After two posts on the restaurants of Rossmoor, (Rossmoor Center food here, Rossmoor Village here) we now move “outside the walls” to take a look at the many restaurants of Los Alamitos proper over the years. Again, we didn’t grow up here and know we are missing some eateries (especially the older ones). Let us know … Read more
For a tiny area, we have had a lot of restaurants over the years. I started compiling a list on a whim and help from locals on the Facebook Rossmoor page. The lists got too long so I broke them up into multiple posts. The first was the restaurants of the Rossmoor Shopping Center. The third segment … Read more
This is the first in a series of posts about all the places to eat around here over the years. The development of the Rossmoor Shopping center is an interesting story, but too long to deal with here, so look here instead. The original, very ambitious plans for the Rossmoor Center were … Read more
[I know — this article is way too long. But a real and accurate history covering the beginnings of the Los Alamitos Naval Air Station — now the Joint Forces Training base — has never been printed before. I wanted to not only finally get a more accurate one published, but to also point out … Read more
The Feb. 19, 1930 issue of the Santa Ana Register, celebrating the paper’s 25 anniversary, featured pages dedicated to each Orange County community. Los Alamitos had a full page of stories focused on the town’s growth. In one story we learn that City Garden Acres (now Apartment Row) began as a subdivision developed by J.D. … Read more
What royalty or heads of state have graced the West OC/East LB area with their presence? It seems to not be a very long list. In 1915 former US President William Howard Taft repaid a political favor to Phillip A. Stanton (who as speaker of the California Assembly in 1909 derailed some anti-Japanese legislation that … Read more
When the local sugar beet factory shut down in 1926, the community scrambled to find new industries and jobs to keep the local population working and profitable. In the newest part of the city was a tract called City Garden Acres (now Apartment Row), located south of town between Katella and Farqhuar and east of … Read more
Trying to resurrect the crowds and action that was not be found during the short history of The Pike, Griffins Grill opened on Monday, November 16 and seems to be successfully winning back the crowds that once swarmed to Mr. B’s Casa Catillo before that. This is actually the 5th restaurant to occupy this spot. … Read more
Here are two books that cover the local history of two communities. SEAL BEACH: A BRIEF HISTORY by Larry Strawther — History Press $17.99 The wooden pier, tree-lined Main Street and ocean views, coupled with a prosperous and happy community, led Forbes magazine to name Seal Beach one of the five friendliest towns in America. … Read more
At 5pm today the Pike officially opened for business in Los Alamitos in the location where Mr. B’s and Casa Castillo have been feeding Los Alamitos and Rossmoor residents for years. The Pike is owned by Chris Reece, a former drummer of Social Distortion and founder of the original Pike – a retro bar at … Read more