Du-par's is a

diner A diner is a type of restaurant found across the United States and Canada, as well as parts of Western Europe and Australia. Diners offer a wide range of cuisine, mostly American cuisine, a casual atmosphere, and, characteristically, a comb ...

-style restaurant in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, that was once a modest-sized regional chain. It was founded in 1938 by James Dunn and Edward Parsons, who combined their surnames to create the restaurant's name. The original location still exists at the Los Angeles Farmers Market in Los Angeles' Fairfax District. There is also an associated franchised restaurant at the

Suncoast Hotel and Casino Suncoast is a hotel and casino located at 9090 Alta Drive in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Boyd Gaming. The hotel, located on a site, contains 432 rooms and has a casino, as well as a movie theater, bowling alley and convention ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

Overview

After 20 years of ownership, the Oberst family sold the chain in 2004 to an investment group led by W.W. "Biff" Naylor, son of noted California restaurateur Tiny Naylor (of Biff's and

Tiny Naylor's Tiny Naylor's was a restaurant chain in Southern California started in 1949 by William Wallace "Tiny" Naylor and later run by his son Biff Naylor. W.W. Naylor had previously owned more than a dozen Tiny's Waffle Shops in Central California.Hess 20 ...

restaurants) for an undisclosed amount. At the time of the sale, there were three locations: the original restaurant at the Farmers Market;

Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California, United States, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 19 ...

; and

Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...

. After 31 years, the Thousand Oaks location closed and was demolished in 1991 to make way for the construction of a new shopping center. Dupar%27s_Restaurant

Du-par's expanded in 2009 to include several locations from the bankrupt

Bakers Square Bakers Square Restaurant & Bakery (also known as Bakers Square) is a casual dining restaurant chain in the United States. Known for its pies, Bakers Square also offers full breakfast, lunch and dinner menus. The chain is owned by BBQ Holdings. As ...

chain. One of them, Du-Par's in

Oxnard Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California, United States. On California's Central Coast (California), Central Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the List of largest California cities by populati ...

, eventually closed in August 2012. Another was in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

's Midway district. It closed in September 2015 and reopened in the

Gaslamp Quarter The Gaslamp Quarter is a historic neighborhood in downtown San Diego, California. It extends from Broadway to Harbor Drive and from 4th to 6th Avenue. The neighborhood is listed as a historic district on the National Register of Historic Places ...

in August 2016. That location then closed in February 2017. In 2010, Du-par's expanded for the first time outside California by opening a restaurant-bakery in the Golden Gate Casino in

. A second Las Vegas-area location was opened in the

in April 2016. The Du-par's Restaurant & Bakery inside the Golden Gate Casino closed for financial reasons on February 7, 2017. In March 2017,

Boyd Gaming Boyd Gaming Corporation is an American gaming and hospitality company based in Paradise, Nevada. The company continues to be run by founder Sam Boyd's family under the management of Sam's granddaughter, Marianne Boyd-Johnson, who currently serv ...

, the owners of the Suncoast Hotel and Casino, signed a licensing agreement to assume management of the Du-par's restaurant in their casino while retaining the Du-par's name and recipes. When Naylor bought a Hamburger Hamlet in

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, in 2012, he rebranded it as "Du-par's Hamburger Hamlet", bringing the chain to the East Coast; that location however closed for good in 2013. Du-par's then took over a former Hamburger Hamlet in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

, in 2014. In May 2015, a new location was opened in Encino; it closed in November 2016. The Studio City location closed on December 31, 2017. The chain was then purchased by former manager Frances Tario in 2018. As a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in 2020, the struggling Farmers Market restaurant started carhop service to increase business after trying the idea of selling pancake batter for pick-up orders when the California governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

forbade dining inside restaurants. Meanwhile, the Pasadena location was forced to close as a result of the pandemic, leaving only the Farmers Market restaurant and the one at Las Vegas' Suncoast Hotel and Casino.

Media

Du-par's was featured in the

Amazon Studios Amazon MGM Studios is an American film and television production and distribution company owned by Amazon, and headquartered at the Culver Studios complex in Culver City, California. Launched on November 16, 2010, it took its current name on O ...

show ''Bosch''. Main characters, including Harry Bosch and Eleanor Wish, dined at Du-par's during pivotal moments in Season 4. In

Michael Connelly Michael Joseph Connelly (born July 21, 1956) is an American author of Detective fiction, detective novels and other crime fiction, notably those featuring Los Angeles Police Department, LAPD Detective Harry Bosch, Hieronymus "Harry" Bosch and cr ...

's 2011 legal thriller '' The Fifth Witness'', protagonist Michael "Mickey" Haller states that he and his fourteen-year-old daughter regularly ate at the Du-par’s in Studio City.Connelly, Michael; ''The Fifth Witness'',

Little, Brown and Company Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries, it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Early lists featured Emil ...

(2011),

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.dupars.net/
Archive of previous official website (2008–2016)
1938 establishments in California Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Pancake houses Defunct restaurant chains in the United States Restaurants established in 1938 Restaurants in Greater Los Angeles Restaurants in Los Angeles

Overview

Media

See also

References

External links