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LOCATION 1
Start - Schwabs Pharmacy
Hello and welcome to our tour of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip where rockers, mobsters and Hollywood celebrities played. My name is Mindy and I was born and raised in Southern California and my husband ...
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LOCATION 2
Pandora's Box
Keep going straight.
This triangular island used to be incorporated into the building across the street. Before the building that was here was removed, it played a big part in the 60’s counterc...
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LOCATION 3
Garden of Allah
Before 1959, this block on your left was occupied by a community called The Garden of Allah which was a three-acre property purchased by Alla Nazimova in 1919 as her private residence. She was a su...
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LOCATION 4
Union Restaurant and Early Development
The building on your left, 8210 Sunset Stars, has been the home of many clubs that were popular hangouts for stars such as Mick Jagger, Madonna, Matt Dillon, Jodie Foster and Christina Applegate. O...
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LOCATION 5
Standard Hotel
As you approach the Standard Hotel on your left, the first thing you may notice is the name of the hotel is upside down. This is not a mistake but is an indication that this business is unique and ...
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LOCATION 6
Sunset Tower
The Sunset Tower building on your left is believed to be the first and most lavish high-rise buildings in the Los Angeles area and for many years, was the tallest such building in the City. It was ...
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LOCATION 7
The Pendry and Mondrian Hotels
As you approach the intersection of Sunset Blvd and North Olive Drive, you’ll see two high rise hotels, the Pendry and the Mondrian, on your left. The Pendry is on the corner before you cross the ...
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LOCATION 8
Billboards
The Highlight along this stretch of the sunset strip is not so much the history and architecture of the building as much as it is about the Billboards.
In the marketing world, Sunset Blvd and T...
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LOCATION 9
77 Sunset Strip TV Show and Dino's Lodge
In the early fifties the space on your left at 8532 Sunset was the home to a restaurant called the Alpine Lodge that was not particularly successful. The owners chose to pivot the business by renam...
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LOCATION 10
The Playboy Club
The 10-story high rise here on your left was the home to the Playboy Club that first opened in 1965. The club took up the first four floors and Hugh Hefner lived on the top floor, inside a penthous...
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LOCATION 11
Mocambo Restaurant
The Mocambo Restaurant was a famous restaurant here at 8588 Sunset Blvd that opened on January 3, 1941. There's a photo of the front of the restaurant from the ’40s on your screen if you want to ta...
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LOCATION 12
Trocadero and Sunset Plaza
Another popular restaurant in the golden age of Hollywood was just a couple of doors down from Mocambo. The restaurant at 8610 Sunset was called La Boheme around 1930, but then the publisher of The...
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LOCATION 13
Mutato Muzika
As you approach the familiar but odd building on your left at 8760 Sunset you may notice a similar look to that of another LA landmark, The Forum in Inglewood.
The owner of this building is Mar...
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LOCATION 14
Rocky and Bullwinkle
Use the crosswalk to cross over the road. On the triangular island, look behind the bus stop at the large statue of Rocky and Bullwinkle. They're the stars of the popular cartoon series whose first...
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LOCATION 15
Cross Larabee St
Continue walking and cross Larrabee St in front of you.
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LOCATION 16
The Viper Room
Stop here for a moment, please.
On your left just past the liquor store on the corner, you will see a business with a black facade; this bar is called the Viper Room.
When actor Johnny Depp...
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LOCATION 17
Cross Hilldale and New Hotel
Continue walking straight. There is not much to see here on your left, just a parking lot, but just like the Pendry and other properties on the Strip, big plans are being drawn up for a new hotel a...
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LOCATION 18
Finlandia Baths
You are coming up to the building at 9028 Sunset on your left.
The Finlandia Baths was located here in the downstairs basement of the Crosby Building where a virtual who's who of male stars, bo...
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LOCATION 19
Doheny Dr
Turn right here and use the pedestrian crossing to cross the road. Once on the other side, turn right and walk back the way we've just come but on the other side of the street.
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LOCATION 20
Key Club
Stop here for a minute in front of 9039 Sunset Blvd on your left. It's now called the 1OAK Club.
This building has housed many popular clubs since 1935. The original Café La Maze inhabited the ...
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LOCATION 21
The Rainbow Room and The Roxy
Stop here for a moment. These two buildings on your left, the Rainbow Bar & Grill and, immediately after it, the Roxy Theater, have served as rock’n roll meccas for decades.
When new owners too...
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LOCATION 22
The Whisky
The building to your left and on the corner is the legendary Whiskey A-Go-Go. Keep going while I tell you more about it.
The nightclub opened in 1964 and was the launchpad for many of the most ...
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LOCATION 23
Tower Records
On your left is the Tower Records store. This was the flagship location for the chain of popular record stores but with the transition to digital music they had to declare bankruptcy in October of ...
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LOCATION 24
Spago Restaurant
The coffee shop we've just passed used to be the location for the 1st gay club on sunset Blvd back in the 1930s and 40s.
Back then it was called Café Gala and mobster Mickey Cohen also had ties...
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LOCATION 25
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LOCATION 26
Mammy Louises Bayou Restaurant
As you walk, look to your left. There used to be a restaurant there called Mammy Louise's Bayou but today, a name like that associated with black women and slavery would not be socially acceptable....
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LOCATION 27
Cross Sunset Plaza Dr
Cross Sunset Plaza Dr and continue to our next stop.
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LOCATION 28
Mel's Drive-In Restaurant
On your left is a 50's retro restaurant called Mel's drive-in. The original name was Ben Frank's and was a casual and comfortable dining spot that was open 24 - 7.
The location was great and th...
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LOCATION 29
Cross Miller Dr ahead
Notice the digital billboards on the high rises across the street at La Cienaga Blvd…they are probably marketing a TV, movie, or other digital media property, right?
Cross this intersection and...
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LOCATION 30
Clover Club
You are coming up to a very mundane building on your left but back in the day, before the building was demolished it was an elegant club known by different names: the Sphinx Club, Hahn Club, Club S...
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LOCATION 31
Hacienda Apartments
Stop here for a moment.
The building on your left, Piazza del Sol is constructed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places recently. Bu...
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LOCATION 32
Ciro's and Comedy Store
The building on your left has a storied history. Stop for a moment to look at outside.
As you can see from all of the autographs on the front of the comedy store, every important comedian has g...
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LOCATION 33
The Andaz West Hollywood
Stop here for a moment. The hotel on your left opened in 1963 as the Gene Autry Hotel. It was sold in 1967 and became a Hyatt property and today is the Andaz West Hollywood.
In the 1960s and 19...
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LOCATION 34
Thunder Roadhouse
The saddle ranch steakhouse on your left is one of many restaurants in a long line at this location.
The original restaurant in 1936 pictured on your phone was Club Casanova but it closed after...
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LOCATION 35
Carneys
The railroad car on your left is named Carney's restaurant and was founded in 1975 by a married couple who worked innumerable hours building the restaurant into a Hollywood destination.
At the ...
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LOCATION 36
Annie Hall
Stop here for a moment. If you ever saw the Academy award-winning movie Annie Hall, you no doubt remember when Alvy Singer, played by Woody Allen, chases his girlfriend Annie, played by Diane Keato...
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LOCATION 37
Pink Taco
The Pink Taco building here on the corner is a revered property on the Strip.
The property was originally built in 1926 as a residence before the popular director, Preston Sturges purchased the ...
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LOCATION 38
Chateau Marmont
When you cross the street and look at the valet booth at Chateau Marmont. You are looking at the alternative to the Beverly Hills Hotel that gives the celebrity guests the privacy that they're look...
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LOCATION 39
Marlboro Man Billboard
Stop here, turn around and look up at the large billboard that rises to the left of the Chateau Marmont. What you see is one of the most legendary and expensive billboards in the country. It was on...
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LOCATION 40
Laurel Canyon
The next street ahead is Crescent Heights Blvd and if you were to turn left and walk for three minutes it would intersect with Laurel Canyon Blvd. That stretch of road and the surrounding neighborh...