I was walking in downtown last week with a friend and we were talking about how sad it was to lose Old Venice , El Sombrero and the other stores that caught fire. We wondered when they would rebuild and how different the new places would be from the originals. Across the street there is a big hole in the ground where Pete's had been. As we walked through town we noticed that they are finally getting ready to doze Good Stuff. We both started reminiscing about the places we missed that had been here when we moved to Manhattan Beach in the late 60's and early 70's.
Here's the list we came up with.. feel free to add any of your favorites that we missed.
If you would like to read an update of this post please go to Manhattan Beach Memories .. Unfortunately I have had to add a few new places that are now only great memories...
Here's the list we came up with.. feel free to add any of your favorites that we missed.
If you would like to read an update of this post please go to Manhattan Beach Memories .. Unfortunately I have had to add a few new places that are now only great memories...
34 comments:
My grandparents used to take us to Tai-Song's when we were very young. My grandfather knew the owners and were treated like family. I still remember my favorite dish, which was their house specialty called Beef Su Chow. I still crave it and it has been almost 30 years!
I also remember going in through the back parking lot and the old style bar. Boy, I really miss it.
Anonymous 9:03,
I loved their "special chow mein" it was chicken pork and shrimp.. to die for..The bar was so cool..
We really had some wonderful places and like you I miss them too..
Just had a stroll down memory lane in Cabo San Lucas when we stumbled on a restaurant/bar called Latitude 22 Roadhouse. The Ardmore and Manhattan Ave streetsigns out front caught my eye then the Hometown Fair 10k t-shirt on the owner had me asking what's the connection. Turns out the owner Bob Huddleston (sp?) was the proud owner of both La Paz and the Buckaneer! Today you'll find him, a happy ex-pat and gracious host welcoming any and all to join the fun at the piano bar. You could spend a week just perusing all the photos, license plates, fish trophies and misc. treasures that cover the walls. You're bound to see a photo of someone you know from home who has found their way down here. There was even one of the old bright orange M.B. parking permits stapled to the wall! So the spirit of the old La Paz isn't gone it's just moved to Cabo.
Laura,
What a small world..It's nice to know the spirit of La Paz is still alive and well.. Thank you for sharing your discovery
Isn't Manhattan Pizzeria the original Zeppy's Pizza--- Across from the old theater? I grew up in MB in the early 70's and then returned [from Oregon!!] in the 80's only to eventually end up in NYC. Not too bad, because I'm happily situated, but my days in MB are some of the happiest I can remember
Troy,
Yes.. it is the old Zeppy's.. I remember how cool it was to be able to one slice of pizza..
Born 'n raised in Manhattan in the 60's. These are the businesses that I remember as a kid. Not sure if they're still around.
1. FedMart - like a Target on Sepulveda
2. Young Gentry - surf clothes
3. Jonny's Jip Joint - MB Toy shop
4. Phidipities - Runners shoes
5. Ice Cream Post - Ice Cream/P.O. boxes
6. Mac's Liquor - on Marine St
7. Red's - Mini Mart on Rosecrans near Blanch
8. Shaved Ice (next to Joe's Candy Cottage)
9. The barber next to Bill's Pancakes
10. Super Sam's - Liquor store corner of Sepulveda & Rosecrans
11. HostleHaus - Bike Shop on Sepulveda
12. Bob's Nursery
13. Center Drugs & Mr. Lazaar the owner
14. Europa Bikes
15. Zeppy's
16. The Red Onion
17. Beach Bum Burt's for Mom's Day
18. The Velvet Turtle for special occasions
Jon,
Thanks for the list.. I remember almost all of the ones on your list..although there were a few i had forgotten..
I lived in MB from '72 to '90, so I witnessed the demise of many of the places you mentioned. I have not been back in over 10 years, and that last visit was a bit of a bringdown in terms of all the places, and especially people, gone.
A very early memory - the very week we moved in - is of going to see a screening of the original "King Kong" at the La Mar with my mother. Dinner at the Hibachi (the first of many) afterward.
I got a little chuckle reading your lament over the demise of Buffums, for the land on which the entire Manhattan Mall (and much of the development to the east of it) was once semi-off limits Standard Oil property, and getting in there (and usually getting told off) was something of a rite of passage back in those old days. Of course the advent of Buffums and the rest of the mall were long after I had outgrown all that, but it was still sad to see the old "Rabbit Fields" go.
