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Beloved Downtown Cafeteria Clifton's Under New Management

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The idiosyncratic fairyworld that is downtown Los Angeles' Clifton's Brookdale cafeteria is under new management after being operated for nearly eight decades by the family of its founder.

Andrew Meieran, already the owner of a popular downtown bar called the Edison, said Tuesday that he's a day away from closing on a lease to operate Clifton's and may later buy it outright.

Clifton's is famous for its retro, forest-inspired decor of flowing indoor creeks, redwood trees and animatronic woodland creatures.

Meieran says he plans to keep the cafeteria open 24 hours and to transform its fanciful red-wallpapered upstairs room into a nightlife venue, but will keep the restaurant's quirky character intact.

He says he hopes to draw half his 100-person staff from a nearby homeless shelter's culinary training program.

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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