Clifton's To Retain Current Staff, Add 100 More Jobs for Former Homeless
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Clifton's Cafeteria may be changing hands, but new owner Andrew Meieran intends to keep the historic eatery's current staff of 65 in place while adding 100 new jobs and partnering with the Midnight Mission on a program to place formerly homeless workers.
Meieran will join Councilman Jose Huizar and long-time cafeteria owner Robert Clinton at a press conference on Tuesday morning to announce more details about his plans for the restaurant, which opened in 1935 and was once part of a chain of Clifton's throughout Los Angeles.
According to a release sent out on Monday afternoon, cafeteria-style serving will stay on the Clifton's ground floor, with a sit-down restaurant and bar being added upstairs. Interior and exterior renovation projects will also be announced on Tuesday.
The press event begins at 9am at Clifton's Cafeteria, 648 S. Broadway.
Guest on September 20, 2010, at 07:46PM – #1
Wow, that's amazing news! I really adore these mixed use projects. They feel so very modern and idyllic for this city.
Ginny Brideau (@ginnycase) on September 20, 2010, at 07:52PM – #2
Likey likey!
Guest on September 20, 2010, at 09:01PM – #3
Absolutely flabbergasting that previous owners of not just the Clifton's building but the one directly next to it actually wasted both their time and money back in the 1960s by stripping the original facades and replacing them with the junk that now covers them today.
Horrible decision making is like a gift that keeps on giving.
Guest on September 20, 2010, at 10:14PM – #4
Ginny says, "Likey likey!"
Don't you mean, "Unlikely, unlikely"? As a long-time observer of the human condition, I bet they'll turn the joint into a hipster scene after faking a good-faith effort to keep the cafeteria going. So long, Clifton's -- been good to know ya'.
Guest on September 20, 2010, at 10:26PM – #5
Betcha Andrew Meieran doesn't let the Midnight Mission folks anywhere near his hipster speakeasy and tiki bars. We can expect Hollywood male mixologists and skinny young women tottering about in spike heels for those jobs.
Alas, goodbye Cliftons.
Hala Pickford (@misspickford) on September 20, 2010, at 10:30PM – #6
Guest #4: Every blog post I've read says 'I love the place...but the food is terrible'. Out of like 100 comments I've seen 2 say they like the food. Hipsters or not sprucing up this place a little could not hurt. I could see myself spending lots of money and time there if things became edible beyond pie.
And whats with the hipster hate? Melrose Avenue Hipsters: poser douches. But downtown hipsters: they have heart. Give them some credit. While talking about a whole group will always be troublesome, I think most people mean well and love the history of the place. Why does everyone bitch when 'hipster' when someone wants to clean something up? What if 50 Cent walked in and did the same thing...they'd just bitch 'rich famous people' over hipsters...or worse call race into play.
I don't think hipster is even the proper term for the Downtown scene, but these young types want to make the place socially relevant while maintaining the history and the culture and scrubbing away the drugs, grime, cheapness (as in cheapy useless little Mexico stores, not raise prices), and dust. Once the renovation is complete there will be some upstanding coot ready to complain about the 'good ol days'...but I bet dollars to donuts it will thrive and do well with young and old.
Guest on September 20, 2010, at 10:59PM – #7
You guys use hipster as a catch-all, it has no meaning anymore.
Downtown is slowly changing, this is a fact. The next round of pioneers is coming so enjoy our current state while it lasts.
Guest on September 20, 2010, at 11:11PM – #8
There will be plenty of grime and grit left on Broadway for many years to come. One place open past 6 pm, on the most beautiful street in Los Angeles, is not the end of the world. The potential has been squandered for decades. Cheers to the revitalization of Broadway.
Guest on September 21, 2010, at 12:43AM – #9
"as in cheapy useless little Mexico stores"
--
wow...@misspickford
so sophisticated you are; glad to know you're an arbiter of the new downtown
Hala Pickford (@misspickford) on September 21, 2010, at 01:28AM – #10
Guest #9: Do you shop in those stores? Does anyone? Everything is dirty and cheap, makes Wal Mart look classy. I say Mexico because that is honestly where a majority of those retailers hail from (obviously not all.) I've shopped in Japanese beauty stores, Indian retail stores, and Hispanic retail stores...but they were all clean and had good merchandise that I wanted for a reasonable price.