Another sad parting long ago was when Gene Leis Studios (local musical instrument shop) closed their doors (after moving to Goat Hill from the original location near Marine and Sepulveda - a few doors down from Bill's Liquor). I bought my first guitar from Gene. He also gave me my first job working part time in the store. I used to wheedle my way into Beachbum Burt's to see him play with his trio.
Hee-hee, kudos to Jon Craig for mentioning "Red's Mini-mart" on Rosecrans. I lived very close to there and remember Red very well - though we called the place "The Little Store" which eventually became its official name during its brief time of survival after Red's family sold it a few years after he passed on. He could be a crusty old fart sometimes (I once saw him pull a .22 pistol on a shoplifter - it wasn't loaded, he showed me later - but it sure was scary at the moment). He was always real good to the local kids - I really enjoyed riding my bike up there of a Saturday morning for candies and pop - enough sugar-power to fly to Pluto and back!
Thanks all for the memories. Too bad we can't turn back the hands of time. Life in MB seemed a lot slower then - more green, less noise.
I live in Japan now, but I'd go back to *that* MB in a heartbeat.
Peace!
Mark,
Thanks for commenting.. Gosh I hadn't thought about Gene in years... he was the music guy in town.. half the people I knew took lessons personally or had their children take lessons from him.
It was a different place then and while much has changed but I can't imagine not being here...
Hallo Kaye. You may be happy to know that the Gene Leis legacy lives on in Dietz Brothers' Music. Their store (and lesson studio) is located at the NE corner of Sepulveda (240 S) and Duncan Pl.
Hey, next time you go to Uncle Bill's, eat a pancake for me - not too much syrup, please ;-)
Cheers!
Mark,
I know Dietz.. and yes they are great..
I will dedicate a pancake from Uncle Bills to you the next time I'm there... have to admit I've been hanging at the Koffee Kart more the Uncle Bills... good food and a lot fewer folks waiting in line on Sunday morning
Don't forget Shellback Surf oadhouse in Cabo is Mike Grzanich. Old pictures of him at La Paz and Bucaneer are hanging in the Shellback Surf signed 56 year resident of 90266 FRontier45785 !
Anonymous 6:33, I had someone else tell me that.. small world!
Wow...thanks for the memories, everyone. Here are my comments and a few more places I remember from growing up in Manhattan Beach '56 - '86.
Ted Ernst Bike Shop on Sepulveda (now a cleaners I think). My father-in-law bought the shop from Ted and called it The Bike Shop. I used to work there in the early 80's.
Jo's Candy Cottage had the best honeycomb. The owner yelled at me when I was touching some of the little toys for sale...traumatic!
Mickie's Bikinis...just up from the pier. My sister worked there and I got my first bikini there.
Gene Leis Music...got my first guitar there. Super nice man.
Banner Stationery and Kays Toys on Sepulveda. Ahhh...paper goods and candy! There went my allowance.
That Indian restaurant on Sepulveda...had great food. Was it called The Shah? Went there on a date. Later it turned into a great spaghetti place.
The Red Onion and Sizzler on Sepulveda...family favorites.
Baskin Robbins. The old owner had hairy arms and my dad thought that was so gross how his arms would touch the ice cream as he scooped. LOL!!!
Shakey's Pizza (near Kay's and Banner's) another family favorite.
Chin Lees...awesome chow mein. Our favorite Chinese takeout place.
Beckers Bakery...the best German Choc. Cake.
Polliwog Park. What a great place to catch polliwogs or feed the ducks.
The Lady in White. She used to roam around town pushing a shopping cart. She was seen all over the So. Bay.
El Sombrero. Best burritos.
I want to go back to Old Manhattan...I guess these memories will have to suffice.
Nancy,
Thanks for the additions.. I loved Shakeys and was so sad when it closed.
The Lady in White just disappeared one day. I have no idea what actually happened to her but she was older so have a feeling her health failed.
I still miss the little Red Onion... they had the best food.
Yep the Bike shop is now a cleaners.
Thanks you for sharing your memories...
