Long before the Apollo Room received its contemporary makeover, the Odyssey Restaurant welcomed weddings, dinner dances, fashion shows and large banquets beneath enormous gold chandeliers overlooking the San Fernando Valley.
This vintage postcard preserves the original appearance of the restaurant’s Apollo Ballroom. Gold tablecloths, turquoise napkins and rows of white-backed chairs filled a vast room designed to impress guests before they even reached the panoramic windows.
A Ballroom Designed for a Grand Entrance
The postcard called the Apollo Ballroom “magnificent” and advertised space for as many as 750 people. Its gold décor and sweeping view were promoted as an ideal setting for luncheons, fashion shows, dinners and dances.
The room’s scale is especially striking. Rather than relying on a single centerpiece, the design repeated dramatic chandeliers across the ceiling, turning the entire ballroom into a glittering special-event setting. Bright linens and folded napkins added bold color beneath the gold fixtures.
The Odyssey Opens Above Granada Hills
Specialty Restaurants Corporation opened the Odyssey on March 19, 1970. The company was founded by World War II bomber pilot David Tallichet and became known for destination restaurants built around dramatic settings, memorable themes and expansive views.
Perched on the hillside above Granada Hills, the Odyssey followed that formula perfectly. Its elevated location transformed the surrounding Valley into part of the dining-room décor, while the restaurant’s banquet spaces became familiar venues for weddings, school events, business gatherings and family celebrations.
From Midwood Drive to Odyssey Drive
The postcard lists the restaurant at 15600 Midwood Drive and uses the older Mission Hills location name. The property is now identified as 15600 Odyssey Drive, Granada Hills—an address that reflects how closely the hilltop site became associated with the restaurant itself.
The postcard’s seven-digit telephone number, 361-8624, also places it firmly in an earlier era of Valley advertising, when local businesses commonly printed numbers without the modern area-code format.
The Apollo Room Today
The Apollo Room remains one of the Odyssey’s principal event spaces, but its appearance has changed considerably. The oversized vintage gold fixtures have been replaced by lighter contemporary chandeliers, and the bright table linens have given way to a more restrained palette of gray, cream and black.
The defining feature, however, survives: broad floor-to-ceiling windows continue to open the room toward panoramic views of the San Fernando Valley. The current venue advertises seating for as many as 600 guests, slightly below the capacity printed on the vintage postcard.
- The long, open ballroom configuration
- Multiple chandeliers spanning the ceiling
- Large round banquet tables
- Floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Valley
- Continued use as a major wedding and special-event venue
Odyssey Advertisements Through the Years
Newspaper advertising offers another look at how the Odyssey marketed itself across different eras. The restaurant regularly promoted special dinners, holiday events and large celebrations, reinforcing its reputation as a destination for memorable occasions.
A San Fernando Valley Special-Occasion Landmark
For generations of Valley residents, the Odyssey has been less an everyday restaurant than a destination reserved for milestone events. A 1992 Los Angeles Times review described it as a vast special-occasion restaurant known for weddings, lodge banquets and large buffet brunches.
The postcard captures that identity near the beginning: a hilltop restaurant selling not only meals, but spectacle. The chandeliers, coordinated table settings and nighttime windows presented the Apollo Ballroom as a place where an ordinary dinner could become an occasion.
More than half a century later, the décor has been reinvented, but the basic promise remains much the same—celebrations framed by one of the San Fernando Valley’s most recognizable views.
Sources: Vintage Odyssey Restaurant postcard; supplied Los Angeles Times newspaper clippings; Specialty Restaurants Corporation history; Odyssey Restaurant Apollo Room; and Los Angeles Times, March 27, 1992.
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