NICKODELL RESTAURANT

There were two Nickodell Restaurants in Hollywood, but the best known is the one opened in 1928 at 5507 Melrose Avenue. Founded by restaurateur Nick Slavich, the Nickodell Restaurants fit somewhere on the scale between upscale coffee shops and swank eateries, although they were well known for both their food and service.

What made the Melrose Nickodell a hot spot was that it became a favorite lunch hangout for actors working at the nearby Paramount and RKO studios during the 1940s and '50s. As such, it was a popular place to see movie stars. Star seeking tourists really began to show up in droves after the restaurant appeared in an episode of I Love Lucy.

Slavich originally opened the Melrose Nickodell as Nick's Melrose Grotto, and back in the late 1920s and early 1930s the restaurant also attracted lunch-hour crowds from NBC's west coast headquarters, which were also on Melrose Avenue. Among the stars frequently seen at Nick's Grotto during this era were Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Dorothy Lamour, and Ray Noble.

Even though Nick Slavich died in 1979, the Melrose Nickodell Restaurant continued on for several years. It eventually closed and was demolished in 1993.

AUDIO: PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ
Performed by JOHNNY PLONSKY