The Brief

Frustrated with the pace of the long-promised cleanup of radioactive material from the Santa Susana Field Lab, a coalition of activists will be protesting starting today to demand an urgent cleanup of a nuclear waste site near Simi Valley.

The activists are marking the 65th anniversary of a partial nuclear reactor meltdown at the Santa Susana Field Lab in July 1959, which released radioactive material and other toxic chemicals into the soil and surrounding areas. At the time, the Atomic Energy Commission issued a statement claiming that there was "no release of radioactive materials" into the surrounding area, which was later shown to be false.

Even after the meltdown, the 2850-acre site was still used for nuclear development and testing until 1988, according to the Department of Energy. The site was also used for rocket tests conducted by NASA and its contractor Rocketdyne. Ownership of the majority of the site was transferred to Boeing in 1996, though the U.S. government owns the remaining portions.

Activists and environmental groups allege that since Boeing became stewards of the site — and the hazardous chemicals within — the company has been slow to mitigate risks for surrounding residents.

"They are trying to get out of the full, complete cleanup," said Melissa Bumstead, founder and co-director of the group Parents Against Santa Susana Field Lab. "They want to cut corners. And they're minimizing the risk to the public."

For their part, Boeing said the company is following a cleanup procedure laid out by the California Environmental Protection Agency two years ago "to implement a stringent cleanup of the site."

"The cleanup framework provides Boeing with a clear process, schedule, and criteria for future decision-making, while protecting important biological and cultural resources," a Boeing spokesperson wrote in an email to LAist. "Interim soil and groundwater measures are ongoing and the final soil and groundwater cleanup are slated to start as soon as 2026."

Studies conducted over the years have not always been able to demonstrate a significant increase in rates of cancer near the former test site, though many others have.

"Taken together, the studies do not support a link between incidences of cancer and past operations at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory," Boeing wrote to LAist.

Bumstead and her fellow advocates refute this, pointing to several studies that found higher rates of certain types of cancer for people working and living close to the site. For Bumstead, the issue is personal.

"My daughter is 14 now, but she's a two-time cancer survivor, and she's one of 80 kids in our community who've had cancer that we know of," Bumstead said.

The spread of radiation from the site also became a flashpoint for surrounding areas following the Woolsey Fire in 2018, which burned through parts of the SSFL site.

At the time, California's Department of Toxic Substances Control said that they did not believe any toxic chemicals had been released into surrounding areas. However, a study published in 2021 found that while most samples taken nearby did not have elevated radiation levels, radioactive matter did spread outside of the site.

The highest levels of radiation in the study were detected in Thousand Oaks, about 9 miles from the site of Santa Susana Field Lab.

Boeing entered into mediation with the state in 2021, according to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control. In 2022, the parties announced a cleanup agreement to "hold Boeing accountable" after 15 months of negotiations. The state set stringent standards for the cleanup, saying that it should be sufficiently free from waste for residents to live on the site and grow their own produce from the formerly contaminated soil.

That full cleanup is expected to take 10 to 15 years, though state officials said they're looking at ways to expedite the process.

Bumstead and other advocates say that the sooner the site is rid of nuclear waste and other hazardous materials, the better.

"One of the long term problems, one of the reasons why this has taken 65 years, is it's easy to kick the can down the road forever," Bumstead said.

It wasn't supposed to be a big deal. After all, it was just a diner.

Sure, Phil Rosenthal (creator of Everybody Loves Raymond and Netflix's Somebody Feed Phil) and Nancy Silverton (owner of Mozza and Chi Spacca) — two of Los Angeles' most iconic food voices — were teaming up on the project. Still, the concept was modest: fluffy scrambled eggs, turkey club sandwiches and coffee refills.

Named in memory of Rosenthal's late parents, Max and Helen — familiar faces to fans of his Netflix series — their unpretentious love of diner classics became both the menu's foundation and its guiding philosophy.

Yet within weeks of opening in November, Max & Helen's had eight-hour waits, viral hot chocolate and celebrity sightings, including Timothée Chalamet, Kylie Jenner and Selena Gomez. It came as a shock to the newly married couple running it all, Lily Rosenthal Royal, Phil's daughter and the diner's creative director, and her husband, Mason Royal, the director of operations, who oversees the kitchen. (They started working together a week after their wedding).

"We thought we were gonna be hot for Larchmont," Rosenthal Royal says.

Instead, Max & Helen's became a destination — the kind of place people plan their weekends around, wait four hours for and drive across L.A. to experience.