Aww, Joe's Candy Cottage! My grandmother worked there hand-dipping chocolates for many years. The guy who owned Joe's name was Frank, BTW. Grandma was there from the 1950's probably through the 1960's. Frank had wanted to have Grandma help him start another shop at Knott's Berry Farm, but she declined. I can remember getting to watch Grandma hand-dip the chocolates one time, and she showed me how each chocolate had a special swirl on the top so they'd know what was inside.
I still have lovely dolls and other toys from Joe's, too, and the candy was the absolute best.
It's a very special memory, for me. Thanks for sparking it!
Marilyn
Marilyn,
What a wonderful memory... thank you so much for sharing!
Marilyn, I enjoyed reading your Jo's Candy Cottage memories. I remember Frank took my dad, mom, and me to the back where they were stirring the candy in a big pot. I remember the special "swirls" on the top. My mom and dad would buy lots of the assorted chocolate boxes each year for Christmas. It was the best...better than See's.
As a resident of MB from 1959 to 1976...The best things were the Tiki Fair (Valley & MB Blvd)2-3 years... before the Safeway was built.. Of course all the races for kids..The MB Grand Prix stringray races..Sand Dune Park Sand Board..races...64-69...He are a few locations not mentioned...Fractured Cow....Platypus Records...The Galley (Became El Trasico 1970)Mrs Cooks candy Store 200 Sq foot shop between Sweeny's Hardware and The Galley..Papa Joes..Jills Hamburgers the the most iconic of all...Lee's on The Stand and Marine..The best burgers, and real surfmat rentals...Better know as Greasy Lee's...
My childhood friend Nancy White (literally: friends since she was four and I was five!) didn't mention another little store next to Banner's and Kay's Toys: Pat's Casuals. It featured traditional clothes for the ladies -- sweater sets, pencil skirts, very "Mad Men" -- but we went there for our gym uniforms for Foster A. Begg. And before there was a Fedmart/Discofair/Unimart/Two Guys/Target, they always held the annual Moose Fair in that vacant lot. Fun but seedy.
Pat's Casuals! How could I have forgotten the place where I got my first bra?!!! I still remember the owner lady...the mortification of being measured!! errr...thanks for the reminder, Jeanette!
Oh you guys, I'm soooo homesick! O.K. MB native from '56 to '78. Then a few RB and HB. My father was head usher @ American Martyrs Chuch for 38 yrs. and my brothers and I went to school there. Our 1st house was on 18th (right behind the Moose fair)...Then became Ira Escobar Ford (dad's new '72 Mustang Grande.) We went to Kay's toys from the back, down the blacktop hill to the parking lot. Mom walked to the Food Giant everyday on Marine and Sepulveda. Anyone remember Clancy's Hamburger across from Bill's liquor? Became a car wash years ago. We also lived on 9th in a duplex and ate burritos @ Red Onion and a slice @ Piece o' Pizza next to 31 flavors. We lived @ the bottom of 31st where we climbed the railroad ties next to Sand Dune Park up and over to the Fractured Cow. My brothers first and last job was a busboy @ The Wooden Shoe ( he passed away in 1970.) My 1st job was hostess at the brand new Kettle. Loved their patty melts. I remeber the fudge Easter eggs from Joe's. They always did a beautiful job writing your name on it. I can still smell the store. I remember the Christmas Decorations arching over the street down MB Blvd.to Manhattan Ave. In our neihborhood at Christmas there was a pick-up truck with a bench in the back and a Santa throwing wintergreen Christmas tree shaped suckers onto our lawns while the driver yelled into a megaphone or a p.a. system "Merry Christmas...ho ho ho!" and cheap speakers playing "jingle bells" over and over for blocks. So Cheesy, we luuuved it! It was sponsored by the Moose Lodge,it was the official start of the holiday season. We didn't stop till we filled a pillowcase on Halloween, right? We used to eat at a little hole in the wall on Rosecrans toward El Porto called, El Yaqui (Yakkee) Cafe. In those days you could go in barefoot, guys in trunks, byo beer, and order a "super deluxe burrito" for $1.75...it weighed 2 lbs. I was also at the opening of Orville and Wilbur's across the street. Very modern and Frank Lloyd Wright. I miss the days of always having something fun to do. You could go down to the strand on a summer evening and in minutes someone comes by with a party location. Someone was ALWAYS having something when their parent went out of town. You would do the circuit and eventually see almost everyone you know. I used to play pool at the end of the pier ('69) they had the best french fries and mayonnaise. I saw Mary Poppins at the Lamar, played volleyball with Wilt the Stilt. He had a house right down the strand and we went in to get a drink and all the chairs, counters, doorways were sooo tall. You felt like you were shrinking. 1st and last time I ever got drunk was on Red Mountain behind 5 corners liquor. I graduated from Shores. I went back many many years ago..and what stuck in my head in addition to so much gone, was,the parking meters on Manhattan Ave. It wasn't the cost at all, it was the fact that it was a quarter an hour and you could only feed it 1 hour at a time. In other words, walk all the way down the hill, back to your towel, and 40 min. later, back up to put another quarter in. I know the motto is "no life east of Sepulveda," but it made me feel like an outsider because I always had a bike or skateboard.. and now I had to pay to park like a tourist. Does that make sense to any of you? That was home. I'm so glad to have stumbled in here. Thanks for jogging some great memories. I'm really homesick. We should plan a reunion. A reunion of all the people that never met in the greatest little beach town ever.
