Pann's is a coffee shop restaurant in the
Westchester neighborhood of
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, ...
, known for its history, role in movies, and distinctive architecture. The restaurant was opened by husband and wife George and Rena Poulos in 1958.
It is also known for its
neon sign
In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Decem ...
,
Googie architecture
Googie architecture ( ) is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, Jet aircraft, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popu ...
, and 1950s
decor
Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. With a keen eye for detail and a creative flair, an interior d ...
.
The building and its iconic
neon sign
In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting, which was first demonstrated in a modern form in Decem ...
were designed by architects
Eldon Davis and
Helen Liu Fong of the
Armet & Davis architectural firm.
[ Pann's remains one of the best preserved examples of Davis' Googie designs, according to the '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''.[
Like many coffee shops it serves breakfast all day.]["Pann's (Los Angeles): 6710 La Tijera Blvd. Go there for breakfast any time of the day, but the menu has everything. This is the real deal since 1958 and the Fifties design is eye-opening. Several films and TV shows have been filmed here. The biscuits are memorable, but go hungry and order everything you can on the breakfast menu. I have the t-shirt." ] The restaurant also serves " blue-plate specials," complete meals that vary daily.Holiday Bowl
The Holiday Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in San Diego, California. Operating since 1978, its current conference tie-ins are with the Pac-12 Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The bowl is held at Snapdragon S ...
, Johnie's coffee shop, and the original Norms Restaurant. She included tropical landscaping in the design, and was part of the firm of Armet & Davis that one commentator refers to as "the Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
of 1950s coffee shops."
via Legacy.comCésar Chávez
Cesario Estrada Chavez (; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta and lesser known Gilbert Padilla, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), ...
at Pann's in the 1980s.["Begley Jr. was involved 'from a great distance' with César Chávez and the United Farm Workers union. 'I didn't buy grapes for 30 years,' he remembers. 'I never knew if the boycott was on or off, so I wouldn't take any chances.' Then the extraordinary happened. In 1987, Begley was at Pann's Restaurant on Sepulveda Boulevard. 'I was sitting there having a bowl of oatmeal when these two dudes got out of a very, very modest car, they came into the coffee shop, and it became clear to me that one of them was César Chávez. I kept thinking, Where's the entourage one would expect from an internationally known labor leader? I went up to him, I said, 'I don't want to bother you, I just want to say hello, my name is Ed Begley. I've been adhering to the grape boycott for years now, and I just want to say if there's any way I can be of help, let me know.'" ]
Pann's was featured in a story in the ''Los Angeles Times'', "Going on a hunt for Googie architecture," which noted the restaurant's tilted roof and sign, tropical plants and exposed stone walls indoors and out, and glass windows wrapping around the restaurant.
Recognition
*Winner of the Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation AwardNext
NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...
,'' and ''Bewitched
''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typi ...
''Pulp Fiction
''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...
'' was not filmed at Pann's; it was filmed at another restaurant owned by the Poulos family
Holly’s
in Hawthorne.
References
External links
*
{{coord, 33.978115, -118.370566, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-CA, display=title
1958 establishments in California
Googie architecture
Googie architecture in California
Restaurants established in 1958
Restaurants in Los Angeles
Westchester, Los Angeles