Change is on the menu for Clifton’s Cafeteria



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Some family businesses pass the torch among generations. At Clifton’s Cafeteria, the family hands over the tray.

That tray carries a long legacy. Clifton’s is the last of a chain of themed restaurants founded in the 1930s. During the Great Depression, the cafeteria was both affordable and an escape.

Outside, Clifton’s blends into the surrounding Jewelry District. Inside, it is a whimsical forest wonderland where diners chow down on turkey dinners and Jell-O by an indoor river. Life-sized fake redwood trees and a wall-sized mural line the room.

The kitsch does not seem like a natural fit for Clifton’s new owner. Developer Andrew Meieran is best known for creating trendier venues like downtown’s The Edison.

But the moment he walked into Clifton’s, he fell in love.

“The first thought was, ‘I can’t believe somebody did this,'” Meieran said of his initial visit. “They actually went ahead and did it. I was absolutely in love with the fact that there are people out there who spent their time. They found the artisans, and they’re still doing it. And that it’s still here and survived.”

Meieran has big plans for the cafeteria. He wants to add a lounge on its unused second floor, re-open its bakery and keep the bakery open every hour of every day. To do this, Meieran will hire 100 new staff, many of them through a partnership with a job training program at the Midnight Mission; the Midnight Mission’s main purpose is to help get the homeless off of Skid Row.

That all sounds good to Donald Clinton and his son Robert, the former owners of the cafeteria. They are staying on as landlords on a 40-year lease, but they do not intend to interfere.

“We’ve seen his plans, we’ve listened to him,” Robert Clinton said. “We’re as excited as he is about it. And so when we do come here to the cafeteria, we will be visitors.”

“But we’ll also be eating,” Donald Clinton added.

Louis Hernandez will also still be eating at the cafeteria. He has been a regular since 1956, but he is excited to see the changes.

“When I met my first wife, this is where I brought her to eat as a special treat,” he said. “This was a fantastic, elegant restaurant, and I wish that it would be restored to that level again. I love this place.”