From The Architects Newspaper

Alan Hess says Googie is as modern as a Craig Ellwood house.

Dinerwood on the Road? Kind of? Little Green Onions in Riverside

Riverside...exotic Riverside.

I always imagined Riverside as being a city too far out of the way for me to ever end up going there; “The Bakersfield of the East.” I had no idea that it’s really not that far from Los Angeles. #1DinerWife had to go to Riverside for a weekend for a work event and I decided to go with her to check it out. During this weekend, I was able to try a few different diner joints which I think gave me a pretty good sense of what old school eating is like in Riverside.  

The first place I went was the interestingly named place "Little Green Onions." That just sounds like an adorable place to go. After experiencing the cutesy downtown area of Riverside, I was half-expecting some tiny storefront conversion with mismatched table-clothes and a cook with a pixie haircut.   

As I drove out of that cutesy downtown, I soon discovered that Riverside is rundown. Almost as if the whole of the outer rings of the city were made up of extras on "Breaking Bad." Now, don't get me wrong, I like rundown things. I'm not slighting the city for being a ****hole. I just didn't know. 

I was surprised and happy that Little Green Onions was actually in an old school googie building. 

It was a hectic morning at Little Green Onions and the joint was jam-packed. There were waiting families crowding the entry and not an empty table in sight. I saw a very low counter with some open space and I took my liberty. (I don't really know what that means, but it sounded cool when I first typed it out)  

The seats at the counter...were office chairs. 

Office. Chairs.

I am so on board with that weirdness. 

The fun part of sitting at the counter is the ability to observe the staff prepping and dancing around each other. Little Green Onions seemed far more chaotic than any other place I have had the pleasure to observe. A lot of "where's the-" and "has anyone seen?" and even a few "no, they ordered that not this."

The menu at Little Green Onions is pretty standard for a family restaurant. There was more of an emphasis on Mexican dishes, but I expected that with most of the interior decor being sombreros and maracas. Like I've talked about before; some diners really wish they were some other ethnic food, but they know they'll do better casting a wide net. 

An older gentleman took the rolling office chair next to me and ordered an oatmeal. The waitress asked if he wanted it made with milk or just water. I thought that was pretty cool. Sure, I wouldn't be surprised if it was instant oatmeal, but that is a nice option to give.

I went with a nice sounding pork chop breakfast combo. 

It was overall decent...except for my pork was very under-cooked. The first bite I thought "Mmm, juicy" and then in subsequent bites I realized "oh, I'm going to die."   

I really wish I had liked Little Green Onions more. Rather, I wish there was more to like about Little Green Onions other than the classic building and office chairs. The yelp reviews are all over the place, but I would assume that since the place really wants to be a Mexican restaurant, that would be the way to go next time. Not that there would really be a next time for me. I don't think I'd go back there. 

Food: Decent, save for the under-cooked pork. 

Service: Friendly but scattered.

Price: Cheap.

Pie: I don't think so.

Little Green Onions

6723 Brockton Ave.

Riverside CA 

Jack's Whittier Restaurant -- Whoopee!

I saw the sign originally while trolling photo websites for "googie" tags. I never even noticed it on LAtimemachines.com, but it's there.

Real-life journalist David Allen and I met for breakfast a few weekends ago. I got there about ten minutes early and put my name on the list. I figured there would be a little bit of a wait, but there were only two parties ahead of us, so it shouldn't have been too bad.



It took about fifteen minutes to be seated. Not the restaurants fault, though. Nobody was leaving! Everyone was just sitting there talking and relaxing, while a half-dozen of us just stood in the ever crampening foyer. David soon arrived and we took some notes on our surroundings as we had nothing better to do.



Along with a crane machine (not pictured due to the number of children in front of it--I think there's a law about taking pictures of children. If there isn't, there maybe should be), there was also this toy novelty dispenser. Whoopee cushions? This has got to be the fart-iest restaurant ever.



