Click here to browse through our list of rare classic movies & vintage TV shows

THE HAM AND EGGER RESTAURANT

Bob Hope, Alan Young, and Jimmy Durante ate and broadcast from the historic Ham and Egger Restaurant

Bernard Luggage is a luggage company at Hollywood and Vine that is owned by Bob Blue. Bob inherited it from his parents who owned it for decades. In the late 1940s and 1950s there was a restaurant called the Ham and Egger in the very same building. Johnny Grant was the host of a show that was broadcast from the restaurant. Bob Hope, Jimmy Durante, and Alan Young were among the famous celebrities that Johnny interviewed on his show.


Frank Bresee - Photo from yestedayusa.com

Bob HopeAlan YoungJimmy Durante
Bob Hope, Alan Young, and Jimmie Durante


Johnny Grant

Click on the player below to hear a radio program with host, Frank Bresee, interviewing Johnny Grant and hear the show where Johnnie interviewed comedians Alan Young, Jimmy Durante, and Bob Hope, broadcast from what was then the Ham and Egger Restaurant.


Now the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency wants to take this historic property from Bob Blue by eminent domain and to give the property to the W Hotel who plan to demolish it and the buildings that house thirty other small businesses who are facing the same fate.

Here is a rendering of the proposed W Hotel project which will cost $500 million.

The government is painting a picture of providing jobs and 20% housing for low-income people (Click here for the CRA's description of the proposed hotel.}. The websites belonging to the developers Legacy Partners and Gatehouse paint quite a different picture and truthfully describe the high-end luxury hotel that is really proposed for the 4.6 acre site. According to the Legacy Partners website, "Since 1968, Legacy Partners Residential has built luxury multifamily communities throughout the western United States." Their website describes the LUXURY APARTMENTS and LUXURY CONDIMINIUMS that are planned. Click here for the truth about what is being planned with your tax dollars. The website for the other developer, Gatehouse Capital paints a similar picture and describes the signature restaurant, spa, fitness facility, and nationally recognized bar that is planned for the project Click here, then when the page loads click the word properties; then click the hollywood description on the left.. The heading says "star of the show. This one was born to walk past the red carpet past the velvet rope. From glamorous brand name venues to fivestar service, W Hollywood Hotel and Residences will seduce you -- mind, body, and soul." Why is our tax money being given to rich politically connected developers to demolish historic buildings and remove established decades-old businesses, in order to build projects described by the developers as glamorous luxury facilities? Why is the city's description of the project so different than the descriptions that are provided on the developers' websites?

If you feel that this project and similar luxury corporate welfare projects should not be built with our tax dollars, please sign our petition.



The petition will be ready in a day or so. Please click the button below to chat with someone from PALS,
or to leave a message for them if they are away from the computer. We will inform you when the petition is ready.




Click here to return to PALS