No, they’re not actually cooking yet at Johnie’s Broiler–AKA Harvey’s Broiler, the authentic 1950s Downey drive-in that was illegally demolished a year and a half ago.
But as Samantha Gonzaga writes in this morning’s Press-Telegram, crews are finally out there sifting through the rubble, saving what’s left to be saved, and getting it ready to become [...]

There will be other important demolitions in Long Beach.
But yesterday’s dismantling of the crime-ridden Avalon Motel came with a free Southern lunch, served after Vice Mayor Bonnie Lowenthal clambered into the cab of a towering Caterpillar front-loader for a de-construction worker’s perspective, as the city struck down the blighted building.

Couple of interesting yarns in the Press-Telegram lately.
On Election Day, if you missed it, Samantha Gonzaga wrote about how Johnie’s Broiler–the sad ’50s drive-in in Downey that was (mostly) illegally demolished a year ago– is supposed to rise again as a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant.
This sounds like good news–Johnie’s had a fat boy sign/Bob’s has [...]

Remember Johnie’s Broiler–the landmark Downey drive-in, pillar of 1950s modern architecture and key cruising spot that was illegally demolished in January 2007?
Downey City Council passed a one-year moratorium on any development out at the site, immediately after a bulldozer allegedly hired by a lessee knocked down most of the 1958 drive-in.
But now, Wave newspapers reporter [...]

You may have read, in Saturday’s Los Angeles Times–or Sunday’s Press-Telegram, via an Associated Press story–how the current owners of the famous Downey house where ’70s soft-rock duo Richard and Karen Carpenter lived want to tear it down?
Well, uh, they do.

Tues | Dec 11 The City Council of beautiful Downey, California, votes to hire a consultant to help them figure out what to do with what’s left of Johnie’s Broiler. You remember Johnie’s, right? It’s the authentic ’50s drive-in that was a shining example of Googie architecture—it also happened to make a club sandwich so [...]

Will Johnie’s Broiler eventually be saved, or will portions of its remains one day decorate a very interesting shopping center?

The remains of Johnie’s Broiler–one of Southern California’s last large-scale drive-in restaurants, where custom cars were king and even the food was fast–needs your help.
It’s been nearly a year since a man driving a bulldozer managed to flatten most of the 1958 Downey landmark. What’s left of the Googie-style restaurant–replete with flagstone, exuberant script and [...]

Wait–strike that!–Theme Building reopens
It figures that an architectural icon like the 1961 Encounter restaurant at Los Angeles International Airport would get stuck with a lame name like the Theme Building.
What doesn’t figure, as the Los Angeles Times reports, is that the restaurant would actually reopen