There's also this sign advertising a DVD interview with the "Oldest Man In Whittier." Or rather this is included as a DVD extra on one called "Early Whittier." I googled this video and found more information on it. The old man is Monte Wicker AND HE'S NOT EVEN THE OLDEST MAN IN WHITTIER! What the hecks! He's just the oldest guy they could find who remembered anything slightly interesting. This is Whittier, it's not like there was much to remember in the first place.

Finally, we were seated. I started out with some coffee (it was decent) while we looked over the menu. There didn't seem to be anything too exciting or out of the ordinary. It was a varied menu that covered the basics. I saw that they offered a loyalty rewards program and when you signed up for it you got a free slice of pie. I immediately asked our waitress how to sign up. I was dismayed when I realized later that I wouldn't get the free pie then--I'd be emailed a coupon later. Bogus.

Apparently they used to have a "at your table" toaster feature, but we saw no sign of it on our side of the restaurant.



David ordered the corned beef hash breakfast. It was a pretty standard "canned" style corned beef. The potatoes were a bit oily for my taste. They should have been crisper.



I was craving a waffle so I ordered their waffle breakfast combo. The waffle itself was interesting; it was perfectly smooth, save for the edging. It tasted like any other perfectly adequate waffle but the smoothness was fascinating. My eggs were slightly overcooked. The bacon was actually pretty good, I'll give them that.

I can't really recommend Jack's Whittier Restaurant. Only the exterior really holds the old school coffee shop aesthetic, so there's no nostalgia trip to be had. The food was uninspiring. The service was only okay.

I finally got my coupon for my free pie, but I don't think I'll use it.

Food: Adequate
Price: $7-$10
Service: Okay
Pie: Yes.

Jack's Whittier Restaurant
13221 Whittier Blvd
Whittier, CA 90602

Chips--Something familiar.

I finally did it, after nearly three years of writing this blog. I finally made the trip to Hawthorne to visit the classic Googie restaurant, Chips. Dinerpal Paul and I celebrated our President's Day off work (actually Paul has been out of work for a year so he probably just thought it was a regular Saturday) and drove out to Inglewood. I can now say I've hit all of the titans of the LA Diner pantheon.

A recent review on Yelp claims that this was the location of the Pumpkin/Honey Bunny scene in "Pulp Fiction," but like most things on Yelp, it's wrong. This is actually a fairly common misconception, though. That scene was actually filmed at the Hawthorne Grill, which was located on the same street as Chips, but was demolished several years ago.

There's a lot of plants inside for some reason. They are really out of place and honestly distract from the retro decor. They didn't need plants inside in the 50s, they had plenty of oxygen.

I grumbled a little bit when it took a while for our waitress to come over to take our drink orders. She returned with my coffee and Paul's iced tea. She also brought me a gigantic bowl of non-dairy creamer. Even if I did use that nasty stuff, I couldn't have hoped to use all of it in the span of a normal meal time. The coffee was pretty good.

Looking up from our table, I noticed this sign above the counter. I've seen it before and only about two weeks ago. Then I looked at the menu.

Peachy Peachy French Toast?



Hungry Charlie tuna sandwich?

This is the same menu as Rod's Grill! It turns out that they have the same owner. Manny (I'm assuming his name is Manny) has a Los Angeles diner empire.

Dinerpal Paul ordered the Mardi Gras Omelet. Why is it the Mardi Gras omelet? No idea. It has turkey, spinach, bacon, avocado, and jack cheese. I guess it's colorful like Mardi Gras? Paul liked it. He said that the spinach didn't over power everything else in the omelet.

Paul also wanted me to note that "the ketchup flowed easily" and that they also had sugar-free syrup, which to a diabetic like him is "like a dream." Sometimes I really appreciate when Paul comes out with me, sometimes...not.

My breakfast was great. The home fries were simple but crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. I did get the odd surprise off a small piece of chicken mixed in with my potatoes. I wouldn't expect that every time though. My eggs, over-easy, were perfect. The ham steak was a delicious cut of meat that was just a little crispy.

My pancakes were very dense. I had to use a knife to cut them. They were smaller around than what you usually see, but since this was just a side order, I could see them doing a smaller size than for a regular order. The syrup was really good. It had a hint of butterscotch flavor in it. I know this might be weird, but I actually poured a little into a cup and took a sip. It was really tasty on its own.

