Jean and Mel

At the back of Canter’s, on the far left side, there is a wall of photos with stars, personalities, regular customers, family and friends. This is one of those pictures (Taken by Kev-O). That’s Jeanie with Mel Brooks.

Jeanie has worked here for 54 years.

I’ll give you a minute to comprehend that.

54 years.

(Quick interruption here: it is now 7:19 and there are 3 patrons, not including me.)

Jeanie moved here with her husband and kids from Chicago a long time back. Her parents had already moved out here and they lived on Robertson and Cadillac which she called “West LA.” She had two babies at the time and needed to work so she started at Canter’s. Her husband (who passed away 13 years ago) had been a taxi driver in Chicago but got a job as a mail man here on LA. Both her kids and grandkids live in other states now.

Jeanie says the secret to her success is that she’s very friendly. “It takes a lot to make me angry.” She’s built quite a following and loves to kibitz around with her customers. She’s become good friends with many people you may have heard of, Michael Mann and Shotgun Kelly, as a couple of for-examples.

Her birthday was last Thursday and she worked on Wednesday night, which is when Shotgun (she calls him Shotgun) usually comes in. The Canter’s family got a big cake for her and Shotgun got up, grabbed a ketchup bottle and serenaded her with a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday.

Everybody loves Jeanie. She’s famous and she says that everything she’s done, tv shows, documentaries, movies, newspaper and magazine articles, it’s all because she’s been here at Canter’s.

I hope some day I can say I’ve done something I love for 54 years.

If you want to meet Jeanie, she’ll be here until about 1pm today. We’ll be here until noon, blogging and collecting canned food and cash for the LA Foodbank.

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I’ve been here almost an hour and still can’t decide what I want to eat. I love pancakes. I love bacon. I love french toast. I love eggs. I love toast. I love biscuits. I love bagels. I love almond croissants.

What to do, what to do!

This just in: Mr. Canter has arrived!

Good Morning! Driving to Canter’s from West LA is a dream at 5:30 am on a Sunday. I counted 10 cars eastbound on the 10 from Overland to Fairfax. It was like driving in a dystopian future, but with bagels and coffee waiting for me.

Kev-O and RobNoxious are still here, picking at a bag of chocolate rugelah while the staff cleans up around us. There is one older couple having breakfast though another younger couple was just finishing up as I got here. Otherwise, it is quiet as a church. Or temple, as the case may be.

I’ve met Jeanie, the famous Jeanie, but more about her in a bit.

Kev-O and RobNoxious have made their good-byes as I’ve sat here typing. The place is “filling” up. Okay, okay, there are six people here now, not just two. More importantly, I have to decide what to eat for breakfast.

Every Saturday night for the past three weeks, Bethanne and her friend (who asked not to be named) have gone to the Butterfly Lounge in Costa Mesa, then come to Canter’s for breakfast. Then they go home and go to sleep.

“It’s kind of sleazy,” says Bethanne. “Well, not sleazy.”

This morning they have the annex dining room all to themselves. Bethanne wasn’t successful at the Butterfly, but her friend was — a guy asked her to dance and bought her a beer. Bethanne says she’s too shy. Note: Bethanne is not shy.

She volunteers the following information: She loves Canter’s, partially because she sees celebrities here, though she cannot remember their names. There was a big guy, a comedian, that she sat next to once. But this was 20 or 30 years ago and she can’t remember his name. John Candy? No. Louis Anderson? Oh, no. She’s not sure why Canter’s doesn’t advertise the celebrity connection more than the rock-and-roll connection.

“Like, there’s a poster for Guns n’ Roses,” she says.

“Who’s Guns n’ Roses?” her friend asks.

“I don’t know. Heavy metal?” Bethanne asks me.

Also: Bethanne used to work in a hospice for Japanese-Americans, and many of her co-workers were Hiroshima survivors (Bethanne is fiftyish). One aide had a husband who survived because he was in a bank vault when the bomb went off. And when he came up, she said, the city was gone. I do not ask if this man was played by Burgess Meredith in a Twilight Zone episode, because this would be in bad taste.

They ask me questions, about blogging, about restaurants in Los Angeles, about what I think of Pasadena (where Bethanne is from). They ask me if a restaurant I’ve never heard of will be reopening. I tell them I’ve never heard of it. Things start to get weird and I excuse myself, thanking them for their time.

So: This is Canter’s at Four in the morning. I frikkin’ love it.

One of the great things about living in LA is seeing character actors everywhere you go. In line to pay for my monte cristo, I stood in front of this guy. Yes, I recognized him on sight. Yes, I knew his name. Yes, I am a cornucopia of knowledge.

