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Clifton's Brookdale, Los Angeles, CA (restaurant) |
Atomic Cocktail
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 25, 2002
Posts: 925
From: Land O' The Next Big One-L.A.
|  Posted: 2010-09-21 9:04 pm Permalink
Here comes $20 for a mac and cheese. Now that's F*cked up, Y'all!
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MauiRose
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 28, 2009
Posts: 169
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2011-02-11 6:31 pm Permalink
I got an email saying that Clifton's is hosting an art exhibition celebrating the 20th anniversary of Twin Peaks tomorrow (Feb. 12)...
but this was the part that really caught my eye: "With a Special Sneak Peek of the Renovation of Clifton's"
http://twinpeaks20.com/details/
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JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2703
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2011-02-12 5:38 pm Permalink
I was there earlier today and saw that the 3rd-floor was roped off. I wondered if the "Tiki bar" construction had started so I stealthily slipped under the velvet rope with camera in hand. Instead of encountering the embryonic stages of Clifton's Pacific Seas Pt. 2 (I'm keeping my fingers crossed), I walked in on what looked to be a Quinceañera (!!). Gotta love Clifton's, they adapt to the times whether it's serving depression-era diners (who pay only what they can afford), the current Latino clientele, or the loft-dwelling hipster newcomers.
Also it's always fun to see little brown children flip out in amazement to the kitschy wilderness decor the same way their WASP predecessors probably did decades earlier. 
FYI the Regency-style 3rd-floor is still intact, if you want to experience that before the remodel, GO NOW.
Man oh man, is the neighborhood slowly changing. In addition to a microbrewery that I saw under construction, there's now a pilates studio (!!) in surreal coexistence with the street's Mexico City bazaar atmosphere. 
[ This Message was edited by: JOHN-O 2011-02-13 20:38 ]
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abstractiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Aug 29, 2009
Posts: 604
From: Lodi, CA
| Posted: 2011-02-19 8:46 pm Permalink
I found all these photos of Clifton's in the Los Angeles Public Library archives.
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3822
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2011-03-14 1:39 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-02-12 17:38, JOHN-O wrote:
I was there earlier today and saw that the 3rd-floor was roped off. I wondered if the "Tiki bar" construction had started so I stealthily slipped under the velvet rope with camera in hand. Instead of encountering the embryonic stages of Clifton's Pacific Seas Pt. 2 (I'm keeping my fingers crossed), I walked in on what looked to be a Quinceañera (!!). Gotta love Clifton's, they adapt to the times whether it's serving depression-era diners (who pay only what they can afford), the current Latino clientele, or the loft-dwelling hipster newcomers.
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Good scouting.
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JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2703
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2011-03-14 2:09 pm Permalink
Here's a belated thank you to abstractiki for those great vintage pics !!
It's a very timely post given the coming changes at Cliftons. We now have more historic content to compare the 3rd-level Poly-Pop remodel against. I hope it's a faithful Pre-Tiki recreation. I'll be pissed if they actually put Tikis up there.  NO TIKIs !! I wanna be in the 1930's, not the late 1950's.
Man, were those the days (!!) when people dressed up to eat in a cafeteria.
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Jungle Ginger
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 12, 2010
Posts: 198 | Posted: 2011-03-14 9:49 pm Permalink
My Mom said she used to go to Clifton's as a kid back in the 40's. All the Aunts and cousins used to drive up from Orange County for special occasions like birthdays. (there wasn't much in Corona Del Mar back in those days - they used to have to go to downtown Santa Ana to go to department stores like Buffums)
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3822
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2011-06-06 5:11 pm Permalink
In the LA Times today:
Clifton's cafeteria, downtown Los Angeles' shrine to kitsch and comfort food, will be closing Mondays and Tuesdays over the summer as part of a deliberately slow-footed, phased renovation.
Developer and nightclub operator Andrew Meieran said he is repairing the Depression-origin eatery piecemeal to avoid a long closure that would throw employees out of work.
The staff of 69 includes many longtime workers, including the manager, who has been with Clifton's for 48 years, Meieran said.
Meieran, who also co-founded the hip Edison lounge downtown, took control of the four-story restaurant building at Broadway and 7th Street last September from the Clinton family, which founded the restaurant in 1931.