I asked our waitress about pie and she said they only had apple today. That was a little disappointing as I was really in the mood for a cream pie.

Chips's food was great and reasonably priced. I definitely would recommend checking it out.

Food: Good.
Service: Okay.
Price: $6-$8
Pie: Varies.

Chips
11908 Hawthorne Blvd.,
Hawthorne, CA 90250

310-679-2947

Diner on Main: I don't like sports.

The Diner on Main is an odd one. Located in the heart of what the City of Alhambra Chamber of Commerce calls "the historic Main Street Entertainment district," it is gigantic and overflowing with neon. It has an impressive pedigree as a diner, being an actual Armet and Davis designed "googie" building (it was formerly called Sandi's Restaurant). Once inside, however, you get smacked in the face with the fact that the Diner on Main might actually be aspiring to be a sports bar.

Dinerpal Paul and I went in for dinner a few weeks ago. For some reason, although there were plenty of tables available in the main dining area, we were shuffled into a "lounge" area underneath a blaring flat screen TV playing a basketball game. Bud Light pendants hung all around us, which really distracted from the 50's style architecture and fixtures.



We were the only two diners in this section so we were doted on by our waiter slash bartender. He was all up in our business but only to the point of mild annoyance. He really pushed the happy hour specials on us and seemed a little disappointed when we ordered coffee and soda.

It was hard to get a sense of the rest of the restaurant from our alcohol serving corner. I ventured out to get a glimpse and saw a pretty traditional diner set up. A large, long counter face the kitchen and several booths line the walls. The walls were decorated with only a moderate amount of kitsch and several black and white photo prints of classic--probably long extinct-- diners. I valued this connection to the past. In our lounge we were graced by the presence of college dorm art Marilyn Monroe.



The menu at Diner on Main is pretty decent. It's not extensive, but it covers everything you would reasonably want to order. The frou-frou factor was pretty light. I think I made our waiter's day when I ordered the dinner special, the chicken pot pie. Paul ordered the Philly French Dip.



My dinner came with side salad which was actually pretty good. I didn't expect that. The chicken pot pie was interesting. The crust was basically a giant floating biscuit on top of a hearty bowl of chicken and vegetable soup. I liked it, although the cheese on top was unnecessary and could be skipped. Included with the meal was a small plate of foccacia bread, I assumed for dipping; it also didn't add that much, but was a nice surprise.



Paul really like his Philly French Dip. It was exactly what you thought it would be, a Philly cheese steak with a bowl of au jus for dipping. It was a thick sandwich, which made it a little difficult to dip in the juice without stuff falling out. It came with coleslaw that was slightly rubbery but nice and tart. I'm pretty sure they used apple cider vinegar.

We both had room for dessert and I made our bartender slash waiter's day even better when I ordered the dessert special, the boysenberry and apple cobbler. Paul ordered a vanilla shake.



The cobbler was really good. They serve two kinds of pie at Diner on Main: apple and boysenberry. The apple is served with a warm cinnamon sauce and the boysenberry is best a la mode (according to them). The cobbler is basically these two items smashed together in a bowl.



Vanilla shake was a vanilla shake. It was good.

Diner on Main is part of the Pasadena based restaurant conglomerate that also owns Wild Thyme and Shakers (which will probably get reviewed sooner or later). I can really appreciate what they are trying to do decor-wise and that they need to do it, but the Diner on Main overwhelms you. There's so much neon (the blue hue to all the pictures will give you an idea of what it's like) and the reflection of the lights offf the large plate windows can easily disorient you. The jukebox can go from playing Wanda Jackson to Bon Jovi--and not classic Bon Jovi, MODERN Bon Jovi--and it makes you want to die. You miss out on some of the great atmosphere it would have had back in the Sandi's Restaurant days. Or that it might have in the morning when they aren't competing with the other restaurants located all around them. It unfortunately reminded me a lot of Ritchie's Diner.

