Last night my friend, Tommy Cho, and I grabbed a couple Hites and some wings at Sheeree, a Korean joint taking up residence in the remnants of the old Brown Derby.

This got me to thinking about this icon of the L.A. scene way back in the day. So I did some research.

Apparently, the first Brown Derby was erected in 1926 by Cecil B. De Mille on the site where the 30-some-odd story Equitable building stands today. It was moved across the street in 1937, and then up to the second floor of the strip mall that replaced it in 1980.

  
  

The second location for the Brown Derby: the East side of Alexandria and Wilshire.

                                        The building to the right is the Gaylord, which still stands.

One tid-bit 'o trivia. The Cobb Salad was invented by Bob Cobb, one of the Derby developers.

Incidentally, as far as the "Gaylord" is concerned, it is featured in the Paula L. Woods novel: Dirty Laundry. Here is an excerpt (sounds like sweet L.A. noir to me):

Wallace lived about four miles west of downtown in an old building called The Gaylord. Nestled in the middle of the Mid-Wilshire business district, The Gaylord would have been called swanky back in its day, which from the look of the building was probably during the Coolidge Administration. Now, just echoes of its former glory remained-the high plaster ceiling, cracked terrazzo floor tiles, and display cases of yellowed memorabilia near the elevators.