tell it was the Whiskey Bend. I know the people that own it. The Augustines own that. That used to be a restaurant and a bar and they have rebuilt the whole place. It's now an office building. But knew the bartender there. Glenn Sorkness's daughter was a bartender there for many years at the Whiskey Bend. You're right, burbank PD. They were out there many, many a times. It was what they called a biker bar. It was a biker bar. Yes, absolutely Nothing against bikers. I owned one.
Speaker 2:It doesn't get bars, but bikers and bars together.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, burbank PD used to go out there and they were prepared.
Speaker 2:Think of Sons of Anarchy in Burbank style. I think that takes us to our last one and that we talked about briefly, and that was Yonans and that, of course, that was there before Victor's Deli.
Speaker 3:Yep, and they were known for their coffee Yep and people would leave there with their coffee cups because it had Yonans on the front. But again, when you went to Yonans, you got that great Martino's either pie or a tea cake and made your coffee. You didn't care how the coffee tasted.
Speaker 2:No, I think the great thing about it was it had great traffic because it was always on the way to the airport.
Speaker 3:That's right. That's why Hollywood Way is is a great. Now you can't get in and out of that parking lot, but we did skip over one that you and I had a question about and we tried to look it up.
Speaker 2:Yankee peddler yeah, I could.
Speaker 3:I didn't bring it up because we couldn't find it well, I'm going to do some research on it because I do remember burning down. That was back in the late 70s, early 80s and over here on Riverside Drive and I remember shooting pictures of it a fireman going in the front door and it burning down and we lost that restaurant.
Speaker 2:Yankee Peddler. I remember I've heard the name Yankee Peddler, but when I looked it up I couldn't find any mention about Yankee Peddler or being in Burbank.
Speaker 3:So folks, take and help me out here, Give me your stories of the Yankee Peddler and where it was and if you remember when we lost it.
Speaker 2:Yes, well, if you were actually out there shooting pictures, you should have those pictures somewhere.
Speaker 3:You know what? I just this week uncovered some pictures, black and whites, from the 70s that I shot. I mean I can't believe. Um, some of the things that I covered back back back way back then and thank goodness you know I don't have a dark room anymore and I don't, I can't look through a loop.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't have a dark room anymore, you mean?
Speaker 3:yeah, you're right. Yeah, the dark room that I used for years is in craig's backyard. Now it's a gymnasium, I think or something. But I remember spending many nights out there. I remember going to calls in the middle of the night, three in the morning. I'd go into the dark room in craig's backyard and I deliver pictures of the paper. But these old pictures that I got fire firemen didn't wear turnout coats, firemen didn't wear breathing apparatuses. You look at some of these firemen. That how it's all changed. But I've covered things in this city and one of them was well, that's back.
Speaker 2:that's back in the day when firemen actually just got on the back of the fire engine and held on. There was no cab for them to sit in, that's right. They just held on to the back of the thing, got on the tailboard Right and when you went over a bump they'd go bumping up into the air.
Speaker 3:I talked to many guys that there were train tracks at Olive and Lake and they'd end up on the hose bed because the engineer knew when to hit that train track and you'd lose it. But then the firemen were getting hurt and killed because they didn't put the strap on. But because they didn't put the strap on. But that's back in the day. I mean I found a picture of the old Rescue 5. I mean back in the late 70s. What Burbank fire has changed to, but the concept is all the same Put the wet stuff on the red stuff and the fire will go out.
Speaker 2:That's what they say. That's what they say Well, I think we got through it. Well, I should say we got through the second half of our original list.
Speaker 3:Can you believe, craig? I went through after I looked at our original list and I came up with double the amount that we don't have written down here in Burbank.
Speaker 2:That's why we have different parts that's right In this series, and so we have at least now a part three coming up of the restaurants we missed, and that might even be a two-parter, depending on how many restaurants have been missed and also how many emails we get from you guys and comments in the comment sections on YouTube. We would love to hear your experiences, your restaurants, the ones we forgot, especially your stories, the ones we forgot, especially your stories.
Speaker 3:I bet you that we have some still people living here in Burbank that when they were after high school, served as a waitress at some of these restaurants and some of these places that it was their first job. Nowadays you get out of high school, you're not going to waitress, but it's still a good job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but I'm going to start paying them about $20 an hour now as of what was it the first?
Speaker 3:uh, yeah. So restaurant wages have changed and I'm sorry to say that we I am afraid we're gonna see some more restaurants added to this list after this, for you know, this quarter of this year restaurant owners can't afford to be in the business I, I don't.
Speaker 2:I don't know if we can keep up with our shows with the amount of restaurants continuing to close, because it's ever-changing. And they say that's one of the hardest businesses to be in. I would love to own a restaurant.
Speaker 3:I just read a quote. I will quote Gary Brick. Somebody just wrote about a restaurant and he said if you don't own the dirt, you're working for somebody.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 3:And he has said that many years he owned the dirt.
Speaker 2:That's just like renting an apartment or renting a house You're paying somebody else's mortgage for somebody else Yep, and the markup in restaurants.
Speaker 3:You know unless you own the dirt.
Speaker 2:You know I watch these shows all the time. You know the Gordon Ramsay shows, the Kitchen Nightmares and the Irvin shows, the ones he does. I can't remember Restaurant Impossible, and they talk about how hard it is in the business. And here's the thing that you don't consider. We have our favorite places and you go in. You know always. You always know the person, especially when the owner's there. You know if you, we, go to um, to larry's, you know, that's right. We always know who's going to be working. Yep, he's always going to be there. But here that's the problem, though. If you own a restaurant, you want to be open any sort of time. You're going to be there 15 hours a day, six, six or seven days a week, and that's the only way you can actually make a profit. But what's the price you pay for that over?
Speaker 3:a decade. Well, my brother who owned restaurants here in California and in Hawaii the hardest part people don't realize you don't go on vacation, because when you go on vacation and you have a manager call you and tell you the blender stopped or something's not working or whatever, somebody didn't deliver us something. You're working 24 hours a day for your life and I'll tell you if for a restaurant owner, you got to give them a lot of credit and let's have some good management working for them. I know some restaurants here in burbank that do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And then you have to have good employees because all of a sudden the waitress says oh okay, I'll just give it to you for free. I'll just give it to you. Every time you say I'll give it to you for free, 66% of that price came out of that owner's pocket.
Speaker 3:Well that, and I have a friend that owns a couple of Mexican restaurants here in North Hollywood and we put cameras in and he learned, yeah, one employee said, oh, we don't have that today. And he would go back and ask that employee what's this right here in the fridge? Well, I just don't want to make it today. That person goes and tells five other people that I don't want to go there anymore. So when you criticize a restaurant, for not having something or something, take that all in, you know for the grain of salt.
Speaker 2:Well, there's a lot of good restaurants out there. Now there are. We've lost a lot of great restaurants over the years and favorites. So, once again, if you got one we missed or you want to share something about one we talked about and have your own story, send it to us, put it in the comments section, send it to us and we'll bring it.
Speaker 3:But we have another part coming up of the restaurants we missed and I guarantee that is the reason this show is called Down the Rabbit Hole, because that hole will be dug and dug and dug. Thanks for watching.
Speaker 2:Thank you much and we will talk. See you on part three. There you go.