Beloved Downtown Cafeteria Clifton’s Under New Management

September 21, 2010 10:31 AM

Beloved downtown Los Angeles cafeteria Clifton’s is under new management. (credit: cliftonscafeteria.com)

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Andrew Meieran, Cafeteria, Clifton's, Downtown, Los Angeles

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.

Beloved Downtown Cafeteria Cliftons Under New Management

Downtown Crazyman Dance

Jeezzuss, look at that picture. Thats old. That world doesnt exist anymore does it? I mean it was fine and wonderful… THEN.

You know, being a long time resident of Downtown, before all the glamour and hipness, gentrification came in, you come to realization that this part of Downtown, basically south of Hill Street just needs to be torn down. All of it.

There’s a lot of talk about a “renaissance” happening in Downtown LA but it happened roughly 20, 30 (40 with the 1st Interstate Building!) years ago when west of Hill Street saw wonderful new, forward, futuristic and BETTER buildings. That was the real renaissance, it already happened.

What you have now are all these out of towners, gentrifiers trying to bring back the past or New York-azise Downtown Los Angeles, and although I can’t stop it, looks rather pretentious to me.

What I think this old, decrepit part of Downtown needs is not re-purposing or restoration but a full break down, tear down, rebuild, new city for all. All of Broadway, all those old Gotham, depressing, old and dated architectural buildings, gone, bye-bye.