The chefs also have begun updating the menu, with fresh instead of frozen produce, organic vegetables when possible and real butter, he added.
In a back-to-the-future twist, the chefs are returning to original 1950s-era recipes -- which they unearthed from moldering files -- for standby dishes such as beef stroganoff and chicken parmesan.
"They love it," Meieran said of the employees. "The business had been down so long they learned to cut corners. Now they're excited by their ability to go back to the basics."
Meieran said he will be extending the sylvan theme of the main dining room, which includes a 20-foot waterfall and fake redwood trees, by building a giant Sequoia on the little-used upper banquet floor.
New cocktail lounges and another restaurant also are planned for the upper level, some of which will open by the end of the year, he said.
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JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2703
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2011-09-06 4:05 pm Permalink
There's some relevant Brookdale location content in this post.
Also I would suggest posting any vintage Pacific Seas location content in that specifc thread, rather than in this one. They were two separate locations after all.
Also Moderator can you change the status of the Brookdale location to operational and include the address: 648 S. Broadway, Los Angeles? I suspect we'll see a lot more activity here once the upstairs "Tiki bar" is completed.
Let's keep "Locating Tiki" organized.
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Dustycajun
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Nov 16, 2007
Posts: 4480
From: Santa Barbara, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-06 4:49 pm Permalink
Wow, that was a fast change by the moderators. Thanks, I agree with John O, it is nice to keep thing organized on Locating Tiki.
Went to Cliftons with Swanky and Big Bro for lunch a few weeks ago, can't wait to see the upstairs transformation.
Here is a modern postcard I picked up on my visit.
Living History indeed.
DC
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JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2703
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2011-09-07 08:27 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-03-14 14:09, JOHN-O wrote:
...I hope it's a faithful Pre-Tiki recreation. I'll be pissed if they actually put Tikis up there. NO TIKIs !! I wanna be in the 1930's, not the late 1950's.
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Actually I can forgive any Tikis as long as I can get one neon palm tree out of this.
I fear however that might be a lost art. 
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kenbo-jitsu
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 27, 2011
Posts: 212
From: Southern CA
| Posted: 2011-09-07 11:58 am Permalink
[ This Message was edited by: kenbo-jitsu 2011-09-07 14:15 ]
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JOHN-O
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 16, 2008
Posts: 2703
From: Dogtown, USA
| Posted: 2011-09-12 08:31 am Permalink
Quote:
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On 2011-09-10 11:41, Chuck Tatum is Tiki wrote (in the wrong thread ):
Does anyone have an update to the new Tiki upgrade of Clifton's ?
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Here's an update. Let's take a peek on the 3rd-level and see what the status is...
Well it looks like... Absolutely nothing has been done yet !! The regency-style (at least that's what I consider it) decor is still intact...
I asked several employees when the work on the new "Tiki bar" and other lounges on the upper level was supposed to begin. I got the reply "We've been wondering the same thing".
Oh well, in anticipation of that work let me continue with documentation of what may soon be gone...
There's a lot of cool historical memorabilia up there. Including this photo of what the original outer facade looked like...
Here's something that was saved from the long-gone Pacific Seas location. I hope it has a place of prominence in the new "Tiki bar"...
I actually noticed the following for the first time so I'll include it here. Is anyone familiar with the displayed dagger behind the bar at the Sunset Beach Don the Beachcomber? My understanding it was stolen from its original location (Waikiki?) by a disgruntled employee back in the 1950's. It was later returned several decades later by the "thief's" children to Art Snyder.
Here's a similar story. It's a teapot stolen from Clifton's in the 1940's which was returned 67 years later !!
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Chuck Tatum is Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: May 12, 2011
Posts: 1674
From: Southern Cailifornia
| Posted: 2011-09-12 10:37 am Permalink
Thanks John-O !
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aquarj
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Apr 02, 2002
Posts: 1084
From: SF bay area, CA
| Posted: 2011-09-13 2:24 pm Permalink
Maybe the Brookdale location is kinda "Beyond", but just for kicks, here are some pics, from 2004.
Looking back through the neato front facade
-Randy
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