Chasen's
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Chasen's was a famous restaurant in Beverly Hills, California that was a favorite hangout for everyone from entertainment luminaries to world leaders. Located at 9039 Beverly Boulevard in Beverly Hills, it was the site of the preeminent Academy Awards party for many years and was also famous for its chili. In 1962 Liz Taylor had several orders of Chasen’s chili flown to the set of Cleopatra while filming in Rome. Many of its regular customers had booths named in their honor. The Ronald Reagan booth, now on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library museum, was where Reagan proposed to Nancy Reagan (neė Davis). Four decades later he took the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher there. Other well known people that had a booth were Frank Sinatra, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Stewart and Groucho Marx, to name a few.
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[edit] History
The restaurant was opened in 1937 by vaudevillian Dave Chasen at the advice of his friend, director Frank Capra and was called "Chasen's Southern Pit". It was nothing more than a shack, but quickly became well known for its chili and was soon a favorite among Hollywood actors. In time, it became an unparalleled haunt for the world's biggest stars. Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Temple, Cary Grant, Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, John Kennedy, W.C. Fields, James Cagney, Clark Gable, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and Howard Hughes were all regulars at Chasen's. All the presidents since Roosevelt had dined there at one time. Queen Elizabeth and even the Pope were guests.
[edit] Anecdotes
The shenanigans of its famous diners are also legendary:
- Liz Taylor and Richard Burton got into an argument at Chasen's one night resulting in Liz throwing her plate of food at Burton and leaving the restaurant. The shouting match continued out onto Beverly Boulevard.
- Jimmy Stewart had his bachelor party at Chasen’s, complete with dwarves dressed as babies.
- A photo of Jackie Gleason in the office concealed a small door that opened directly to the bar so orders could be placed.
- In 1949, Bing Crosby treated the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team to Chasen’s for dinner.
- The bartender, Pepe, invented the “the flame of love” drink at the request of bar regular Dean Martin, which quickly became Dino’s favorite drink. Sinatra supposedly ordered 65 of the drinks one night for his guests.
- Peter Lorre and Humphrey Bogart got drunk at the bar one night and heisted the restaurant's huge safe. They rolled it out the front door, but abandoned it in the middle of the street. It took six people to haul it back in.
[edit] Popularity
With its lush paneled walls and stately uniformed wait staff Chasen's was a worthy sanctuary for its elite guests. Eventually, the restaurant grew to an immense size with multiple rooms, multiple bars and an upstairs banquet hall called the New Yorker room. This room was frequently used by the Rat Pack to provide extra privacy for their late-night escapades. At one time the restaurant even included a sauna and a full-time barber. The Shirley Temple cocktail was invented at Chasen’s for its namesake who was too young to drink alcohol, and Donna Summer came up with the idea for the song “She Works Hard for the Money” after talking to the bathroom attendant Onetta Jackson. Jackson appears on the album artwork appearing to smile at Summer, who is in a waitress uniform.
[edit] Decline
As newer generations took the reins of Hollywood, trendier restaurants like Spago drew the ‘in’ crowd and stole some of Chasen’s clientele, but its A-list, many until their death, stayed faithful to the end. Gregory Peck, Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Stewart, Don Rickles, Milton Berle, Kirk Douglas and Ronald Reagan were still regulars, along with newer celebrities such as John Travolta, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Mel Gibson.
[edit] The End
The restaurant eventually closed in April of 1995. The site was used for private parties and as a filming location (The Opposite of Sex). In 1997 its illustrious contents - pictures, bars, booths, even paneling - were auctioned off and the original building, save the Beverly Blvd. facing wall, was demolished and a Bristol Farms grocery store was built in its place.
In the cafe of this grocery store are several booths from the original Chasen's, and some of the original paneling. A much smaller Chasen’s was opened in 1997 about a mile away in Beverly Hills by the grandson of Dave and Maude Chasen, and had much success at first, but closed in 2000.
[edit] Documentary
A documentary was filmed in the restaurant's final weeks, entitled "Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's". It is widely available on DVD.