RobNoxious and I are sitting here, shooting the proverbial shit, and Canter’s is packing up. The line to get in is stuffed like a twice-baked potato. Nearly every table is full, and about half the people coming in are nattily-attired youths on their way to the Kibitz Room, presumably to have exciting, memorable interactions and then choose partners with whom to fornicate later in the evening. Whereas I’m here with my monte cristo. And Rob.

I may have mentioned Sheryl. She’s my new server. She doesn’t insult me like Daniel did. But then, she doesn’t call me Tootsie Pop either.

Sheryl has the least seniority of any server at Canter’s; she’s only been here nine months. Before moving to LA she lived in Massachusetts, and I tell her I used to live in Boston, and then she mentions the Celtics I have to do that thing where I pretend to know more about professional sports than I do. She’s really busy, so she didn’t notice.

OK. I’m going home. Janna is here, and she’s gonna take over. I’ll see you all at four in the goddamn morning.

Lord. The things you do for love.

Not sure of the name of this band, but RobNoxious and I are listening to them play right now. Real old-school rock-and-roll Canter’s. The reason Canter’s is here and famous, you know?

Oh, and the monte cristo sandwich has defeated me.

Come on over, and bring some canned goods or cash for the LA Food Bank. Or just come to hang out.

…because this is the Monte Cristo that’s about to be applied to my face.

So, yeah. There it is. The reason I’ll be cold and in the ground at forty.

Also, a waitron switch: Daniel is gone, much to my chagrin. He called me “Tootsie Pop.”It was a thing we had. Now, there’s Sheryl, who reminds me a little of my mom because they’re close in age and she brings me food that results in the staccato thud of my arteries slamming shut.

Oh, yeah, and Julia is up my ass about reminding you all about the LA Food Bank donation bin. So bring some food. Don’t do it for the needy. Do it for me.

The switch over is happening now. Kevin’s in the house. He and Rob Noxious have decided to wear the same uniform, though luckily they chose to wear different shirts.

Kevin has UPPED THE ANTE and ordered the Monte Cristo. I’ll let him post those pictures…I don’t want to steal his thunder.

Music has started in the Kitbitz Room and will be there until 2am. It’s not crowded now, so come in, get some awesome salted meat sandwiches and pie and settle in.

The Jello at Canter’s: only $3.25! A bargain at 1/2 the price!

JozJozJoz stopped by again for one last adios before going home for the night! Nice surprise to see her today. Hopefully I’ll see her again tomorrow as she heads to work. (She promised to stop by again!)

Dinner for me consisted of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, gravy and corn (“The vegetable”) and a nice cold bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale. More yum.

Then there was pie. Lots and lots of pie. Kurt had the blueberry a la mode and Lynn had cherry a ala mode.

To see the meatloaf and pie porn, please click past the jump!

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We are perched at the end of the counter, look for the big LA Foodbank donation box (which is getting pretty full, thank you all, I think we are well on the way to 200 pounds of canned food.)

We had a rowdy time with Fraz and Ruth and Travis and Lynn and Greg and his kids. Lynn is lingering over pie (post to come) and Al (long time reader, first time joiner) and Kurt my husband just wolfed down a slice of blueberry pie al a mode. YUM! Daniel our is still giving us shit and we love him for it. He’s only here until 10 though.

The place is really filling up, both in the main room (the old school room with the acid trip ceiling) and the bigger, newer dining room. A young couple right here next to me said they live out in San Bernadino and San Gabriel and go to school at UC Riverside.

–OOH! Rob Noxious just got here! Woot!

Back to the young couple — it’s her first time at Canter’s and his 5th time. They LOVE the food and she thinks the onion rings are the best ever!

That’s why we are here, people. Come on over!

What are the odds?

“I knew I didn’t hate Travis as much as most people, right off the get-go” Says Daniel our server at Canter’s. Turns out he and Travis went to high school together way back when in the DC area. Who would have guessed??

So you may have heard that our connection is slow. We’re not just talking slow; we’re talking sloooooowwwwww. Add that to Ruth666′s password debacle and this is the conversation that just took place behind me.

Ruth666: Are you in?

Frazgo: I’m in.

Ruth666: Ooh, I’m in too. We’re both in at once?

Me: Excuse me? And you’re getting in trouble for posting about pickles?

The Brooklyn Sandwich, with SMOKED Turkey is the bomb-diggettiest.  Actually I got in trouble for taking pictures of the pickles.  Well whatever.

The LA Foodbank box is filling up.  REALLY filling up about half way already, the cash box needs a little help.  Times are tough I know, but if you got a spare dime or two to help them out please stop  by and see us and the other nearly dozen enjoying the food and fun times at Canter’s.

ps…this is my post #700. I’ll be returning control of my log-on to RUTH666