Dinah’s Family Restaurant to Vacate Iconic Westside Googie Location — Possibly Forever

A plan to demolish the commercial buildings surrounding Dinah’s Family Restaurant at 6521 South Sepulveda Boulevard moved forward in late September with Los Angeles City Council support. The restaurant and some of its signage will be preserved and renovated, given its iconic Googie architecture, which dates back to 1957, but the rest of the site fronting Sepulveda Boulevard will be cleared to allow for the development of an eight-story, 362-unit multi-family residential building (41 set aside as affordable). The entire project spans nearly 365,000 square feet.

While the restaurant’s pylon sign nearest to the building at the northeast corner along Sepulveda Boulevard would be retained in place, the bucket sign near the northwest end of the building will be relocated and incorporated into the new project in a different location. The pole sign at the corner of Arizona and Centinela avenues will be removed and either stored or donated to a local sign museum.

The 65-year-old legacy business has every intention to continue operating as usual through the construction. “We’re dedicated to staying open and remaining that way through it all,” writes a representative from Dinah’s to Eater. “And we will continue to operate till [sic] the city has to come and shut us down.” Further, Dinah’s says it will “absolutely” be occupying the building after construction’s end. LA Conservancy reports, however, that the proposal calls for the business to vacate the site during construction and that the restaurant may not return when construction concludes.

Update: October 14, 2022, 9:39 p.m. This article was updated to include a statement from Dinah’s Family Restaurant.

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