"In 1927, Marius Taix, Jr. and his business partner Paul Louis Larquier took over the restaurant in the family's hotel, the Champ d'Or, which was located at 321 N. Commercial Street near the current site of the Metropolitan Detention Center by Union Station. According to lore on Los Angeles historical blogs like Frenchtown Confidential and Avoiding Regret, the restaurant was handed over to the Taix family because of the challenges posed by the Prohibition Era."
"The clever Marius, who was also a licensed pharmacist, established a very California, wellness-oriented workaround for the legal landscape by sourcing a supply of 'medicinal wines' from an Oregon vintner. When prohibition laws were lifted six years later, Taix customers could openly enjoy their wine without the medicinal ruse, as they supped on the restaurant's signature 50-cent poulet roti dinners and voluminous tureens of onion soup."
"The windowless refuge, with its wood veneers and shabby genteel burgundy booths, compensates for the lack of shade on what is an aggressively bright stretch of Sunset Boulevard. Scent memory usually leads the way down the bedrock stairs. If it's early enough for happy hour, the butter and garlic from the first escargot orders eclipse the ammonia from the morning's scrubdown."
Taix is a historic French restaurant in Echo Park that has served Los Angeles for nearly a century. Originally established in 1927 by Marius Taix Jr. and Paul Louis Larquier at a different location near Union Station, the restaurant relocated to its current Sunset Boulevard location in a chateau-style building. During Prohibition, owner Marius Taix, a licensed pharmacist, creatively sourced medicinal wines from Oregon to circumvent alcohol laws. The restaurant became known for signature dishes like 50-cent poulet roti dinners and generous onion soup. Its dark, wood-paneled interior with burgundy booths provides refuge from the bright Los Angeles sun and maintains an atmosphere that has attracted regular patrons throughout its long history.
#historic-los-angeles-restaurants #french-cuisine #prohibition-era-history #echo-park #cultural-preservation
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