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Eater
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Eater
Dan Tana, Founder of Legendary West Hollywood Restaurant Dan Tana's, Dies at 90
Dan Tana, the founder of legendary West Hollywood restaurant Dan Tana's, died on August 16 at 90 years old in Belgrade, Serbia. One of his daughters, commenting for an obituary in the New York Times, revealed he died from cancer. The staff of Dan Tana's announced his passing on the restaurant's Facebook page, writing, 'Our beloved little yellow house will forever feel his presence.' Tana was born as Dobrivoje Tanasijević in 1935 to Serbian parents in Čibutkovica, a town outside of Belgrade in then Yugoslavia. He spent his youth playing soccer with teams like Red Star Belgrade, going on to play professionally across Belgium and Canada. In 1956, Tana moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting and appeared in movies like The Enemy Below and The Untouchables. While pursuing acting work, he picked up jobs on the side as a tuna canner at Starkist, a dishwasher at Villa Capri restaurant and Miceli's, and maitre d' and manager at Peppermint West. In the early 1960s, he worked as a maitre d' at Beverly Hills restaurant La Scala before breaking out on his own and opening Dan Tana's in 1964. Longtime server Vladimir Bezak at Dan Tana's in 2009. Ricardo DeAratanha/Los Angeles Times Dan Tana's opened as a 17-table red-sauce joint in the home of a former hamburger restaurant, serving distinctly classic dishes like veal Parmesan, chicken marsala, and New York steak. For the first two years open, the restaurant only served a handful of guests every night, until a 1966 review from the Los Angeles Times put it on Los Angeles's radar. Suddenly, Dan Tana's filled to the brim with more than 200 covers every evening. From then on, the restaurant became a celebrity hot spot, welcoming stars like Harry Dean Stanton, Richard Burton, and Jack Nicholson into its hallowed red leather booths. As West Hollywood's music scene bloomed with bigger acts playing the neighboring Troubador, Dan Tana's adapted, keeping its kitchen open until 1 a.m. for years for late-night martinis and pasta. Dan Tana with customers at Dan Tana's. Richard Hartog/Los Angeles Times In 2009, Tana sold the restaurant to Sonja Perencevic and moved back to Belgrade. Perencevic kept everything the same — down to the checkered tablecloths — continuing Tana's legacy. The restaurant eschews modernity in most forms: Reservations, to this day, are only taken over the phone and penciled into an encyclopedia-thick date book. Servers all wear tuxedo-style suits, often outdressing the patrons themselves, but it's all part of the charm. Jonathan Gold reviewed the restaurant for the Los Angeles Times in 2016, writing of the restaurant's status as an institution, the table-side Caesar salad, and a bad date he had there years prior. Today, Dan Tana's stands steadfast along Santa Monica Boulevard, harkening back to the neighborhood's past as an Old Hollywood hangout and rock-and-roll haven. The menu has remained largely unchanged, though prices have risen, and the chicken Parmesan is still one of the best in the city. Although not all the food is memorable for the right reasons, it doesn't really matter. The outside world doesn't exist after crossing the threshold of the yellow bungalow, which remains full every night. With Los Angeles in a constant state of change and numerous old-school restaurants shuttering, Dan Tana's remains an unyielding reminder of hospitality and the transportive nature of a great restaurant. Tana is survived by his wife Biljana and daughters Gabrielle and Katerina. Exterior of Dan Tana's. FG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images Eater LA All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Dan Tana's Location 9071 Santa Monica Blvd (at Doheny Dr), West Hollywood, CA 90069 External Link Phone (310) 275-9444 Link Come for the vibes, stay for the cocktails, and maybe share one of the best chicken parmesans in town. Dan Tana's, which opened in 1964, has plenty of detractors for its celebrity-riddled booths and sometimes lackluster dishes. But fans interpret the old-school food as timeless Italian American food, with numerous plates named after the West Hollywood restaurant's famous regulars. Stick to martinis and the chicken parm, and the rest will solve itself through the restaurant's timeless conviviality.
Time of India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Farewell to Dan Tana: The man behind LA's legendary ‘Little Yellow House'
Image: Dan Tana, the unforgettable restaurateur behind the iconic West Hollywood spot Dan Tana's, has passed away at the age of 90, leaving behind a legacy as rich and comforting as his famous chicken parm, Variety reported. Born as Dobrivoje Tanasijević near Belgrade, Serbia, Dan Tana began his life journey as a professional soccer player, weaving in and out of Canada's leagues. Then he shifted gears, tried his hand at acting, and even appeared in The Enemy Below in 1957. Eventually, he found his calling, in hospitality, starting as a dishwasher at Villa Capri and later maître d' at La Scala. In 1964, Dan Tana took over a humble burger joint on Santa Monica Boulevard and transformed it into Dan Tana's, a cozy Italian-American gem serving hearty classics like chicken Parmesan. He envisioned it as a late-night hideaway, because back then, if you wanted decent pasta after midnight, your only option was a diner. Slowly but surely, it caught fire, especially after Richard Burton became a regular. Soon enough, stars like Johnny Carson, Elizabeth Taylor, John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and the Rat Pack were all elbows-deep in fettuccine. The lore says Vega$ even named its main character, 'Dan Tanna,' after the man himself. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Could This NEW Collagen Blend Finally Reduce Your Cellulite? Vitauthority Learn More Undo What made Dan Tana's magic wasn't the fanciest menu, it was the vibe. Wooden booths, red-and-white-checkered tablecloths, and green neon glows, it felt like the L.A. you didn't know existed anymore. As some classics shut their doors in the city, Dan Tana's held on, staying just the same. Patrons could vanish for years and come back, and the same bartender would remember their favorite drink. On August 16, 2025, the restaurant posted a simple, heartfelt tribute: 'The great Dan Tana has passed on. We all know that he created a very magical place. Our beloved little yellow house will forever feel his presence. 'Dan started out working for La Scala and The Villa Capri in the 1950s. It was working for those classic eateries that encouraged him to open his own! And he did just that. He was always proud of where he came from and what he accomplished, a former soccer star from Yugoslavia." 'Dan had wonderful stories about Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio, James Dean, Frank Sinatra, and Sammy Davis. In fact Robert Urich's character was named after Dan Tana on the classic TV show, 'Vega$.' 'Today Dan Tana's is owned by his dear friend Sonja Perencevic who's kept it exactly the same since 1964. 'This man is a legend, and as you know a legend never dies.' Dan Tana's journey, soccer, acting, and then creating a home for stars, reads like a good screenplay. But the real screen magic happened in that dining room, where storytelling happened one table at a time.
