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Food

History Lesson: Los Angeles Cafeterias 101

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Cafeterias are so much more than Jell-O and hair nets. And the Southern California Restaurant Historical Society is going to prove it to you.

Its fourth event -- a “Salute to Cafeterias!” – will be held at Clifton's Cafeteria in Downtown Los Angeles on Saturday (May 26) at 10 AM.

Guest speakers include:

>> D.J. Waldie, author of Holy Land: A Suburban Memoir, who’ll discuss postwar dining in Lakewood (the prototypical suburb),

>> Charles Perry, the Los Angeles Times food writer and president of the Culinary Historians of Southern California, will talk about the origin of the species: the first cafeterias in Los Angeles, and

>> Chris Nichols, Los Angeles magazine editor and author of The Leisure Architecture of Wayne McAllister, who’ll school attendees on McAllister’s midcentury restaurants. (Think Lawry’s, Bob’s Big Boy, et al.), and

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>> Special guest Robert Clinton, the third generation owner of Clifton’s, will also be on hand to discuss his restaurant’s history (which has been around since 1931, btw).

But here’s the best part: There’s no charge for the event.

Southern California Restaurant Historical Society’s “Salute to Cafeterias!”
Clifton's Cafeteria
648 S. Broadway
Downtown Los Angeles
Saturday, May 26 at 10AM.

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