So my opinion is not valid because I think the current regime of waving penny bracelets in my face and shouting at me in Spanish on the sidewalk is...not really desirable? Make em white make em English make em Asian make em whatever, its obnoxious and low class.
I'd rather see something like Old Town Pasadena or the Promenade...and I am not ashamed of it. Go ahead, stamp the hipster and the racist stamp on my forehead, I'll take it if it means a clean functioning downtown.
ed rosenthal on September 21, 2010, at 04:20AM – #11
I'm really proud to have been the broker on this deal and it exemplifies what's great about the area. Broadway is like a pariah to most real estate people but its really the historic heart of the city and finally getting the attention it deserves. To say there's a slumlord mentality there is almost a complement to a lot of the landlords. But with fifteen apartment or condo projects opening or already open on Broadway change is in the air. Clifton's under Meieran's leadership will be able to move forward without abandoning the historic legacy of the Cafeteria. Meieran's expressed committment to job creation and existing staff is almost startling for its goodness. Poetbroker
Pamela Rouse (@) on September 21, 2010, at 06:19AM – #12
If they stop salting the food so much that might help a lot! I really can't eat the food as it's way too salty,(yet flavorless, if that's possible).
However, I'm looking forward to seeing how the renovations go, and if they can put some folks to work on the project even better! I heart tiki! would be great if they can bring some of that Pacific Isles back.
DawnC on September 21, 2010, at 10:11AM – #13
So guest #4, you'd rather see the place eventually shuttered with no jobs at all or maybe just turned into a Hooters? I think the idea of working with the Midnight Mission is pretty innovative. It's easy to throw out hypothetical criticisms but this investor is putting his money where his mouth is and you're just sailing by with anonymous troll posts. Maybe instead you can get one of these investors to build you a time machine so you can just keep reliving the same thing over and over again. What exactly are you doing for the Downtown population other than complaining?
Though I kinda want to agree with what some of Hala is saying I really don't want Broadway to end up like the street of chain mall stores in Old Town Pasadena or even Soho for that matter. I've been to both recently and both places are a big old repetitive yawn. You can just as easily shop for all that crap online. I'd much prefer something like Park Slope or Abbot Kinney in Venice. I'd also like to see some of those little shops stick around, we just need a better mix of things and we need the landlords (not the renters) to clean up the facades with the money from the huge rents they collect.
Can someone please define the word "hipster" for me? If I'm pushing 40 can I still qualify? What if I used to go see indie bands like Beck and Elliot Smith in Silverlake at Spaceland back in the 90's? Can I get grandfathered in with that street cred history? I probably need a more lopsided hair cut, I'll work on that.
What I don't care for are Sunset Strip-sters or Armani Exchange-sters but we need the damn business down here so let's take what we can get and stop all the whining.
Guest on September 21, 2010, at 10:14AM – #14
Pamela Rouse, if you want tiki then why don't you walk over to Point Moorea? How much downtown tiki do you need?
Guest on September 21, 2010, at 10:24AM – #15
Tossing out the term "hipsters" at everything new or different is now officially idiotic.
Everyone knows Cliftons has been in serious trouble for years. The current owner doesn't have the means to move forward, and his business vision has run out. The food sucks and is expensive, even the bakery only has a few hits. With the exception of a few private events, the third floor "presidents room" is empty most of the time. When faced with a rebirth vs. an assured closure - yes even in the face of your darling whipping post "hipsters" which as pointed out before on this blog has come to mean anyone under 30 (or 40) - I'm happily rooting for Meieran's plan to work. Good luck and thank you.
Guest on September 21, 2010, at 10:53AM – #16
"The food......is expensive"
Are you serious, guest #15? Just a bit over $6 for the turkey is expensive? A double layer cake for $12 is costly?
The food isn't gourmet, I'll grant that. But expensive? C'mon now.
Just wait until Andrew Meieran puts his price on things. Then you'll see expensive!
Guest on September 21, 2010, at 11:31AM – #17
@#16: Guest 15 here. Turkey leg, mashed potatoes, drink was $15. Maybe expensive was the wrong term to use. Maybe I should have said "not cheap like everyone claims."
Fine, you're right. The food sucks and is not cheap like everyone claims.
Maxx Gillman on September 21, 2010, at 11:41AM – #18
what i wouldn't do for that ugly cheese grating in front to come down. This is exciting.