Los Angeles Times
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Dan Tana, founder of eponymous L.A. restaurant known for celebrity clientele, dead at 90
Dan Tana, the restaurateur whose eponymous Santa Monica Boulevard eatery has for decades been a Hollywood hotspot — one with dishes named for celebrities who are liable to be there on any given night — died in Belgrade, Serbia, on Saturday. He was 90. Tana, born Dobrivoje Tanasijević, was a professional soccer player before opening the clubby red-sauce Italian restaurant in 1964, running it until he sold it in 2009. By then, its reputation as a favorite of A-listers had been cemented by the regular presence of devotees including Elizabeth Taylor and Kirk Douglas. The details of Tana's death were confirmed by L.A. historian Alison Martino, a friend of the restaurant's current owner, Sonja Perencevic, who purchased it from its founder. Martino, who runs the eatery's Facebook page — where a message posted Saturday announced Tana's death — said that Perencevic was close with the former proprietor and had been with him in Belgrade on Friday. Martino said she did not know the cause of death. 'Dan lived a wonderful life, and we will keep Dan Tana's in his memory forever,' Perencevic said in a statement relayed by Martino, who was at the restaurant on Saturday night. Born near Belgrade, Tana played professional soccer in Canada before immigrating to the United States, where he studied acting. He debuted in the 1957 war film 'The Enemy Below,' according to Variety. While seeking acting jobs, the trade publication reported, Tana started as a dishwasher at the Villa Capri restaurant in Hollywood, before eventually becoming the maitre d' at La Scala in Beverly Hills. That lined him up for a career in food. Before long, he was opening Dan Tana's near the eastern edge of Beverly Hills. He told the Hollywood Reporter in 2014 that he'd wanted to create an establishment where stars could dine late into the night. 'There was not a decent restaurant serving until 1 a.m. You had to go to a coffee shop,' he told the Reporter. But Dan Tana's was not an immediate hit. It eventually gained a following after actor Richard Burton, a seven-time Academy Award nominee who married Taylor the year the restaurant opened, became a regular presence. It received a jolt in the 1970s, when the Troubadour, a neighboring music venue, began booking big acts such as Elton John, drawing large crowds to the area. The restaurant, with its red-and-white-checkered tablecloths, and green neon sign, soon became a local institution. It has long been known for the discreet way it caters to the movie stars and moguls who slide across its channeled red booths. George Clooney, former Lakers owner Jerry Buss and heiress Nicky Hilton are among the eclectic bunch of notables with menu items named for them, and the routine presence of celebrities has only burnished the eatery's aura — especially among tourists hoping for a table. But guests aren't necessarily coming for four-star food. The menu eschews the sort of regional Italian cooking that has for years been a staple of the Los Angeles dining scene. Instead, Dan Tana's offers comfort-food fare such as fettuccine Alfredo and chicken Parmesan. In 2016, Times restaurant critic Jonathan Gold penned a memorable review of Dan Tana's, relating the time he took a high school crush there on a date, only to embarrass himself: 'The waiter laughed when I tried to order wine, and then served us Sprite in wine glasses. The bill came to $20 more than I had in my wallet. She groaned and pulled out the credit card her parents had given her for emergencies.' As for the food, Gold called some of it 'ordinary,' but noted, 'Weirdly enough, I don't care,' noting the restaurant's place in L.A.'s culinary firmament. He went on to highlight dishes including the chicken parm, and instructed readers, 'Dan Tana's is not about denying yourself things.' In the years since Tana sold his restaurant and retired to Belgrade, several landmark L.A. haunts have shuttered, Greenblatt's Deli, the Original Pantry Cafe and Papa Cristo's Greek Grill & Market among them. Dan Tana's has endured, Martino said, in part because it can still deliver a charming, old-world experience. 'When ... you walk in, the world stops,' she said. 'That's what I love about it — the history and the food. The staff has been the same: you could leave L.A., come back after five years and come in and they will remember your favorite drink.' Martino sent The Times a video of an impromptu toast made in Tana's honor at the restaurant on Saturday night. Flanked by tuxedoed servers and the maître d', Martino announced the founder's death, mostly silencing the crowded dining room. 'We do not need to be sad,' Martino said. 'Mr. Tana would want us to be happy.' Guests raised their glasses. And the din of a busy restaurant soon returned.
