Back To The Future Series #4: Valley Ho Restaurant 8126 Van Nuys Blvd Van Nuys
I received a really cool postcard the other day for the Valley Ho Restaurant in Van Nuys. Has anyone eaten there before or knew of its existence? I couldnt find anything about it in my research. I thought this was from another state but it specifically states Van Nuys, CA.
Back To The Future Series #4: Valley Ho Restaurant 8126 Van Nuys Blvd Van Nuys
Based on the postcard, they offered a deal for a mixed green salad, one-half fried chicken, french fried potatoes, hot roll, and coffee, tea, or milk for $1.70 good thru September 1960. So at least we know the date the postcard was published. One other cool revealing thing in this postcard is the Googie style used for the sign which we discussed before in the other Back To The Future Series. They dont make signs like that anymore.
Just out of curiosity, I compared the price of the meal to today. $1.70 is equivalent to $12.83 in today's dollars. You can probably get the same meal today at a Denny's but I dont think it includes a salad, roll and drink. So, when people say, the dollar has lost its value over time, this is a good example. 
So my favorite part of the series is comparing to today. I typed the address in google maps and came up with the BuyRite Wholesale in between Roscoe Blvd and Lanark St. Dont know if this is correct or accurate but it seems like the restaurant got demolished to make way for a new building. I dont know when but I am wondering if its somehow related to the demise of the GM plant in the late 80's which was down the street.
Can anyone provide any input on this long gone restaurant?
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Marty Mcfly
Anything and everything about the San Fernando Valley. This blog will take you back in time when the valley was covered with dirt and orange groves to a leader in the space race to its current status as America's suburb. Come along and join me on this adventure, I guarantee you have been influenced/impacted by the San Fernando Valley in one form or another even if you have never visited or heard of the SFV.
This is from way back. I was in Panorama City from '60-'96 and this was destroyed by the earthquake; the same one that got Panorama Towers, where my mother had worked for Insurance Company. It was down the street from Wherehouse Records, which was big in the 60's. Much better than the Mike's Pizza nearby, and the Bob's Big Boy, Denny's and other diner-like restaurants. Remember.... I'm talking pre-McDonalds, "our" first one being on Osborne at Woodman across from Sopie's which was a diner then: hamburgers 15 cents when gas was 25 cents a gallon.
ReplyDeleteYes, that would definitely be Panorama City, not Van Nuys, so I'm not sure why the postcard wasn't labeled as such.
ReplyDeleteIn the '60s and '70s, Panorama City seemed to be very full of optimism and had a kind of mid-century newness to it. In addition to the big department stores on the west side of the street (long before there was a formal "mall" - just some large stores like Broadway, Robinsons, and Montgomery Ward), there was also the Americana Cinemas, the first multi-screen theatre I can recall. They had something like 4 separate theatres, which eventually expanded to 6.
Also on that same side of the street was a funky Chinese restaurant that my folks took me to once. The whole interior had waterfalls and little rivers running around it; very entertaining for an 8 year old having to sit still in a "grown up" restaurant.
The other interesting building in Panorama City was a Hughes market just north of the department stores. My mother used to always remark that one day she was there and Bob Hope was filming a scene from one of his movies, and they had part of it blocked off. Hughes closed years ago, and I can't even remember if the building still stands, but it was one of those crisp, clean, airy designs of the early '60s.
I ate at the Valley Ho many times with my parents. I grew up in Panorama City, and it was indeed (to paraphrase the above post) full of mid-century optimism and newness through the 50s and 60s, even into the 70s. The Chinese restaurant next to the Americana Theater was Phil Ahn's Moongate. He was actually Korean, a film actor, and the unofficial Official Mayor of Panorama City. I remember when the American was built, the first movie theater to give the late great Panorama Theater competition. It was a single-screen theater before being divided up on the 70s. And there was Kiddie Land across the street...
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