Lily & Mason

Rosenthal and Silverton were never going to run Max & Helen's themselves — the plan was always to build it and hand it over. Royal, who has 12 years of restaurant experience, caught Silverton's attention during tastings.

"Nancy was like,'I feel like Mason would be good as the guy running the show,'" Rosenthal Royal said.

The couple had been developing their own pop-up when the opportunity at the diner arose, and suddenly they were running the family business.

For Royal, working with Silverton has been a dream. For Rosenthal Royal, the project is deeply personal — a love letter to her grandparents and the diners her father grew up on.

"We opened it almost selfishly because we live in Larchmont," she said. "We wanted a diner for ourselves, for our friends, for our community."

Wood-paneled walls and vintage family photographs create a nostalgic atmosphere at Max & Helen's diner.

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Catherine Dzilenski

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Courtesy Max & Helen's

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Rosenthal is clear about their importance.

“Diners are democratic with a small D,” he told me last year when the project was still in development. Places where everyone is welcome, where community can flourish — something he felt was increasingly rare.

Worth the wait

The frenzy has now cooled slightly — while weekends still draw four-hour waits, midweek is much calmer.

When I visited with my family on a recent weekday morning, the wait was about 45 minutes. We were seated in the corner banquette area, accompanied by crocheted cushions bearing the name "Max & Helen's." Along with the wood-paneled walls and the black-and-white family photographs, it felt more like a cozy roadside diner you'd stumble upon on a drive up the coast than something nestled among the lifestyle boutiques and specialty stores that crowd Larchmont Boulevard.

Breakfast wins

The menu was simple, which made ordering easy, with breakfast and lunch options.

I tried Nancy's omelet ($18) with herbs and farmer’s cheese, which was thin and crepe-like, folded perfectly at the edges, and impossibly fluffy, offering bursts of freshness from the herbs.

I was particularly curious to try the waffle, which has been both widely lauded (for its taste) and lambasted (for the $17 price point).

It was transcendent, with golden, crisp ridges and deep pockets built to cradle syrup. Rosenthal Royal told me they use a three-day-fermented sourdough batter, a labor-intensive process that gives the waffle its distinctive texture and flavor.

The $17 waffle with whipped maple butter uses a three-day fermented sourdough batter

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Catherine Dzilenski

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Courtesy Max & Helen's

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What truly set it apart, for me at least, was the whipped maple butter: airy and lush, melting into every nook, both indulgent and unexpectedly light.

As for the price — it's a generous portion, and a comparable waffle at Mel's Drive-In in Santa Monica costs $13.50. Apparently, those extra few dollars equal rage bait these days.

I was less impressed with the turkey club ($19), well-cooked bacon, fresh vegetables and a spicy mayo. Nice nods to California diner cuisine. But the bread was a bit thin, without the heft needed to support the rest of the sandwich's company.

Max & Helen's turkey club sandwich served with a side of tallow French fries and Lily's hot chocolate topped with a brûléed marshmallow

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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Still, the tallow fries ($8) were exceptionally crispy, and the hot chocolate, $9.50, — another viral sensation — was stellar, thick and rich with a brûléed marshmallow on top.

I even took the liberty of dipping a few fries into the chocolate, which turned out to be a genius move.

Looking ahead

Royal hasn't taken a day off since opening — a fact his wife is quick to call out with a laugh. Their partnership works because their roles complement each other: His operational rigor meets her's warmth and joy.

"Mason runs a tight ship," Rosenthal Royal said. "But we want this to be warm and fun and lighthearted."

It's that balance — systems and soul — that they hope will define Max & Helen's beyond the viral moments.

The pair hope Max & Helen's becomes an institution like Apple Pan or Musso & Frank — a place where, as Rosenthal Royal put it, "Max and Helen would feel at home, where everyone feels loved and seen and warm."

The counter at Max & Helen's evokes classic American diners.

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Catherine Dzilenski

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Courtesy Max & Helen's

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A man recently came in with a gift, telling Rosenthal Royal he'd met someone at the counter she'd seated him next to. They're now dating.

"If we could have that happen over and over again," she said, "I'd be so happy."

Beyond the diner, Rosenthal Royal is also releasing a children's book this spring, co-written with her father — a fitting parallel to their collaborative work at Max & Helen's. Three months in, they've built something bigger than they imagined. Whether it stands the test of time depends on whether the hype fades into something more enduring: a neighborhood fixture that just happens to make a really good waffle.