Lawry's Prime Rib is one of the most historic restaurants on the City of Angels Restaurant Row:
http://www.oldlarestaurants.com/lawrys/
It's been years since I've been to the one on Restaurant Row but MrCutter and I have enjoyed the Lawry's off the Strip in Las Vegas. In fact, when my film
The Story of Classic Las Vegas: An Overview premiered at the CineVegas Film Festival we had our celebratory dinner at that Lawry's. It was a great evening!
Recently, I was trying to find some delicious CC Brown Hot Fudge Sauce (the original CC Brown's was located on next to Grauman's in Hollywood, which I think I have written about earlier in this thread) to serve at our upcoming annual Christmas Eve get together (nothing says the holidays like tamales and hot fudge sundaes), I found this great article about Lawry's (and they sell CC's hot fudge sauce!!!):
(For the record, Lawry's is now across the street from where they were in this picture. The Stinking Rose is now in this location and they kept the pylon sign.
)
Lawry's Marketing Director Rich Cope recently said, "Every night we have people from all over the world who tell us, 'We forgot how delicious a slab of juicy prime rib can be, drenched with au jus, served with Yorkshire pudding and mashed potatoes.'" My guess is that Lawry's is the most successful restaurant in Los Angeles, confirmed by a trade journal that noted they served 350,000 people last year.
Now celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, Rich estimated that some 15 million guests have enjoyed dinner here since they opened in 1938. The two original owners opened their doors at this location on the east side of La Cienega Boulevard, the first restaurant serving only one entrée, the roast beef dinner costing all of $1.25. Until then, prime rib was traditionally served at home. By '47, they had outgrown the site and moved to the west side of the boulevard. After 46 years there, they rebuilt the original space into an impressive $8 million structure and, in '93, I watched the ceremony when, in a triumphant procession at high noon, they rolled their massive silver carts across the street to the new building. Here they have prospered mightily. There are 450 seats in this enormous emporium, and I have never been here when they weren't full, serving an average of 800 people a night.
I once asked Bryan what percentage of diners was Asian and he were told me, "It's about 30 percent, for we represent a truly great value for them." Is it heresy to serve fish at Lawry's? No, it's a convenience for the eight of their customers who prefer it, and on this evening our server Joe told us the choices. Penny opted for the Sautéed White Fish... although when they introduced their version of "Surf and Turf," a combination of twin broiled Lobster Tails added to your choice from the beef cart for an additional $26, I've been tempted because I do so love lobster. The basic turkey dinner this night was $32, and a combination with turkey and prime rib was $39.
For the rest of the article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-westo ... 19459.html
Also this,
http://www.oldlarestaurants.com/lawrys/
And CC Brown's:
Many years ago, back in the 1980s, my friends and I used to go to Grauman's (Long before Hollywood and Highland and the extra Chinese theaters) to see a film and grab a hot fudge sundae at CC's. But that was many years ago. I still have the friends but we no longer have CC Brown's.
Ah progress. sigh.
Joan Crawford at CC Brown's soda fountain:
And a bit of history (though I think the only place you can order the sauce on line these days is via Lawry's):
http://articles.latimes.com/1999/aug/01 ... e/tm-61441