Photo provided. Barbara Bowman. By Barbara Bowman Our first tale concerns the April 6 Ojai Planning Commission meeting. The purpose of this gathering was for the commission to review and
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I was lucky for so many years to live around the corner from the 101 Coffee Shop. Open from early in the morning to very late at night, it had the kind of comforting diner vibe and menu that almost always could scratch my itch or soothe me when I needed soothing.
Maybe I was tired and nothing but a tuna melt on crisp, buttery sourdough would do. Maybe I’d had a rough day and craved meatloaf and mashed potatoes.
Who doesn’t need to sit at a counter and slurp a milkshake sometimes, especially one made with vanilla ice cream, peanut butter and honey? I could have it (while happily eavesdropping) with a salad full of corn, beets, edamame and green beans and pretend that it would all balance out.
A Look Back at How 101 Coffee Shop Became Part of Movie History
25 years ago, the dearly departed diner was a key location in ’Swingers,’ a movie named after another iconic L.A. coffee shop
Today, a metal gate secures the door of the 101 Coffee Shop on Franklin Avenue in the Hollywood Hills. Graffiti is scrawled across the windows and a lonely, dusty jukebox stands in the corner begging to play another classic rock tune. The restaurant’s closing was reported over New Year’s weekend, but it’s clear it’s been closed for months.
Warner Ebbink, who opened the 101 Coffee Shop in 2001, tells us that the Hollywood diner quietly closed back in March, right at the start of this devastating pandemic that continues to wreak havoc on small business restaurants, in particular. The diner tried to adapt, but the menu didn’t translate into takeaway items. Ebbink and his restaurant group, Eat Heavy, which currently runs Little Dom’s in Los Feliz and Little Dom’s Seafood in Carpin