Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
I was 'snooping' around North Hollywood and came across this small diner.
5230 LANKERSHIM BLVD.
GSV
Is this a touristy facsimile or an ACTUAL STREETCAR?
noticed I accidentally cut off the top part of the sign.
detail
It's called the Paleo Diner.
It was painted pink as recently as 2014.
GSV
If it's the real deal it's pretty cool!
SURPRISED I NEVER NOTICED IT BEFORE
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It's real, ER!
As you can see on the side of the building in your first photo, the original name of the place was
Phil's Diner.
The building is authentic, and it is supposedly the oldest dining car in California. The original location was in West Adams (built 1920 or 1926). Then it was on Chandler Boulevard (1945-1998). It was then put into storage for years, much like Angels Flight. Finally, it was moved to Lankershim Blvd in 2011, and closed the same year (there's been a lot of finger pointing over WHY it went out of business).
The former location on Chandler bears absolutely NO resemblance to how it used to look - back then it was just the diner by some railroad tracks; it used to look really barren and "Route 66-ish".
My mother and I used to go to Phil's when it was still on Chandler; I no longer remember the food, but it must have been good; my mom never settled for bad food, so if it wasn't good we never would have gone back multiple times.
The terrific website
iamnotastalker.com, which documents filming locations, has a good feature on Phil's Diner - the following photos are from their website:
A nighttime scene, Chandler location:
The following interiors were shot at the present location on Lankershim:
This next photo, an album cover by Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers, shows the original location of Phil's, on Chandler:
SIDE NOTE: I am friends with one of Phil Everly's sons, who sold me one of Phil's old guitars, which I still own. Here is my 1960s Fender Coronado XII, formerly owned by Phil Everly:
This is the nicest I've ever seen Chandler looking. I would actually think this was the West Adams location, but the cars look post-1945:
LINK
LINK
The photo above shows what Phil's looked like back when my mom and I used to go there... it really didn't look
this shabby in person. In the background, you can see the sign for an early Smart & Final, another place I used to go with my mom - at the time, they pretty much only sold restaurant supplies. Look at how barren Chandler looks.
Everything you see in the above photo has been completely wiped away. The area is now unrecognizable:
There used to be rehearsal spaces in the area, but all of the surrounding blocks have been demolished. I played many practice sessions with bands in those rehearsal spaces.