Latest news with #MickeyCohen
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iconic Restaurant Where 'Mad Men' Filmed Closing After 117 Years in Business
Sadly, another one bits the dust in downtown Los Angeles. Cole's, the oldest public house in Los Angeles and established in 1908 as the inventor of the Original French Dip sandwich, is reportedly set to close its doors for good on Aug. 2. DTLA Insider was first to report the news and Los Angeles Weekly later reported the same news. Cole's was established by Harry Cole. For more than a century, the restaurant was housed in the historic Pacific Electric Building. The restaurant claims that its house chef, Jack Garlinghouse, invented the dip sandwich when he would dip the bread in Au Jus to soften it for customers with bad gums. Philippe's, another Los Angeles staple since 1908, also claims to have invented the Original French Dip sandwich. Cole's is so legendary, it sold a record of fifty-eight 32-gallon kegs (some 19,000 gallons of beer) the first day California lifted the ban on beer to mark the end of Prohibition. Civic dignitaries and gangsters alike often visited the restaurant -- often times at the same time -- for its famous sandwich and pints. Mickey Cohen, L.A.'s most famous gangster, visited so often he has a plaque dedicated to him above one of the two original urinals. The plaque reads, "Mickey Cohen pissed here." The second plaque is dedicated to the poet and novelist Charles Bukowski. The restaurant even made news in 1983, when Jimmy Barela, the lead barman since 1918, retired after 65 years. It's unclear why Cole's is closing after 117 years in business. Neither of the news outlets offered a reason, but rising rent costs in Los Angeles has contributed to other iconic institutions being forced to close its doors. The Original Pantry Cafe, just one block north of Arena, closed in March after 101 years of 24-hour diner service. Cole's also played a character in many movies and TV shows. The restaurant was prominently featured in the 1986 film Jumpin' Jack Flash starring Whoopi Goldberg. While the film is set in New York City, Cole's and Los Angeles made its mark on the spy comedy. Cole's also appears in Forrest Gump for the New Year's Eve scene with Forrest and Lieutenant Dan. Some hit TV shows that filmed inside Cole's includes the X-Files, NYPD Blue and, of course, Mad Men. Cole's appears in season 4, episode 6 of "Waldorf Stories." In that scene, Roger Sterling's (John Slattery) flashback scenes reveals how he first met Don Draper (Jon Hamm). Their boozy lunch is filmed at Cole's. Iconic Restaurant Where 'Mad Men' Filmed Closing After 117 Years in Business first appeared on Men's Journal on Jul 7, 2025
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Secret New Crime Museum Opens in Downtown Los Angeles
A secret new museum opened yesterday deep inside downtown's imposing century-old Hall of Justice dedicated to the history of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, district attorney's office, and the L.A. county coroner. The current triumvirate of justice gathered on Monday to dedicate the new exhibit space at Spring Street and Temple. Los Angeles is home to the largest Sheriff's Department in the United States and one hundred and seventy-five years of their history is told in the exhibits. From Wild West-era cowboy law enforcement to jail cells used by notorious gangsters like Mickey Cohen and Bugsy Siegel, cult leader Charles Manson and reefer smoker Robert Mitchum are on display alongside autopsy tables and historical equipment used in the post-mortem examinations of Marilyn Monroe and Robert F. Angeles County Sheriff Robert G. Luna, District Attorney Nathan Hochman and L.A.'s Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner Dr. Odey C. Ukpo gathered to cut an oversized cake decorated with a historic photo of the building. 'This feels like an old friend who has always been there and inspires us to do better,' Hochman said at the ceremony. Today, the neoclassical Beaux Arts landmark is the oldest government building in the civic center. The three agencies originally shared the building with the top floors reserved for temporary jail cells and the basement home to the county coroner. When it opened one hundred years ago, L.A.'s massive new Hall of Justice was undersized and overbudget. The original $3 million budget was doubled, allowing for an architectural dream team that included Octavius Morgan, Sumner Hunt, and Sumner Spaulding calling themselves the Allied Architects Association to go spectacular. The entire imposing façade is covered in 14 stories of Sierra white granite and decorated with terra cotta ox skulls and acanthus leaves. Elevated high above street level, atop a grand iron, brass and marble staircase, a magnificent loggia lined with Ionic marble columns features a gilded, coffered ceiling over the main reported 12 escapes in the weeks after opening, prompting enhancements to the jail. The District Attorney eventually relocated to more spacious accommodations. Coroner Thomas Noguchi (subject of a new documentary film) fought to modernize and expand the examination rooms, prompting the creation of a new facility for the dead in Boyle Heights in the 1970s and the Sheriff's Department decamped to suburban Monterey Park in 1993. The following year, the Northridge earthquake took a heavy toll on the building. 'I looked across the street in horror,' District Attorney Nathan Hochman said of the landmark damaged in the temblor. 'Thinking hopefully one day our friend will get better.' The forgotten and forlorn building sat boarded-up for two decades before the political will and funds to restore it were found. Emerging from a $234-million renovation in 2014, the building once again became home to the Sheriff's Department and District Attorney, utilizing funds saved from leases at offsite locations. The historical shivs, skeleton and scalpels on display are off-limits to the public for the foreseeable future since they are buried deep inside the highly secure building. Unless you have business in the Hall of Justice, our photo tour is going to have to be your window into this fascinating new museum. 'I believe it is the most beautiful building in Los Angeles and a cornerstone of law enforcement,' Sheriff Luna said at the dedication. 'We are the only county department that never closes our doors.' Well, except these doors. They're always closed.
