Lucy's El Adobe Cafe (Los Angeles, California)

Lucy's El Adobe Cafe
5536 Melrose Avenue
Hollywood, CA. 90038
(323) 462-9421

This simple Mexican restaurant has an unusual history which is intertwined with Hollywood movie stars, rock singers and politicians.

It was here at Lucy's that Linda Ronstadt was introduced to California Governor Jerry Brown (by the restaurant's owner), leading to a lengthy and well-publicized romance between the singer and the presidential candidate. Brown is still a fan. In fact, Lucy's still proudly displays a large photo of Jerry Brown in its front window. In 1968, the late owner convinced Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey to stop by for lunch when he was visiting KCAL studios across the street.

Lucy's El Adobe was also a hangout for a number of other folk/rock singers (besides Linda), including two members of the Eagles (Don Henley & Glenn Frey) , singer Andrew Gold ("Lonely Boy"), songwriter Jimmy Webb ("Galveston" & "MacArthur Park' "), and singers J.D. Souther ("Your Only Lonely") and Jackson Browne (who went there with actress Daryl Hannah long before she started dating John Kennedy Jr.)

Lucy's took care of these aspiring performers in the days before they hit it big, and they haven't forgotten: when the Eagles authorized an album of their songs by various country artists ("Common Threads: The Songs of the Eagles"), they held their press conference here at Lucy's.

Actress Betty Thomas (who played Lucy Bates on TV's "Hill Street Blues") reports that in the early days, the owner (the late) Frank Casado would always feed her, even if she had only five cents. (She was at his side in the hospital, along with wife Lucy, when he died in 1990 at the appropriately-named Hospital of the Good Samaritan.)

Named after the owner's wife, Lucy's El Adobe is located right across the street from both the huge Paramount Studios (to the north) and the smaller Raleigh Studios (to the east), not to mention the old KHJ Studio, so it's also a favorite of the studio crowd.

John Belushi was there just weeks before his death. Orson Welles dropped by. According to the L.A. Times, other celebs who have dined at Lucy's include Kevin Costner, Los Lobos, Michael Keaton, Lily Tomlin, Warren Beatty, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Carole Kane and the late John Candy.

In the main dining room, one wall is filled with photos of even more stars who have dined at Lucy's: Bernadette Peters, Henry Winkler, Connie Chung, Winona Ryder, Lyle Lovett, Phil Collins...

Prices are reasonable: you can expect a meal for two here to cost about $35