Charles’ 
Slide of the Week: January 12th, 2007
International House Of Pancakes, Southern California, 1965
The parking lot is full. A silver metallic 1963 Chevrolet Impala is either coming or going. American monster cars surround a lonely little foreign car parked backwards next to of the two front doors. Compared to the others the foreign car is a toy. The Impala is the Honda Civic of its day.
The big maple-toned sign is piece of early American furniture waiting to happen. A delivery truck must’ve hit the little, hanging two-toned sandwich/steak sign that hangs crooked below it.
Stylistically the super-sized a-frame structure is Swiss Miss Modern. Or in Southern California terms: Wienerschnitzel meets Ranch House. It has the a-frame of the hot dog drive-thrus and used brick chimney, diamond pane windows and the colorized version of a wood shake roof of a typical tract home. The spectacular orange-white-turquoise color scheme is borrowed from on the grand daddy of the coffee shops, Howard Johnson’s. The a-frame buildings were cloned until 1979 when the last one in that style was built. Scale-wise they are monumental compared with other coffee shops of the day which are generally sleeker and far more space age.
The interior is maple to the max! Beneath the soaring beeamed celing is an early american wonderland of vinyl booths and maple-toned tables and chairs. Each tabletop has its own pot of hot coffee and and eight artificially flavored and colored syrups perfect for drowning your culturally-themed panckaes.
The world got a little smaller in 1958 when the first International House of Pancakes opened in Los Angeles. It is a
coffee shop with a gimmick –glorifying pancakes into an around-the-world-taste treat sensation by ever-so-slightly altering the recipe. Top a short stack with Lingonberries and there Swedish; pineapple and they’re Hawaiian; add some shredded potoatoes and there German. Lighten up the batter and voila there French! Who knew panckaes were so worldly?
Here’s to Swiss Miss Modern, pancakes and YOU!
Charles Phoenix
Los Angeles
January 2007
32 Comments on “International House Of Pancakes, Southern California, 1965”
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January 12th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Hey Charles:
Is the the IHOP that is in Inglewood on Manchester Blvd? If it is, it’s still smokin’…..
January 12th, 2007 at 5:14 pm
Pancakes as an artform! This looks like the IHOP on Beach Blvd. in Buena Park, right down to the hanging sign. Years and years ago my aunt and I would eat Denver omelets there. They are still on the menu!
January 12th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
The IHOP photo reminded me of Santa Claus Village, which Charles most SURELY remembers…
January 12th, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Hi Charles: your slide always perks up my Friday…and I recognize this one! It is the IHOP in Glendale, CA, now off of the 134 Glendale Blvd. exit. And my mother was driving a mint green Impala in 1963. This is an early 60’s outdoor mall that has a very groovy Swain’s art supply store, Thrifty, and supermarket. Swain’s and Thrifty are still there but the other shops have changed a million times. The best hardware store in the world, Virgil’s is right across the street.
IHOP’s swedish pancakes with lemon butter rule! And they are made from a special egg batter, not buttermilk batter. They are thin and delicious!
Thanks for making me crave those pancakes!
Lindee
January 12th, 2007 at 6:19 pm
Notice the parked Chrysler/Desoto with the windows rolled down. We didn’t lock up anything until Richard Speck killed the eight student nurses.
January 12th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
I have driven by that building thousands of times and am trying to remember if it was in Anaheim or Fullerton. The current restaurants are still busy even though they no longer have the Swiss Ranch buildings!
January 12th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
This brings me back to wonderful memories of my childhood. My parents always let me get the big, chocolate sundae for dinner. I’d never let my kids get away with that!
January 12th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
I’m sorry, but the person who wrote this piece needs to learn a whole lot more about “grammer”. This was so poorly written it distracted me to the point of totally missing the humor. May I suggest that someone do a quality check on this person’s writting?
January 12th, 2007 at 8:47 pm
Hello Charles: I looked at this I-Hop and felt
as if I’ve been in it; it sure looks like the one on Crenshaw Blvd two, maybe three blocks North of El Camino College in Torrance. I say that because of the angle from which the photo was taken and the viewable area of the parking lot(s). But who knows(?) so many I-Hop’s were built with this style architecture and similar parking configurations well, it could be many of them but, many of us have stopped to have a warm meal in one of these icons haven’t we?