Paul and I ended up going back to Diner on Main just a few days ago. We tried their breakfast (ham and eggs and Portuguese sausage and eggs) and found our reactions to be pretty similar to our dinner. It was good, but not great.

I will probably find myself in Diner on Main again. It's located in our new neighborhood and sometimes we might not want to drive the 1.2 miles to Twoheys. Ultimately, I'm glad it's there because of the history and the need for something more real than the Johnny Rockets a block away. I swear to g-d though, if I see them advertise a "Watch the Super Bowl here" campaign, I'm going lose that goodwill in a heartbeat.

Food: Good.
Service: Fine. (Desperate if you get stuck in the empty lounge)
Price: $7-$10 most things. Up to $14 for entrees.
Pie: Apple and Boysenberry

Diner on Main
201 West Main Street
Alhambra, CA 91801

Pann's: A deserved classic.

Pann's was going to be the first place I reviewed even before there was a Dinerwood. Plans were made, plans fell through, and it took two years (I've been doing this for two years!) to finally make it there.

No doubt about it, Pann's is a classic. Just looking at the sign, you can tell this is a restaurant that "gets it." It has clearly 'kept up' but has stayed true to its origins as place to get good, quick comfort food. The sign and building are a marvelous example of Googie design which became popular in the 1950s. Inside, the design is second to none. There is no Johnny Rocket's or even new style Denny's phony retro-styling. It's straight legit. There's a reason Pann's is listed on LA Timemachines. The only style that has changed here in the last 51 years is the clothing.

Three friends and I came here at about 11 am on a Sunday, which is prime post-church time, but the line wasn't too bad. We were seated in no more than ten minutes.

The menu had a decent amount of variety, pulling a lot of influence from southern cooking, as well as traditional diner standards. I was really surprised by the extensive milkshake selection. Although personally I thought it too early in the day to order one, I did ask our waitress which one she preferred. She recommended the blueberry shake. For me, the oatmeal raisin cookie shake sounded awfully tempting. It's just some oatmeal raisin cookies smashed up and poured into a vanilla milkshake--and those of you who know me well know that I am a firm believer that everything is better when smashed up and put in a cup with milk.



Rachel and Charlie both ordered the Rena's Favorite (named for the co-founder): chicken and waffles and eggs. The chicken was incredibly juicy while the waffle was unspectacular but good. The eggs were tasty. They appreciated the melted butter. You don't often see that on the table unless someone orders lobster. I usually don't go places that serve lobster (and if they do, you should never order it--like ordering salmon at House of Pies) so I never see melted butter.

Tony ordered the Louisiana Omelet with a side of fresh fruit. He ordered it egg whites only but when it arrived, it clearly was not. They didn't charge him for it and he didn't care that much, but they did get it wrong. Inside the omelet were three different kinds of sausage. The "Louisiana sauce" appeared to be a tomato base with just a little bit of heat.



I ordered the hot link and eggs. I was really surprised that the hot link was, in fact, hot. It was spicy, southern-style beef sausage. There was no taste of grease at all. I had my eggs over medium, which is becoming my new default, and they were very good. My country potatoes were simple; not bland, just simple.



I chose a biscuit as my bread option; it was homemade and good, with just a bit of powdery flavor and easily peeled in half. The sign of a good, moist biscuit is this ability for it to be split without breaking up or leaving too many crumbs.

Rachel also ordered a root beer float. She's appears to have really taken a licking to it--I mean a liking to it. I made a funny!

Pann's was built up in my mind as such a classic place that it might have been hard to match my expectations. Food-wise, it certainly did--not because it was amazing or anything. I just expected good food and Pann's delivered. Style and atmosphere is where it really made me feel like it was deservedly a Los Angeles legend.

Special thanks to Charlie Chu for taking the food pictures on this outing. He's a real photographer and hot damn he makes this food look even better.

Food: Very good.
Service: A little slow on refills but otherwise quite good.
Price: A bit more expensive than it should be. $9-$13
Pie: Apple and Cherry.

Pann's
6710 LaTijera Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90045

Open Mon-Sat 7am-11pm; Sun 7am-10pm