Clifton’s cafeteria: The place where L.A. finds itself

With its long history and family tradition, Clifton’s Brookdale still draws diners of all stripes. ‘It’s like coming home,’ one patron says.
By Mary MacVean, Times Staff Writer
February 4, 2009
On Broadway downtown — amid a jumble of shops selling gold necklaces and sports socks and electric guitars, amid exhaust and noise and has-been theaters, amid hipsters, the down and out and the just plain out of it — an authentic piece of history goes about the business it began during the Great Depression, feeding everyone who walks through the glass doors.

Wander into Clifton’s Brookdale, the cafeteria on Broadway at 7th Street, and it might seem obvious what makes it unique. Perhaps the waterfall that cascades over several ledges. Or the huge moose head hanging on a wall overlooking one of the dining rooms and the bear holding a fishing pole. Maybe the tiny — and popular — tree trunk chapel with its neon cross and inspirational recorded message. But it’s more than these. READ MORE