It Was Martin Luther King's Birthday, 1994. It was 4:31AM.
Jamie Foxx was sitting at the front table with BIZMARKIE,
LAKER'S , RAMS, L.A. RAIDERS... the place was crankin...
I actually thought the subwoofers were kickin in heavily.
Then the TV Monitors started moving, the Mirror Balls were shaking,
and the floor was rolling under my feet. Everybody had just
come from StringFellows on Rodeo Drive. Normally Dr. Dre, Snoop,
Shaq, Teddy Riley, Jimmie Jam, Gary Grey, Chris Rock would have
stopped by to check out the food or the ladies. Travolta came to eat
with Stevie Wonder one morning at 7am and had BBQ chicken and a
Milkshake. I now think he got the idea for the "Pulp Fiction" Milkshake
when he tried our Haagen-Dazs shake.


Our business history
Since 1928 in Chicago our family has been operating many different foodservice operations. "Puddy's" bar and dining room with a gambling casino in the back on Chicago's Roosevelt Road flourished in the Roaring 20's through the prohibition and on into the 1940's. Something about moonshine and poker.

Our Grandmother Rosie moved to Los Angeles to open "The Terrace Cafe" during WWII. Allen's in downtown L.A. was famous for the best brisket in L.A. Jerry Parker, being a motorcycle rider in the late 40's bought a burger and pastrami fast food restaurant called the "Bali-Butn". This was a favorite stop for the local police, California Highway Patrol, and Hells Angels. They knew where to eat.

The Natural Feast in the Bonaventure Hotel served 1000's of conventioneers in the early 80's. Frozen yogurt was Larry's first foodservice. Opened in Downtown Los Angeles in 1977 and expanded to Palm Springs in September of 1977. Larry Parker's 24 Hour Beverly Hills Diner operated from 1982-1997. We were famous for the Haagen-Dazs milkshake that John Travolta ordered in the movie "Pulp Fiction" and Drew Barrymore's favorite vegetarian dishes and maybe having something for everyone. Shaq came by every night for a milkshake and to see our beautiful dancing waitresses.

We specialized in parties. The restaurant was like a public party. Conventions hired us to produce parties and cater for as many as 7,000 people at one time. Debbie was raised in her families restaurant in Hudson Ohio, called the BBQ dipped sausages are the best on the boardwalk. Stop by and see what we are doing today or e-mail us with your order we will ship our sausages virtually anywhere in the world!

Bold Magazine's story about Larry Parker's Diner and Big Daddy's
This was a preview e-mail "The Story" starts below this text
Subj: Pub Page - Feb 2001

Date: 1/26/01 1:29:32 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: tapeles@boldmagazine.com (Teena Apeles)
To: DavisMultiMedia@aol.com (Michael Davis) Ziff-Davis Publishing Family

One Man's Dream

Although I am a definite advocate of freedom of expression, I also have an obligation to the community. We are still going to be a fun, wild and outrageous magazine, but instead of breaking all the rules, we will break most of them.




The Story: One Man's Dream


Everybody who was anybody (and nobody) would be seen at Larry's 24-hour diner. Slowly but surely, with the influence of stars like Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy, the famous Beverly Hills restaurant became known as the cool hangout in the early '90s. In fact, Larry was so far ahead of his time he put monitors and a full-fledged sound system in and pumped it up.

Word-of-mouth spread, and the hip-hop crowd followed suit into the small diner. Larry Parker's became the "in" spot for artists, actors, and comedians like Jennifer Lopez, all the Wayans family, Chris Rock, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Dr. Dre, Coolio, Jamie Foxx, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, Angela Bassett, Natalie Cole, Mike Tyson, Snoop Dog, LL Cool J, Eazy-E, Busta Rhymes (before he was famous) and Tone Loc. You name 'em, they ate at Larry's. In fact, you could see unedited rap videos of these artists before BET or MTV would premiere them. Larry had only one rule: No dancing on the tables!

The years went by and everybody enjoyed great food, entertainment, a clientele that included lots of sexy girls, and fun. However, no one could have predicted that Larry would soon be in for a fight. Cops from the Beverly Hills Police Department began harassing him and primarily his African-American customers: telling people to go somewhere else, pulling them over for no reason, and parking police cars around Larry's to intimidate them, among other things. To make matters worse, the city would not grant him permits for outside patio dining, making it increasingly difficult for Larry to operate his business.

Larry's "hip-hop" diner eventually closed its doors in 1997. He, his wife and their two sons soon moved away from Beverly Hills. Luckily, it wasn't long before Larry's life took a turn for the better. Within a few months, Larry opened Big Daddy's a landmark Venice restaurant on the boardwalk.

Big Daddy's, located at Oceanfront Walk and Market Street, is open everyday serving fresh food from sunrise to sundown. Larry has proven you must never stop fighting for something you believe in through all of life's ups and downs. His dream to serve the best damn food in L.A. to anyone who wants to eat it (black, white, yellow and green) has finally been realized! Isn't that the American way?

Michael Davis
Publisher
Lpdinerman@aol.com