January 13th, 2007 at 12:53 am
This immediately transports me back to Sunday mornings after church, circa 1968. Ahhh, the taste of blueberry syrup, poured directly from the pitcher on the table. And I could control the amount of sticky sweetness on my chocolate chip happy face pancakes with my thumb! Blueberry syrup and chocolate chips - who could ask for anything more?
January 13th, 2007 at 9:22 am
That photo reminds me so much of the IHOP in Hermosa Beach where my parents went about twice a week…How many times did I have the “Rootie Toootie Fresh and Frutie” meal? Good Eating! We continued going there until my parents passed on. I have not been beack, but thank you so much for the lovely reminder!
January 13th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Charles, your quips of “early american wonderland” and “maple-toned tables and chairs” made my heart soar. Only we had the real itchy fabric in rust and pea green–although you weren’t allowed to sit on them anyway…
UNSOLISITED PLUG: I urge anyone who has not taken the Downtown Disneyland Bus Tour by Charles to do so NOW!
January 13th, 2007 at 4:29 pm
Hi Charles,
Take me Away! Memories flooded back to going to this
exact replica IHOP in San Diego on University Ave.in the
Hillcrest area north of downtown S.D. It is long gone
now, replaced by a video store and other fast food outlets. I can practically smell the place, and see
in my mind’s eye the paneling and the counter, &
taste the so sweet syrups.
My Dad had a ‘65 green and white Impala which he traded in
for a ‘67 Camaro which I passed my driver’s license
test in, that car could haul! Where are they now…sigh…
January 13th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Dear Charles, Just watched your tour of downtown LA on youtube. I always wanted to go on your tour but live too far away to be there
when you do the tour. I loved it - first chance I’ve gotten in 30 years to see old LA.
As for the picture of IHOP - just seeing it makes be happy. I remember going to the IHOP that was opposite the old May Company on Wilshire and Fairfax. Every Saturday my dad and
I went for breakfast there. We loved the pot of
coffee (such luxury - a whole pot!). At the time it tasted like the best coffee in the world. My favorite selection was “pigs in a blanket” (sausage rolled up in a pancake).
Do they even name dishes so wonderfully anymore? Going to IHOP was such a great way to start the weekend - good memories. Thanks for
the photo!
January 13th, 2007 at 7:11 pm
The whole notion of anything international in the food line was a little bit daring (who would dare to mess with Mom’s hotcake formula, much less add a foreign flair?) and sophisticated. I definitely thought of a visit to Costa Mesa’s 17th street IHOP (still standing, details intact) as an upscale outing in 1964. For sure, abelskivvers were a novel experience.
January 15th, 2007 at 9:27 am
Could it be that every IHOP built in that era was exactly the same because I SWEAR that’s the one in PANORAMA CITY tucked in behind the Robinson’s (no longer there) that my mother worked in for 35 years. I know it well. It’s probably still there although I’m not sure since I haven’t been there in a long long time.
January 15th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Charles,
What a great picture. Reminds me of the IHOP on Santa Monica just where Hollywood meets West Hollywood. When in L.A. I often stop in that IHOP before a meeting that I have at Warner Bros. studio, “The Lot.” “The Lot” has a commissary but their “Continental Cuisine” does not offer the nostalgia I need and they discarded their vinyl covered booths shortly after the Ten Commandments was in the can.
Of course both you and I are big old car fans and that parking lot is great. The car I like in the slide is the 64 Buick Special with just it’s hood and fender coming into view from the right.
The Special, with only it’s three portholes, was the entry level Buick but still represented a good step up from more banal, family oriented Oldsmobiles. But alas, the more stately Electra 225s and Wildcats, with their four portholes, were probably parked outside the Beverly Hilton where patrons were served eggs benedict and steamship round as opposed to pigs-in-a-blankets or juevos rancheros.
For me, it is hard to beat those strawberry pancakes with the ice cream scoops of whipped butter just waiting to fund some cardiologist’s mid-life crisis of a flame-red Porsche – of which will never be seen in an IHOP parking lot.
Cheers to all,
Bob Brooks, Esq.
(not a lawyer, just always wanted to live like the men in the pages Esquire magazine)
January 16th, 2007 at 5:56 am
Long live IHOP! I remember going to one in Albany, New York in 1986 and most recently went to one in while I was in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Lots of interesting commments.
