Chasen's

Chasen's was a restaurant frequented by entertainers in West Hollywood, California. Located at 9039 Beverly Boulevard near Beverly Hills, it first opened for business in 1936 and was the site for many years of the Academy Awards party. It was also famous for its chili. In 1962 while filming in Rome, for example, Liz Taylor had several orders of Chasen’s chili flown to the set of Cleopatra.

Many of the restaurant's regular customers had booths named in their honor. The Ronald Reagan booth, now on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, was where Reagan proposed to Nancy Reagan (neė Davis). Other well-known entertainers with their own booths included Frank Sinatra, Alfred Hitchcock, James Stewart, and Groucho Marx. After suffering a steep decline in business over the course of many years, Chasen's closed permanently in 1995.

History

Comedian Dave Chasen, Joe Cook's performing partner, opened the restaurant in December 1936 at the advice of his former director, Frank Capra.
It was initially called "Chasen's Southern Pit". The New Yorker's editor, Harold Ross, along with business associate Daniel Silberberg, grubstaked the operation.
It was nothing more than a shack, but quickly became well known for its chili and was soon a favorite among Hollywood actors at the time. At first, Capra had to loan Chasen his silverware for the restaurant's operation.Walt Disney, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley Temple, Cary Grant, Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, W.C. Fields, James Cagney, Clark Gable, and F. Scott Fitzgerald were customers.