The Famous Diner That Doesn’t Serve Food

At the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California sits a restaurant you know. Not because you had a memorable meal there, although there’s a slight chance you did, but because you’ve seen it before … many times.

Johnie’s Coffee Shop opened in 1956 as Romeo’s Times Square and, despite a few name changes, had served food and coffee to patrons until it closed its doors in 2000. And while the restaurant closed up shop 15 years ago, everything inside is still pristine. The lights are on, the tables are clean, the seats are polished. There’s just no one there.

Johnie’s Coffee Shop is a Hollywood’s restaurant. One of the Hollywood restaurants. When a film director needs a diner, coffee shop, or restaurant with that 1950s California Googie vibe, he/she turns to Johnie’s. Where have you seen it? Here’s a short list: