On the southwest corner of Florence and Marbrisa Aves in Huntington Park, you’ll find a weirdly-shaped building. But why does it look like that? It’s actually one of last remaining Chili Bowl restaurant buildings. A chain that once had almost 2 dozen locations across Los Angeles.
In 1931 Arthur Whizin, a 25 year old former amateur boxer, opened his first chili bowl restaurant on Crenshaw Blvd .Whizin’s chili bowl is an example of one of my favorite topics, programmatic architecture, where a building is made to look like what’s sold inside or illustrates the name or theme of the building. Since his restaurant specialized in chili, what better way to advertise than to serve it up in a building shaped like a chili bowl? The specialty dish was the “chili size” an open-faced burger smothered in chili, which was obviously a hit, as he opened almost 2 dozen more locations of his chain within a decade.
However, as fast the business boomed, it also declined. During WWII Whizin downsized his chain and by 1947, all of the chili bowl restaurants were closed. Although Arthur Whizin continued to be a very successful business man; he even built a mall in Agoura Hills that still bears his name.
Over the years, many of the chili bowl buildings were torn down or repurposed, with only 4 of them surviving, although only 3 are still standing in various states of disrepair or use.
The Chili Bowl that was located on Pico Blvd in West L.A. most recently housed a Michelin-starred sushi restaurant, but sadly, was dismantled in February of 2022. Although reports are that the building is being stored, but details have not been provided as to where or for how long.
The Chili Bowl on San Fernando Rd had a stint as a used car dealer’s office but, has sat vacant for many years and is in bad shape; it’s been vandalized, the stucco is falling and part of the roof is missing.
The Chili bowl on Valley Blvd in Alhambra is the only building still open for business and currently houses a Chinese restaurant.
The chili bowl on Florence Ave most recently housed the Guadalajara de Noche night club, but has sat vacant and locked up for years. It was actually the 2nd chili bowl that was opened and is definitely a survivor. During the 1933 long Beach earthquake, it was the only building on the block that did not suffer damage. And now, despite the buildings around having been torn down, it’s still standing, at least for now.
References:
“The Chili’s All Gone But the Giant Bowls are Still Standing” by Steve Harvey, The Los Angeles Times. Aug. 2, 2009.
Chili Bowl (West Los Angeles) | L.A. Conservancy
“Restaurateur Arthur Whizin Dies at 88” by LA Times Staff, The Los Angeles Times. Dec. 13, 1994.
“Save and Move the Last Chili Bowl Restaurant in Los Angeles” by Kim Cooper, The Esotouric Blog. Jun 15, 2021.