Guest on September 21, 2010, at 12:12PM – #19
Channeling Huell Howser! Huell where are you? He did an episode and then a follow-up episode on Cliftons. When I talk to adults who were kids in LA - they talk about Cliftons in one form or another. My parents took us here, I used to ride the bus to go to Cliftons, etc. LA Conservancy, Bringing Back Broadway or Historians can value a slice of LA/Americana culture. Maybe "hipsters" only focus on the here and now.
David Klappholz on September 21, 2010, at 12:32PM – #20
Possibly good news about Clifton's. See http://www.ladowntownnews.com/articles/2010/09/21/news/doc4c98ff7033ae1243381944.txt for a report on this morning's news conference.
Pamela Rouse (@) on September 21, 2010, at 03:14PM – #21
$15 for mediocre to bad food is not a good deal. period. Especially these days when people are more careful about where they spend their money.
and yes I LOVE Tiki.. so having 3 places (assuming they were done right) is fine by me. I haven't been to Point Morea yet. I don't get to 7th & Fig (or LA Live all that often for that matter). Trader Vic's is great though.. although I prefer their Emeryville location. shrug
As I said, I'm looking forward to the renovations, if they can keep enough of the kitsch and clean it up some it'll be fantastic! I'm all for the facade coming down!
PrimalScream (@BleuJeen) on September 21, 2010, at 03:34PM – #22
@MissPickford - I'd stamp you as a presumptuous, nearsighted ethnocentrist. Maybe Pasadena and Santa Monica are exactly where you need to be living?
Guest on September 21, 2010, at 04:14PM – #23
"and yes I LOVE Tiki"
I suggest that any woman who needs three (3!) tiki bars in a small area either has a tiki fetish or a tropical drink addiction. Which one is it, Pamela Rouse?
And since when has a meal at Clifton's cost $15? I've eaten there a million times and even without my senior discount the meal has never come close to $15---and that includes with salad and dessert!
LOL!
Jenji Tea (@EsaVicha) on September 21, 2010, at 05:54PM – #24
i freaking love Clifton's, used to go there a lot with my grandma when i was a kid :-) so glad its staying and being renovated! not to mention the new job opportunities...amazing work :)
Hala Pickford (@misspickford) on September 21, 2010, at 11:10PM – #25
@PrimalScream: I'm egocentric because I want to see the historic core functional? Considering I have no investments there that is a hell of an odd statement. While there are annoying egos in such places, there are well meaning people in Pasadena and Santa Monica who have worked hard at building preservation. I'll take that compliment.
@Pamela I don't want to see full chains; but I wrote a full book on this in the retail article comment section...decided not to be a broken record here. In short: I feel a mix is needed.
@Ed Amen.
Allison C on September 22, 2010, at 02:05PM – #26
As someone who has some of the best memories of going to Cliftons as a child and teenager with my family, it was one of the biggest disappointment to go there for dinner after moving down here. I recall the food being bland, but not this bland. However, I still go there and would be sad to see it leave.
This lease is a way to keep a part of LA's history alive while continuing to grow and expand downtown. Most of us live in converted lofts, old buildings, new uses. Isn't that kind of the same what they're doing here? Old business and adding a new business on top of it.
Guest on September 23, 2010, at 02:51PM – #27
Hey downtowners, enjoy it while it lasts. In 10 years, Broadway will be like the Third Street Promenade, so get ready. The same people who made that, are working on Broadway. Personally, i think its a good thing.
Ted Editor http://www.travel4seniors.com and http://www.travel4people.com
Guest on September 23, 2010, at 03:29PM – #28
Tiki?
Really?
Glenn Primm on September 23, 2010, at 11:31PM – #29
A complete roast beef dinner (one of their most expensive items) is under $10 and you're stuffed. Most times I eat for $7 - $8, not including dessert. Is the food bland? Oftentimes, although Meieran claims that'll improve, but folks, IT'S A CAFETERIA, not the Pacific Dining Car. Get a grip. Anyway, the scenery alone is worth the price of a meal.
So, new jobs for 100 people, while retaining the old staff in this economy? Kudos to all concerned.
As for the tiki lounge, I'll be there in my Panama hat, sitting at the end of the bar. Ummm, umbrellas.
Guest on October 03, 2010, at 07:04PM – #30
"Hala Pickford" stirs up drama in every forum and discussion she gets involved with. She hides behind false aliases and spreads illegal libel and slander in every direction. Her name isn't even Hala Pickford. For more information on her antics and fraud, check out:
http://exposekatielynnbirchard.blogspot.com/