RARE & HARD TO FIND
MINT CONDITION – YOU WON’T FIND A BETTER EXAMPLE ANYWHERE
From 1926 until 1985 Hollywood players and players could be heard uttering the phrase “Meet me at the Derby.”
The Brown Derby was a Los Angeles based restaurant chain with 4 locations around town. The Derby is associated with a wide array of Hollywood stars, the caricatures of these stars on the walls, and the invention of the Cobb salad.
The original and most recognizable of The Brown Derby locations opened in 1926 and was located at 3427 Wilshire Blvd. Its fame relates to the fact that it was shaped like a giant hat. Novelty architecture was en vogue during the Roaring Twenties and its appearance was designed to capture the interests of people passing by on foot or by car. At one point, there were several of them in Los Angeles but only one (the one on Wilshire opposite the Ambassador Hotel) was constructed so that when you walked in the front door, it looked like you were walking into a giant hat.
That was the original Brown Derby, which opened on Valentine’s Day of either 1926 or 1929 (accounts differ) and moved one block away in 1937. The other main locations were (1) near Hollywood and Vine, (2) near Wilshire and Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and (3) at Los Feliz Boulevard and Hillhurst in the Los Feliz area. There were also a few short-lived ones in other spots. All served mostly American fare in a semi-plush manner with very attentive service.
