If you’ve ever driven down Huntington Drive in Arcadia, you may have seen a really unique Denny’s with a windmill on it’s roof. So what’s the deal with the windmill? This is actually the last remaining fully intact Van de Kamp’s coffee shop; a chain that once dotted Southern California and whose baked goods were a staple in grocery stores and household pantries. The Van de Kamp name today is more associated with frozen fish sticks, but to many Californians, the name brings up memories of baked goods, coffee, and windmills.
In 1915 Theodore Van de Kamp, along with his sisters Marian and Henrietta, and Henrietta’s husband Lawrence L. Frank started selling potato chips from a food stand in downtown L.A.. Their “Saratoga Chips” were a hit; they’d often sell out after just 2 hours, with Henrietta and Marian taking orders while dressed in dutch costumes. A potato shortage forced them to pivot to other products, so they began selling baked goods and changed the name of their business to Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakery in 1916.
In 1921 they opened their first bakery store followed 2 years later with the opening of their first coffee shop. In 1930 they built a large bakery and headquarters in Glassell Park to support their growth, which included an adjacent coffee shop with the distinct windmill that was emblematic of their buildings, which dotted Southern California. alongside their baked goods, their restaurants became famous for their fried halibut, which would eventually lead to Van de Kamp’s branching out into frozen seafood. When Theodore Van de Kamp passed away in 1956, the family split the company in 2: the bakeries and the frozen foods division. Both divisions were bought by different companies, with the frozen foods continuing to be sold to this day.
Unfortunately, the bakeries did not fare as well. In 1990, Van de Kamp’s Dutch Bakeries filed for bankruptcy and the Glassell Park plant closed. The building sat vacant for many years, but was luckily saved and renovated and is now a satellite campus of L.A. City College.
The Van de Kamp’s brand continued to be used by Ralphs and Food 4 less for their private labels baked goods until the late 2010s, when they phased them over to Kroger. The remaining coffee shops also changed hands, eventually being taken over by Denny’s, who was fortunately convinced to preserve and restore the Arcadia location.
Unfortunately, a fire damaged the building in 2021, and reconstruction took several years, but the restaurant is now open and the windmill is once again spinning.
References:
“Made in California” by George Geary pg. 14-19
“Baked Goodness: The Story of Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakers” by Hadley Meares, KCET. March 16, 2016.
“Last Van de Kamp’s Windmill Spinning Again in Arcadia” by Bianca Barrigan, Curbed L.A. June 30, 216.
“Denny’s Fire” by Maryam Sadeghifard, Aradia Quill. November 2, 2021.