First-Ever Johnny Rockets Will Become a Burger Place Called Ronny Jockets

Los Angeles diners have been asking for years about the fate of the first-ever Johnny Rockets diner location on Melrose at Gardner. Now comes some news: The standalone space is coming back to life, if only for a few months, under the name Ronny Jockets.

That’s right, Johnny Rockets will become Ronny Jockets, a counter-service restaurant that sells a variety of burgers (including a vegan one), tots, milkshakes, and more. And the person behind the whole thing? A man named “Dale Jockets,” naturally.

Well, that’s not entirely accurate. The whole thing is actually the creation of Angeleno Richard DiLorenzo, with Tyler Gossett (Little Egret pop-up) in as chef, and Miguel Carranza of Osteria La Buca doing (non-alcoholic) drinks like floats, Italian sodas, and the like. But in the myth of the world of Ronny Jockets, this is just a hometown restaurant styled out in perfect ‘80s wattage, and complete with its own jingle and hair-teased throwback commercial — at least according to the ongoing Kickstarter campaign.

The plan is to actually brand the restaurant as a Ronny Jockets and fill it with memorabilia and merch. The pop-up restaurant will even keep regular hours, at least for several months, and hopes to go permanent on Melrose if fans like the food enough. Construction and design work is happening now, with an eye towards actually opening this month.

It’s important to note that, much like Dumb Starbucks, this is not exactly a collaborative effort between the pop-up folks and the Johnny Rockets corporation, which still has locations across the world. More on an opening date and further details as they come.

Ronny Jockets. 7507 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles, CA.

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