"Drive around Los Angeles and you might speed past a few hidden reminders of a long-lost chili chain. You won't see any signs advertising chili; the buildings have long since been converted into other restaurants and storefronts, but the strange shape of them hints at what they used to be. That's because they look like bowls. Simple, round buildings with slightly flared lips on the top,"
"Chili Bowl was a small chain of chili restaurants founded in 1931 by a former boxer named Art Whizin. The first location, set up in LA's Crenshaw neighborhood, was an immediate success with its chili bowl-shaped structure beckoning customers in. Its signature dish was called the "chili size," which was simply a hamburger patty smothered with the chain's signature chili recipe."
Chili Bowl was founded in 1931 by former boxer Art Whizin and became a local Los Angeles staple. Each restaurant was built in a round, bowl-shaped programmatic-architecture building with 26 seats around a counter. The chain's signature item, the "chili size," was a hamburger patty smothered in the house chili. The concept expanded quickly to 23 locations across Los Angeles within a decade. After World War II, Whizin grew bored and faced staffing shortages as college students declined the jobs, prompting conversions of some locations into ice cream parlors. Many bowl buildings were later repurposed as other restaurants and storefronts.
Read at Tasting Table
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]