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Originally Posted by Martin Pal
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A friend and I have been planning to get to the remodeled Formosa Cafe, but haven't made it yet, but it's gotten rave reviews. After the disastrous remodeling (stripping) in 2012 or 13, which took away everything that anyone liked about the old place, this 1933 Group stepped in and brought it back to the past!
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So, a couple friends of mine took me to The Formosa Cafe this past week for my birthday!
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So glad to see it back, I loved it! The photo below is not us, but the three guys on the right side in the P.E. car booth photo below is where we sat!
Upon arriving I noticed that they have removed the black and white striped awnings that were above the windows of the Red Car. That often obscured the fact that this was a red car and now when you see it from the outside it's very obvious.
Before:
LAist
Now:
TranspressNZ
THe green hedge you see is where there is now a rooftop bar. That was added in the last remodel a few years ago...the one everyone hated in terms of the restaurant's insides, but the rooftop addition is a nice touch and doesn't detract from the original restaurant look at all.
The 1933 Group (named so as 1933 was the year prohibition ended) had several red car related parts, like some "brass handles and the destination box that was on the roof of every train — rebuilt from pictures."
The staff let me look into the back area of the red car where it used to be accessible from the street back in the day, as you can see, and Mickey Cohen ran a bookie operation from. There's the original old style phone there where you could pick it up and it would ring inside and people could also order takeout from the window there. Celebrities (and gangsters) could also pick up food there if they didn't want to be recognized.
I checked out the original Yee Mee Loo bar now located in what was a semi-enclosed "smoking patio" area and had a "Yee Mee Loo" cocktail! This area now serves drinks and diners as well. This area has decor dedicated to Hollywood's Asian actors and related films.
As for the bar, according to LAist, research revealed that the bar was actually a prop that had come from the set of The Good Earth. During that movie the production team went to China and brought over tons of antiques to use in the movie. One of them was this piece, which became a shrine where characters in the film went to pray. After filming wrapped, the shrine ended up at Yee Mee Loo where it became their bar. Now, it's at the Formosa.
Inside the restaurant, in the booth that Bugsy Siegel preferred, is a safe he had installed in the floor where his minions could drop off stacks of money for Siegel to pick up if he wasn't there. (Hmmm...for what?) The restoration has this floor safe lighted from the inside and a stack of real bills inside it.
LAist
Although there was a long-standing rumor/legend that there was a tunnel connecting the movie studio to the Formosa across the street there was no evidence found of a tunnel ever existing.
The 1933 Group was doing so much research on the Formosa in the initial stages of the restoration, as part of the renovation they brought in Max Shapovalov to write a book about the history of the Formosa Cafe. He describes it as "an intensive historical investigation" and says he has been digging into the archives of libraries, city officials, Pacific Electric, the FBI and family members. The book is initially slated to appear sometime this year.
The 1933 group has previously restored the barrel-shaped Idle Hour bar in North Hollywood and Highland Bowl bar and bowling alley in Highland Park as well as the Harlowe bar in West Hollywood.
Next up: 1933 Group recently purchased the Tail o’ the Pup building and is looking for a location to put it, with luck somewhere in West Hollywood, or possibly Hollywood. So far, they have not found the right location.
Bobby Green's ultimate fantasy is to take on a much more ambitious project. He dreams of rebuilding the Brown Derby, the legendary restaurant that abruptly closed in the 1980's. It was famous for attracting Hollywood stars and for being shaped like a hat. “The original hat is now part of a strip mall on Wilshire in Koreatown,” says Green. “I’d love to someday get that hat and find a place to rebuild the Brown Derby.”
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..but I have another mystery for you.
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