You remember the Disney-meets-Bavarian-fetishist schnitzelhaus known as Lowenbrau Keller? No? That’s likely because, like most Angelenos, you probably never went, and that’s why the Black Forest-themed eatery, opened by set designer George Eder in ’67, is finally shuttered. As I live right down the street, I pass by the corpse frequently and I’ve been seeing a lot of suspicious doin’s going on outside of the now defunct ‘Brau. So, worried that one of my favorite local spots might be getting the Koreatown karaoke makeover, I emailed the folks over at Eater to see what they knew.
Turns out, it’s not much more than the Downtown News already reported: the keys have been turned over to The Wanton Group. Eater was able to suss out, however, that it will reopen as “Medusa” and it’s as yet undetermined how much of the hallmark interior will remain. I can tell you from personal observation, however, that the exterior has received quite a bit of cleaning up, and the mighty lions that once flanked the driveway entrance have been moved to new cement pedestals guarding the front entrance. No telling what’s going on inside, but here’s a Flickr set of the interior that documents what it used to (and hopefully to some extent will still) look like.
NOOOOOOOOOO!
We can but hope they keep all that glorious crap inside.
Now I really wish I’d swiped one of the menus.
Farewell, Sweet Crazy Nazis.
Farewell, Sweet Crazy Nazis.
Hahahahahhahahahahahahahahaha. Oh man. I really, really wish that had been my post title.
Oh my…is that what that place was? We’ve always wondered and there has never been anyone around to tell us.
Here’s the real question – is there really any place left to get really good German food in Los Angeles?
When I want German food now, I’m go to Suppenküche in San Francisco – but that’s a bit of a drive/flight for casual dining.
The Red Lion Tavern in Echo Park is pretty good, even though parking has gotten considerably horrible over there in the past 10 years. I must admit though that the quality of clientele has drastically declined. Still yummy potato pancakes.
If they have an auction- y’all better let us know!! I want some of them steins, antlers and golden cherubs for my apartment!
The quality of food at Red Lion has really fallen off lately. Some stuff is good, but some stuff is sub-par. LA deserves better German food than that.
What’s wrong Marshall, Alpine Village isn’t good enough for you? ;)
Alpine Village is the worst. I’ve had lunch there once or twice, but the restaurant is totally lame. The grocery is cool. If I’m hungry at Alpine Village, I’d much rather be in the swap meet getting tacos at the truck than eating bland German food.
A friend of mine from Chicago was just telling me about some supposedly good German place that he endorsed. I’ll ask him and get back to you.
I was wrong. It was a Polish spot, and he said it’s only so-so.
Polska
4112 Verdugo (at York)
LA, CA 90065
323.255.7887