10 Best Classic Mid-Century Restaurants in L.A.: Pretend You're in Mad Men

Richard George Photography

5. Clearman's North Woods Inn:
"Clearman's has fake snow on the roof, and it looks like an enormous log cabin. It's like an old hunting lodge theme. There's sawdust on the floor, and you can throw your peanut shells on the floor too. The waitresses wear these skimpy outfits, Bavarian style, short skirts, a lot of cleavage." 7247 Rosemead Blvd., San Gabriel; 626-286-8284.

Flickr user starathena

4. The Smoke House:
"This one shares the history of being one of the great Hollywood hangouts for Disney and the other studios -- that's where they would go for a cocktail and cheese bread. It just has all the great elements of a mid-century, old English style restaurant. In "The Larry Sanders Show," they were always saying, 'We're going to the Smokehouse!'" 4420 West Lakeside Drive, Burbank; 818-845-3731.

Image courtesy Lawry's

3. Tam O'Shanter:
"An incredibly well themed restaurant from the '20s. It is the oldest family operated restaurant in Los Angeles. Musso and Frank is older, but they haven't been owned by the same family. It's got a great English/Scottish-looking building, the interior has a big fireplace, and all the flags from the different Scottish clans. Walt Disney was a regular and had a favorite table there. They serve English-style food, and they also have skimpy outfits -- slightly Scottish looking." 2980 Los Feliz Blvd., Los Angeles; 323-664-0228.

Flickr user meltwater

2. Musso & Frank Grill:
"A great Hollywood watering hole, been there forever, incredible cocktails, famous for their martinis, sidecars, and manhattans, and they have a little carafe of cocktail that they serve with the main cocktail, so you have two essentially two cocktails. And incredible food -- and they have an open charcoal grill, very traditional.

"They have the rear entrance, because in Los Angeles, when the car really started to dominate, the main entrances of a lot of these places went from the street to the rear, because that's where the parking lot was. Like Bullocks Wilshire, and the same is true of all the big department stores that were constructed after the 1920s. You've got to go past the kitchen -- and you get to see what's going on there -- before you get into the main area." 6667 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood; 323-467-7788.