Coral Isle - Culver City
Culver City, California, United States
This pre-tiki establishment was opened on April 12, 1939 by Niel Murphy.
It was across the street from the RKO Studios backlot. The RKO Forty Acres (1927-1976) was best known as Forty Acres and "the back forty," it was also called "Desilu Culver," the "RKO backlot," and "Pathé 40 Acre Ranch," depending on which studio owned the property at the time.
The Coral Isle featured murals by Frank Bowers, decorative matting, and bamboo everything. The house specialty was chicken dinners.
Harold La Van took over Coral Isle in July 1941 and by this time it had transitioned to serving Chinese food and tropical cocktails. La Van had operated a previous cafe in Venice, the Bambu Hut as well as the Rhumba Cabana in Santa Monica. La Van expanded the Coral Isle in 1944. It was soon taken over by brothers Phil and Lou Stein and their partner Bob Sassner, then Bob Axelrod in September 1946.
In 1956 it became the sophisticated Culver House.
Details
- Type
- Bar & Restaurant
- Address
- Culver City, California, United States
- Closed?
- Yes (Permanently)
- Links
