The Last of The Brown Derby Restaurants

The last of the four Los Angeles area Brown Derby restaurant buildings — once on the brink of demolition but now a protected city monument — has been put on the market for $10.6 million.

The building at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd. is being sold by the group of investors that attempted in the mid-2000s to build 80 residences and a supermarket at the site of the famed restaurant. Neighbors caught wind of the effort, created the Save the Derby preservation group, and rallied Los Angeles City Council to save the building, which dates to 1928 and was once owned by Cecil B. DeMille.

The 14,000-square-foot building, now home to a Chase Bank branch and Louise’s Trattoria restaurant, was declared...

                 VIEW THE BEST BROWN DERBY RESTAURANT  FROM HOLLYWOODPHOTOGRAPHS.COM

The very best collection of Brown Derby photos can be found on the hollywoodphotographs.com web site.  The collection was started, by Bruce Torrence in 1970, and today there are over 12,000 photographs of which there are more than 7,000 images on the web site.  These wonderful photos of the Brown Derby Restaurants show, not only, the exteriors of these four restaurant locations, but also the many celebrities who dined there.  Clark Gable and Carol Lombard, ...

                                Brown Derby Restaurants History and Photos by hollywoodphotographs.com

The largest collection of Brown Derby photos is hollywoodphotographs.com.  The name Brown Derby Restaurant was a popular name in Hollywood. There is the tendency for any person who does not know about the restaurant to think that there restaurant was just one. The name Brown Derby stood for a chain of restaurants. The first among this chains of restaurants was in the form of a Derby hat for men; and it was the first to be established in 1926 at 3427 Wilshire Boulevard, during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

It was the second Brown Derby...

                                                    THE WORLD FAMOUS BROWN DERBY RESTAURANT

If you have ever been interrupted during meal time by a telephone call, then you can blame the Brown Derby Restaurant. The Brown Derby was a chain of restaurants, owned by Robert Cobb. The original restaurant was shaped like a brown derby, which is considered by many to be an iconic image of the Golden Age of Hollywood.

The second Brown Derby restaurant was opened on Valentines Day, 1929, at 1628 N. Vine Street, in Hollywood. Despite its less distinctive Spanish Mission style...

                                                    BROWN DERBY RESTAURANT PHOTOS 

The Brown Derby restaurants are a major piece of history in Los Angeles that all lovers of Hollywood enjoy. This chain of restaurants was one of the most popular in California, particularly with celebrities. The first restaurant was located on Wilshire Blvd. and was in the shape of a derby hat.  The second restaurant, at 1628 Vine St. in Hollywood opened on Valentines Day 1929.  The other two Brown Derby restaurants were located in Beverly Hills and in the Los Feliz area of Hollywood.  Of all four locations, the Vine Street eatery was, by far, the most popular.  On almost every day or evening, Hollywood celebrities could be seen dining at the...

BROWN DERBY RESTAURANT HISTORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS

HISTORY

One of Hollywood's finest and most popular restaurants, The Brown Derby, was opened on Valentines Day, l929, at 1628 North Vine Street in a building especially erected by Cecil B. Dellille. Founded by Herbert K. Somborn, he hired Robert H. Cobb as combination steward, buyer, cashier and occasional cook. After Somborn's death in 1934, Cobb was made president and general manager. Shortly thereafter, he became the owner. With a collection of caricatures...

BROWN DERBY RESTAURANTS

FOUR BROWN DERBY RESTAURANTS

Most people think there was only one Brown Derby Restaurant - the Hollywood Brown Derby.  But actually, there were four. The first was built on Wilshire Blvd and was in the shape of a derby hat. The second one, and certainly the most popular, was located on Vine Street, in Hollywood.  The third was on Wilshire Blvd., in Beverly Hills, and the fourth was on Los Feliz Bllvd....