Opened 1957 | Completed 1957 | |
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Similar Johnie's Broiler, Johnie's Coffee Shop, Bob's Big Boy, Theme Building, Watts Towers | ||
Wich Stand was a 1950s style coffee shop and diner in Los Angeles, California featuring a tilting blue roof and 35-foot spire (11 m), designed by renowned architect Eldon Davis.
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The Wich Stand had two locations within Los Angeles. One building exists and is located on Slauson Avenue at Overhill Drive in View Park-Windsor Hills, an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County near City of Inglewood that is encircled. A critic said its "plunging dart of a sign keeps it from spinning off into space," and it is a surviving example of Googie architecture. The other was located within City of Los Angeles proper at Figueroa and Florence (as listed on menu and matchbook cover).
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys lived in the area and wrote an unreleased song called "Wich Stand". The coffee shop also inspired another Beach Boys' song, "Root Beer (Chug-a-lug)", about "Cruisin' the A," which was driving the five miles between the A & W on Hawthorne Boulevard and the Wich Stand on Slauson.
Simply Wholesome
The Slauson Ave location opened in 1957, it eventually fell upon hard times in the early-1980s and had declined and was vandalised, including a gutting of the floors and ceilings, after the restaurant closed in 1988. The following year the former diner was declared a city landmark by the Los Angeles County in 1989. It was completely refurbished and reopened as the Simply Wholesome vegan restaurant and health food store.
