Taix (restaurant)
34°04′42″N 118°15′41″W / 34.0782°N 118.2614°W
| Taix | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1927 |
| City | Los Angeles |
| State | California |
| Country | United States |
Taix (formerly Les Freres Taix) is a French restaurant in Los Angeles, California, and founded in 1927. The restaurant complex features open and private dining rooms, banquet halls, and a cocktail lounge with live music called the 321 Lounge. The restaurant is currently located at 1911 Sunset Boulevard in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.
History
[edit]The Taix family came to Los Angeles from the Hautes-Alpes region of France in 1870 and opened a hotel in downtown Los Angeles.[1] French immigrants represented 20% of the city's population in the middle of the 19th century, and the neighborhood that is today's Chinatown was home to a French hospital, French theater, and weekly French-language newspaper.[2] Owners Marius Taix, Marius Taix, Jr., and Louis Larquier ran the casual restaurant with French country meals served at long communal tables. The brick building had a tin ceiling, hanging chandeliers, and dark wood floors.[3] Owing to its location in the civic center, the restaurant was popular with government workers [1] and reporters from the Los Angeles Times, and held a special table reserved for staff.[4] When the restaurant was demolished, the Los Angeles Times noted that its patrons “included the celebrated and the notorious of Los Angeles civic life.” [5]
The building at 321 Commercial Street near Union Station had originally housed a pharmacy belonging to Marius Taix,[6] and during prohibition the restaurant served “medicinal” wine to city officials and other select customers in a private dining room.[7] 10 The original Taix closed in 1964 when it was purchased by the city of Los Angeles and replaced with a parking structure.[5]
Two years before the closure, Marius Taix Jr. and Louis Larquier opened a new Taix in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. The New York Times described the architecture of the restaurant as “Los Angeles chalet.[3]” Food critic Lois Dwan described the fare in 1970 as “bountiful portions of simply prepared foods at moderate prices.[6]” Taix is a destination for baseball fans before or after a game at nearby Dodger Stadium.[8] The 321 Lounge is named for the restaurant's original address at 321 Commercial Street in Los Angeles.[8]
Fourth-generation owner Michael Taix sold the restaurant to real estate developers in 2019 who plan to replace it with a multi-story apartment building.[9] In October 2020, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission began discussions on the designation of the Taix building as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.[10] In 2021 it was decided the building would not be a monument, but rather the property and restaurant features, thereby allowing the demolition and redevelopment to proceed.[11]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Geary 2016, p.75
- ^ Greenwood 1996, p.106
- ^ a b Harris, MacDonald (March 4, 1990). "Real Food in L.A." New York Times.
- ^ Staff (October 17, 1957). "Taix Restaurant at 7,000,000 Meal Mark". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b Smith, Jack (August 14, 1964). "Taix Restaurant to Become Parking Lot". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b Dwan, Lois (November 11, 1970). "Accent on French at Les Taix". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Geary 2016, p.76
- ^ a b Bauer 2016, p.294
- ^ Vincent, Roger (August 22, 2019). "Taix restaurant, an L.A. institution, is sold to a luxury apartment builder". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ Lank, Barry (October 16, 2020). "Commission to consider declaring Echo Park's Taix a historic landmark". The Eastsider.
- ^ Sharp, Steven (29 July 2022). "Taix redevelopment clears another hurdle in Echo Park". Urbanize LA.
Bibliography
[edit]- Geary, George (2016). L.A.'s Legendary Restaurants. Santa Monica Press. ISBN 9781595800893.
- Greenwood, Roberta (1996). Down by the Station: Los Angeles Chinatown, 1880-1933. Cotsen Institute of Archaeology Press. ISBN 978-0-917956-87-4.
- Bauer, Linda (2016). Recipes from Historic California A Restaurant Guide and Cookbook. Taylor Trade Publishing. ISBN 978-1589793484.
- 1927 establishments in California
- Commercial buildings in Los Angeles
- Companies based in Los Angeles County, California
- Echo Park, Los Angeles
- French restaurants in California
- Landmarks in Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments
- Music venues in Los Angeles
- Nightclubs in Los Angeles County, California
- Restaurants established in 1927
- Restaurants in Greater Los Angeles
- European restaurants in Los Angeles