Laura,
Thank you for sharing your memories..
I didn't get here until '69 so lots of places I missed... but I also remember a number of them you mentioned...
A lot has changed but MB is still one of the best beach towns in the country!
Laura,
Thanks for sharing your memories. We used to loooove Pizz 'o Pizza! I had forgotten about that one! I was wondering, since you went to American Martyrs, did you know the Carothers family? They had 7 children who went to that school and church. I grew up playing with the younger ones as they were neighbors a block away. We lived on Magnolia and they lived on Chestnut, near Meadows School.
Also, I remember the Santa Claus you spoke of. How exciting when he would come up our street throwing candy! And the decorations that went across MB Blvd...I remember them, too.
And Orville and Wilburs was where my husband and I had our first date.
Remember how we would bike or skateboard everywhere? Ohhhh, I miss it.
I have to add one landmark to the list: Harry's Market (also known as Harry's Hi-Lo) on Sepulveda opposite what is now Target. Harry's was always a place to run into neighbors in the produce section or buy Lollipops (coiled flank steak on a skewer) for the barbecue. I remember walking there in my bare feet to buy 12-cent comic books from lovely Mary, the checker. And my brother was later a boxboy there. A neighborhood institution for that part of the Tree Section.
Kevin, I grew up one block east of Sepulveda (where there is no life--haha) and I remember Harry's Hi Lo so clearly. My mom would buy the "Honey Roast". It was a family favorite--a deliciously sweet marinated roast that I wish I could buy today!
Nancy and Kevin,
I think one of the guys who worked at Harry's meat dept is at Manhattan Market on manhattan Ave... They have a very good honey marinated roast..
If I died and went through The Pearly Gates and saw Mahattan Beach in the mid sixties, I would then know I was really in Heaven. Before the LaPaz it was The Port of Entry, The Shellback was The Surf and there was the Bluebook in ElPorto that used to have 15 cent beer on Wed. night... Yes that was another lifetime and a great time.bobby
In the summer of '67, I worked at the 'Hot Dogger'. We had to go through Ray Lazar's pharmacy, downstairs,to get there, but my buddie and I had a ball working there. The pizza place is there now. I soon moved up in the world and got a great job as a busboy at Panchos, bussing Chinese left overs, learning from Yee the cook and the great couple who ran the place, wish I could remember their names. Mark
Lived in MB from 58 to 61. Lived on 21st near the Food Giant. We loved the joke store across the street. There was also a cool little market in the big field where the Moose Fair was held. On MB blvd was our fav ice cream parlor, The Gay 90s. They had phosphates, a type of soft drink. Polywog Pond was only called that by our parents. It was "The Swamp" to us Meadows Ave elementary kids.
Bryce,
Thanks for sharing.. guess I got here too late for the Moose Fair!
Bryce,
I remember the Moose Fair. It was where Target is now. I remember catching polliwogs in a jar at Polliwog Park. My friends and I called it by that name. I, too, went too Meadows Elementary, then Foster A. Begg. I lived in M. B. from 1956 to 1976
Market on the Moose Fair lot was O'brians then Country Boy market.
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