| Johnie's Broiler (originally Harvey's) was closed at the end of 2001 and subsequently leased to a used car lot dealership. THE TENANT ILLEGALLY GUTTED THE ORIGINAL INTERIOR AND WAS CITED FOR REMOVING SOME OF THE FAMOUS NEON LETTERING. Like many cities, the City of Downey has no preservation ordinance in place and, in short, this building could be demolished. Our goal is to support the preservation and revitalization of the significant architecture of Johnie's and help bring attention to its endangered status! |
| Johnie's Broiler, Los Angeles County's last and largest intact drive-in restaurant is threatened. Johnie's is located at 7447 Firestone Boulevard in Downey, California. It still stands as an icon of roadside architecture, car culture and the mid-century modern lifestyle and was featured in countless movies, commercials and photo shoots over the last 44 years. Johnie's has played host to thousands of Kustom Kars, hot rods and generations of car cruisers, serving over 3,000 cars a night during its heyday in the 60's and 70's. Johnie's was a major destination in the Southern California cruising circuit.. Grissinger's in Long Beach, up through Hawthorne to Holly's, The Wich Stand on Slauson and out to Johnie's in Downey. |
| The Friends of Johnie's Broiler have been holding weekly meetings since February 2002. To raise awareness and demonstrate support for the preservation and revitalization of Johnie's, we organized our first rally on April 6, 2002 and received tremendous support from the community. The Friends of Johnie's followed with a second rally on April 20th to alert the community to Johnie's' precarious state and received substantial media coverage and strong support from a number of vintage car clubs. In April, we submitted a nomination to the State Historic Office of Preservation. You can often find The Friends of Johnie's at Downey City Council meetings urging a cooperative resolution with the City of Downey to save this historic gem and register it with the State of California as a historical landmark. |
| These buildings are rare landscapes of Americana and speak to an era that is highly revered and in many ways creates a collective identity of our past. The architecture is distinctive, but its historical value speaks volumes. |