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.[1] Naylor moved to Los Angeles and hired architect Douglas Honnold[1] to design an eye-catching drive-in restaurant at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue in Hollywood.[2] Actor Humphrey Bogart compared the slanted canopy roof of the building to "a huge bird about to take off.".[3] The restaurant featured Googie architecture and carhop service, and claimed to be the birthplace of the Patty melt.[4] Naylor died on August 17, 1959, while at the Del Mar racetrack.[5] The original location closed on March 11, 1984[6] and was demolished. The site is currently a shopping center.[7]
Tiny Naylor's had a sister chain of Biff's Coffee Shops, named after W.W.'s son Biff Naylor. There were more than 40 Biff's and Tiny Naylor's locations in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.[8] In 1999 there was one Tiny Naylor's location remaining in Long Beach, California.[9] Biff Naylor came out of retirement to purchase the Du-par's restaurant chain in 2004.[8] Biff's daughter Jennifer Naylor, a chef in Malibu, consulted on the revamped menu.[10] Biff Naylor sold Du-par's in 2018.[11]
References
- ^ a b Hess 2004, p.75
- ^ Wanamaker 2009, p.90
- ^ Wanamaker 2009, p.92
- ^ Inamine, Elyse (June 15, 2017). "The Patty Melt Is Getting Its Moment". Food & Wine.
- ^ "Tiny Naylor, Restaurant and Racing Figure Dies". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. August 19, 1959.
- ^ Dreyfuss, John (March 9, 1984). "Tiny Naylor's Drive-in—The Sun Sets at Sunset and La Brea". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Williams 2005, p.309
- ^ a b "Du-par's Bringing Famous West Coast Brand East". Bethesda Beat. November 30, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
- ^ "'I'll Have the Blue-Plate Special'". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. October 14, 1999.
- ^ "This Just In: Du-par's opens in Oxnard". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. March 5, 2009.
- ^ Nichols, Chris (July 27, 2020). "Some of L.A.'s Most Beloved Institutions Are Threatened with Extinction". Los Angeles magazine. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
- Hess, Alan (2004). Googie Redux: Ultramodern Roadside Architecture. Chronicle Books. p. 222. ISBN 978-0811842723. OCLC 249477365. (previously published in 1986 as Googie: Fifties Coffee Shop Architecture ISBN 978-0877013341)
- Williams, Gregory (2005). The Story of Hollywood: An Illustrated History. BL Press LLC. p. 166. ISBN 9780977629909.
- Wanamaker, Marc (2009). Hollywood 1940-2008. Arcadia Press. ISBN 9780738559230.
- Geary, George (2016). L.A.'s Legendary Restaurants. Santa Monica Press. ISBN 9781595800893.
This page was last edited on 9 October 2022, at 08:12