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Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, c. 2011

Hamburger Hamlet (or "The Hamlet") was a chain of restaurants based in Los Angeles, and a point of reference for the inhabitants and creative industries of the city. Opened in 1950 by actor Harry Lewis with his future wife Marilyn (m.1952),[1][2] it grew to a chain of 24 locations, including the Chicago and Washington, D.C. metro areas,[3] before they were all either sold or closed down. Lewis named the restaurant in honor of the titular character in Shakespeare's eponymous play.[4]

Patronage of celebrities

In Hollywood biographies of both Peggy Lee and Alfred Hitchcock,[5] Hamburger Hamlet is mentioned as a favorite haunt. In the novel American Dream Machine, author Matthew Specktor mourns the closing of the Sunset Boulevard Hamlet as the passing of a bygone era of Old Hollywood glamour.[6] In 2014, Los Angeles Magazine published the article Vintage Los Angeles: The Tragedy of Hamburger Hamlet, where author Alison Martino wrote:[7]

It was where you bumped into celebrities and industry moguls in a casual environment, dining in darkly lit giant red leather chairs. But there was nothing casual about the clientele. Where else could you see Dean Martin sipping a martini at the bar, Lucille Ball hair spraying her red locks in the ladies room, Bette Davis chain smoking in the Tap Room, or Frank Sinatra taking a meeting with his publicist? I witnessed all of this first hand. Even the restaurant’s hostess, actress and singer Frances Davis, who was once married to Miles Davis, would occasionally burst into song and dance while taking you to your table. I remember Francis and Diahann Carroll discussing chord progressions in the lobby.

Robert B. Parker in his 1981 detective novel A Savage Place, mentions the Hamlet on Sunset as a place Spenser the detective mentions he would like to return to while in Los Angeles, saying that it is because he is a "fancy", but "plain", and "big" eater.[8]

Food

The restaurants served hamburgers topped with what were considered exotic combinations of toppings, such as a bacon cheeseburger with Russian dressing. A famed side dish were the "little fried onions". Tomato relish was provided at each table. They also served omelettes and Mexican dishes.[9] In 1987 the Lewises opened upscale restaurant Kate Mantilini.[10] In 1997 Koo Koo Roo bought 14 Hamlet locations for $33 million.[10][11]

MeTV wrote:[3]

In an era when putting bacon and cheese on a burger was considered luxuriantly deluxe, Hamburger Hamlet topped its burger with guacamole, baked beans and marinara sauce. They served a burger with jalapeños on garlic toast. The "Emperor Henry IV" burger came with ham, bacon and Russian dressing. As far back as 1977, the restaurant was even serving a bunless burger for the carb conscious. (It was based in L.A., after all.)

Some of the items available listed on a 1981 menu include:

Locations

Downtown L.A./Hollywood Westside San Fernando Valley
Elsewhere in California Washington metropolitan area Elsewhere in the U.S.
Map
Map of Hamburger Hamlet locations in Central and Western Los Angeles
Map
Map of Hamburger Hamlet locations in Southern California
Map
Map of approximate Hamburger Hamlet locations in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area

Financials and ownership

In 1986 the revenue was just under $40 million and the net income just about $1.5 million.[8][26] in 1987 the revenue increased to $44.8 million but net income dropped to only $508,700. In that year a New York investment firm, Weatherly Private Capital, Inc., bought the restaurant chain for $33.1 million in a leveraged buyout. The Hamlets had 1,800 employees at that time, with 24 locations. .[27]

Marilyn Lewis

Marilyn was admired as a businesswoman but also, from 1965-1975,[28] for her couture designs under her own label Cardinali, which had a staff of 50 in 1968. Nevertheless in a 1968 interview she said she was always home at 4 P.M. to "be a Mom" to her two boys, then 13 and 16. She moved to Greater Los Angeles from Cleveland, Ohio in the late 1940s.[4] The Los Angeles Times called her the "matriarch" of the Hamlets in the early 1980s. At that time, aged 52, she moved out to Washington, D.C. to oversee the opening and management of the Hamlet's 3 restaurants in the area, splitting her time between quarters behind the Georgetown location and a home in adjacent Bethesda, Maryland.[28]

  • Hamburger Hamlet historic menu
  • "Hamburger Hamlet menu circa 1981". Reddit. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2024.

References

  1. ^ "West Los Angeles Independent", November 2, 1950, p. 8, archived at newspaperarchive.com. Retrieved August 21, 2021
  2. ^ Harry Lewis biographical notes, Internet Movie Database. Retrieved August 21, 2021
  3. ^ a b "Remembering Hamburger Hamlet, the fast-food chain that popularized the gourmet burger". Me-TV Network.
  4. ^ a b Sweeney, Joan (13 November 1968). "Couture and Food Make a Full Life for Marilyn Lewis". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 31. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  5. ^ Chandler, Charlotte (1 March 2006). It's Only a Movie: Alfred Hitchcock, A Personal Biography. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781476849409 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ Specktor, Matthew (26 March 2013). American Dream Machine. Tin House Books. ISBN 9781935639442 – via Google Books.
  7. ^ Martino, Alison (January 2, 2014). "Vintage Los Angeles: The Tragedy of Hamburger Hamlet". Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  8. ^ a b Stavro, Barry (28 April 1987). "Hamlets' Stock Lacks Founders' Luster (p2/2)". The Los Angeles Times. p. 33. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  9. ^ a b Communications, Emmis (1 May 1985). "Orange Coast Magazine". Emmis Communications – via Google Books.
  10. ^ a b c Geary, George (19 September 2016). L.A.'s Legendary Restaurants: Celebrating the Famous Places Where Hollywood Ate, Drank, and Played. Santa Monica Press. ISBN 9781595808011 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ "California Law Business". Daily Journal Corporation. 1 January 1997 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Callender, Ealena; Folmar, Kate (25 November 1995). "Hamburger Hamlet Shuts 12 of 31 Locations, to File for Bankruptcy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  13. ^ "Image 251 of California - White Pages - Los Angeles Central Area - June 1975 A through KITE". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "r/VintageLA: Post from BBq Bibi: Hamburger Hamlet menu circa 1981". Reddit. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  15. ^ a b Elliott, Farley (4 June 2018). "LA's last remaining Hamburger Hamlet location closes, for now". Eater LA.
  16. ^ "On View: "The scene was quite different at Hamburger Hamlet's latest bistro…"". The Los Angeles Times. 15 January 1973. p. 48. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  17. ^ a b c d "Southern California Builders". www.socalbuilders.com. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  18. ^ "101 N Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92262". Google Maps. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  19. ^ "New restaurant in the works for old Hamburger Hamlet space". WTOP News. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Du-par's Bringing Famous West Coast Brand East | BethesdaNow". Bethesda Now. 27 March 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-27. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  21. ^ "Du-par's Hamburger Hamlet Closed | BethesdaNow". Bethesda Now. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-07-16. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  22. ^ Kraut, Aaron (8 July 2014). "UPDATED: Not Your Average Joe's Likely For Old Hamburger Hamlet Space". MoCo360. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  23. ^ "Hamburger Hamlet Now Closed in Crystal City | ARLnow.com". ARLnow.com | Arlington, Va. local news. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  24. ^ Lardner, James (17 August 1978). "Plan for New Georgetown Restaurant Stirs Civic Dispute". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  25. ^ Knight, Jerry (23 December 2023). "The Empty Shops of Georgetown". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  26. ^ Stavro, Barry (28 April 1987). "Hamlets' Stock Lacks Founders' Luster (p.1/1)". The Los Angeles Times. p. 31. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  27. ^ Sánchez, Jesús (23 December 1987). "Hamlets: Founders to Buy Back Kate Mantilini in 5 Years". The Los Angeles Times. p. 46. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  28. ^ a b Cuniberti, Betty (15 July 1982). "Meet Marilyn Lewis, the matriarch of Hamburger Hamlet". Los Angeles Times. p. 61. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
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