Good morning. It’s Friday, May 8. Expect clouds to give way to warm, sunny afternoons today and all weekend, with Mother’s Day touching the eighties east of the 405.
In today’s newsletter, we have the opening of a subway line 65 years in the making, potentially even higher gas prices, and some things to do this Mother’s Day weekend. But first: a new chapter in the history of one of L.A.’s most famous diners.
By L.A.’s new subway, a Wilshire icon with a family history reopens its doors.
Workers prepare Johnie’s Coffee Shop on Wilshire Blvd for reopening. (Hayes Davenport / L.A. Material)
It fed The Big Lebowski and Reservoir Dogs. It was where Anthony Edwards found out that the world was ending in Miracle Mile. And it was barely spared after the eruption of Mount Wilshire in Volcano.
Johnie’s Coffee Shop, the striking Googie-style diner on the corner of Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave, has been many things on camera. But one role it has not played for the last 26 years is that of an actual coffee shop. The restaurant closed in 2000, and the building has only rarely been open to the public since — its iconic neon sign has been off for years, too.
That changes today. Johnie’s is throwing the lights on and its doors open at 3 p.m. for an art show and celebration commemorating the opening of the D Line subway.
You’ve reached your free article limit this month.
Upgrade now to gain unlimited access to L.A. Material’s reporting. Your support helps us keep really good, really independent journalism alive in Los Angeles.
Upgrade now