January 16th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Dear Charles;
They are all wrong! It must be the IHOP at the corner of Ventura Blvd. and Haskell Ave. in the San Fernando Valley town of Encino. I have great memories, as my girl friends and I would save up our babysitting money and head there on a Saturday afternoon to share a Chefs salad and patty melt (tons of ketchup)for are all girl gab fest.
I was shocked to drive by just the other day to find they had painted the famous blue roof a weird shade of Burgandy, yech! I guess everything must evolve.
Thanks for the memory!
Cathy R.
January 17th, 2007 at 11:40 am
I thought it might have been the IHOP on Holt Avenue in Pomona.
January 18th, 2007 at 11:32 am
I still dine at the IHOP near my house in San Fernando. I love the fact I can have 5 different kinds of syrup. Heck I think that’s how Tom/Katie decided the name of thier baby. Charles keep up the great work. We love ya.
January 19th, 2007 at 1:06 am
Nope, it’s the IHOP down by where the old AKRON store used to be in Culver City.
RIP Jerry
January 19th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Charles, dear, the 1963 Impala was definitely NOT the Civic of its day; it was Chevy’s top-of-the-line so would compare to the Accord. I know because I was there. There is still an IHOP A-Frame on east Thomas Road in Phoenix, but now is a Mexican Food restaurant.
January 31st, 2007 at 3:38 pm
I BELIEVE THET IS THE I-HOP ON HOLT BLVD IN POMONA,CA. LOOKS JUST LIKE IT. IT WAS ACROSS THE STREET FROM VAN DE CAMPS. HEY DO YOU HAVE ANY SLIDES OF THE HELMS BAKERY TRUCKS? GOD THOSE WERE THE BEST MEMORIES OF MY CHILDHOOD.
February 1st, 2007 at 11:56 pm
I’m going to second the vote for Glendale, next to Swain’s and across from Virgil’s. It’s still there, and it still looks the same.
February 25th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Charles:
Thanks for name-checking Howard Johnson’s. I know they did have a presence here on the west coast, but nothing like the northeast. Memories of their Tuesday night All-you-can-eat fried fish special! ($2.95!) But we had to eat quick to make it home in time for Hollywood Squares! We also went to IHOP, but not nearly as often.
Keep digging through those crates.
May 25th, 2007 at 1:46 pm
No..no..Guys.. you are all wrong this IHOP is by my house I was the hostes in 1996 and i recognize this place its on 6th and Vermont.. my Daddie has been takin me there since i was a little girl… Not to mention me and my 2 best friends ran away from home one night and ended up having breakfast at 3:am It was unforgetable! We always say… Remember we walked to IHOP at 3:00 am in the morning just to have breakfast..
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:48 pm
I think it is the one in West Hollywood too! I was just there, and saw Martin Landau with his grandson! Loved meeting you at the film festival in Hollywood.
December 2nd, 2007 at 10:47 am
I see there are some different thoughts on the exact location of this IHOP. I wish I could help nail it down. I have a personal connection to IHOP and possibly this one in particular through my stepdad who spent about 40 years working in and owner/operating in stores in CA, MA, and VA! Also, his stepdad, was one of the first franchisees of IHOP and this one, if it still exists, may be one that he owns now or once did. Anyway, I love the shot and love that these slides are being saved and shared! Thanks Charles !!
March 17th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Isn’t this the one that was on Garden Grove Blvd??? I know I was there before just not sure if that was the one
August 22nd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Heh… they must’ve stamped them out of a mold and dropped them on open blacktop parking lots back in the day, because this one looks identical to the one on Atlantic Blvd. just north of the Pomona Fwy in Monterey Park.
It was razed and replaced by a Tower Records, which went out of business and is now a Walgreen’s or CVS I believe.
You would have loved the one-two architectural/coffee shop/kitsch punch back in the day, because just one block north was a Van de Kamp’s with the big windmill swirling around. It’s now a Carrows, sans windmill, but you can still see the general footprint of the old structure.
August 28th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
In that same open-air Glendale mall, I remember (along with Swains and the markets), an Orange Julius place with the best burgers, and a dime store called Grants, which was along the lines of a Woolworths. I think there was a dry-cleaners there too.