1920s: NEW BEGINNINGS
My Dad and Mom opened in a storefront at 1106 Western Avenue. They had five wooden booths against the left wall when you entered and a counter on the right that seated maybe a dozen guests. In the back was a hot plate gas stove that they use to heat the tortillas and melt the cheese enchiladas by placing them directly underneath.
My grandfather who owned the first El Cholo at Moneta and Santa Barbara (now Broadway and MLK Blvd.) would send all of his guests over to help his daughter’s new restaurant and he almost went out of business.
The famous Hollywood Star Gary Cooper always wanted strawberry jam on his flour tortillas so he would call ahead and many times my Dad had to run to the market to get some. Gary Cooper would then arrive in his yellow Duesenberg roadster.
Ed and Nellie’s drugstore occupied the store next door and was also on the corner of 11th and Western. Had a soda fountain and comic book section bedsides the pharmacy. They were very good friends with my parents.
My grandfather who owned the first El Cholo at Moneta and Santa Barbara (now Broadway and MLK Blvd.) would send all of his guests over to help his daughter’s new restaurant and he almost went out of business.
The famous Hollywood Star Gary Cooper always wanted strawberry jam on his flour tortillas so he would call ahead and many times my Dad had to run to the market to get some. Gary Cooper would then arrive in his yellow Duesenberg roadster.
Ed and Nellie’s drugstore occupied the store next door and was also on the corner of 11th and Western. Had a soda fountain and comic book section bedsides the pharmacy. They were very good friends with my parents.