When it comes to restaurants, we all know the sad statistics. That 60% of new eateries fail in their first year of operation and 80% within the first five years is almost like an old adage by now. So an establishment that has survived for more than five decades, especially in the ever-changing landscape of Los Angeles, is certainly an anomaly. But such is the case with Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe, a landmark Hollywood restaurant that was originally founded in 1964 and was still beloved up until the pandemic forced its shuttering last March. It has yet to reopen, much to the lament of its legions of local fans.
Situated directly across the street from the Paramount Studios lot at 5536 Melrose Ave., the cafe was founded by Frank Casado, who named the site in honor of his wife, Lucy. Raised in Boyle Heights, Frank fought in the Navy during World War II and later became a successful salesman for the Seven-Up Bottling Company before opening the eatery, which originally consisted of a tiny single-room storefront lined on both sides by brown leather booths.
With Tex-Mex offerings inspired by family recipes that Lucy, an El Paso native, gleaned from her mother, the cafe proved an instant hit amongst locals and tourists alike, known as much for its delicious fare and warm atmosphere as for Frank and Lucy’s welcoming ways.
As El Adobe grew more popular, the couple expanded into the two storefronts situated on either side of the original restaurant space, eventually taking over the entire brick building that commands the southwest corner of Melrose Ave. and N. Plymouth Blvd.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake Due to its proximity to both Paramount and Raleigh Studios, it didn’t take long for celebrities to discover Lucy’s. As the walls lined with autographed headshots attest to, pretty much everyone who’s anyone in Hollywood has passed through its doors. Just a few of the restaurant’s famous fans include Drew Barrymore (whose ninth birthday was held on the premises), Michael J. Fox (who would regularly pop by after the filming of “Family Ties” across the street), Lyle Lovett (who often thanks the eatery in his album liner notes), Dolly Parton, Orson Welles, Joni Mitchell, Ronald Reagan and Jack Nicholson, among countless others.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake The cafe even gained a reputation as being something of a lucky charm for struggling entertainers, so many of whom utilized the place as a refuge during the early days of their careers. Stars like songwriter Jimmy Webb, singer Jackson Browne, several members of The Eagles and saxophonist Mindi Abair headed to Lucy’s during hard times, knowing that the Casados could always be counted on for a free meal. The couple’s daughter, Patricia, told The Los Angeles Times, “They were all young, and they’d all wound up in Los Angeles and many of them were homesick. They came here when they were stuck or lonely or had writer’s block or just wanted company.” They continued to dine at Lucy’s long after becoming legends in their respective fields and considered the place a talisman of sorts. As CityWatchLA noted, “Abair, like many others in the music and entertainment industry, suggests that there is something mystical about Lucy’s El Adobe, some nourishing nectar beyond the margaritas and arroz con pollo that has always brought success to most who make regular pilgrimages there.”
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake The politically-minded proprietors (Frank was a co-founder of the Mexican American Political Association) also had quite a few government ties. One of Lucy’s most loyal patrons was former California governor Jerry Brown, who started eating at the restaurant in the ‘60s while working on a community college board and considers the Casados his extended family. So entwined is the eatery in his history that not only did he meet longtime girlfriend Linda Ronstadt on the premises but he utilized the place as his unofficial office during his tenure as governor and even had a dish named after him on the menu!
Then-presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy also dined at Lucy’s in June 1968, less than 24 hours before his assassination.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake El Adobe became such a local staple that in 2007 the Los Angeles City Council voted to name the intersection where it sits “I Love Lucy Square” in honor of both Lucy Casado and legendary actress Lucille Ball, who owned the former RKO Pictures facility (which is now part of the Paramount lot) from 1957 to 1967.
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake When Frank passed away in 1990, Lucy took over running the place and continued to be on site most nights until losing a battle with cancer in 2017 at the age of 91. The restaurant subsequently fell into the hands of Patricia and the Casados’ other two children, Frank James and Darryl, though Darryl passed away shortly after his mother. The remaining siblings have been engaged in a bitter dispute over what to do with it ever since and the effect the strife has had on the celebrated eatery is painfully apparent via the multitude of stinging Yelp reviews. El Adobe’s fate currently hangs in the balance as the place that once offered warmth and sustenance to so many sits quiet and shuttered.
The restaurant can still be visited virtually, at least, through its big and small screen roles, the most notable of which was as Cafe Caliente in the 2013 action thriller “Gangster Squad.”
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Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures -
Image Credit: Lindsay Blake It is there that LAPD Sergeant John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) enlists gunslinger Max Kennard (Robert Patrick) and Officer Navidad Ramirez (Michael Peña) to join his new secret task force to take down Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). Patrick, it turns out, is one of the eatery’s many celebrity fans, calling it his family’s “happy place,” so the “Gangster Squad” shoot must have been a great day at work for the actor!
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Image Credit: MTV Heidi Montag and Audrina Patridge headed to Lucy’s large tree-shaded patio to sort out their differences regarding Spencer Pratt in the season two episode of “The Hills” titled “Who Do you Trust?” which aired in 2007.
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Image Credit: Focus Features Roger (Ben Stiller) and Eric Beller (Mark Duplass) dined in one of El Adobe’s booths and discussed a past falling out in the 2010 drama “Greenberg.”
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Image Credit: ITV Studios Global Entertainment Detective Sam Hodiak’s (David Duchovny) post-work margarita got spiked by Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony) at the restaurant in the season one episode of “Aquarius” titled “Why?” which aired in 2015.
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Image Credit: Apple TV+ And Molly Novak (Maya Rudolph) hosts a happy hour on the premises for employees of her foundation in the second episode of “Loot,” titled “Bienvenidos a Miami.”
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Image Credit: Lindsay Blake The cafe’s future may currently be up in the air, but fans craving the place’s guacamole can still imbibe thanks to The Los Angeles Times. A 1977 article, which deems Lucy’s guac one of the “Southland’s best,” breaks down the recipe as such, “Lucy and Frank believe that when it comes to guacamole, ‘the flavor of good avocados is enough.’ So they delete the garlic and onions and go with cilantro, chile ortega, a little salt and mayonnaise and a sprinkle of grated longhorn and jack cheese, making a tasty, if less esoteric, prelude to their famous Texas-style cuisine.” Buen provecho!