L.A. Trip - Day 2: Dinner And A Movie

I'm not sure what time we made it back to the hotel, but it was around 5:00pm.  We freshened up a bit then walked down Hollywood Blvd. to have dinner at the Pig'N Whistle.

Situated next to the Egyptian Theatre, the Pig'N Whistle opened in 1927 as a family soda fountain and restaurant to serve the patrons of the theater.  It was either part of or launched a chain than eventually dwindled.  Now this is the last one, or there are only a few more in the L.A. area.  I don't remember the details.

Pig'N Whistle exterior.  Photo from pubcrawls.com

The Egyptian Theatre and Pig'N Whistle Cafe circa 1946.  Photo from cinematicartsacademy.com.

For dinner I had the "Rustic" Shepherd's Pie:  a "casserole of beef slow cooked in brown gravy with peas and carrots, topped with creamy mashed potatoes and jack cheese", and a creme brûlée for dessert.  Both were quite good.

But the highlight of dinner was the appetizer Todd and I split.  Or rather, it came with the appetizer.  We had an order of California Nachos with chicken which was described as "fried wonton chips with melted cheddar & jack cheeses, pico de gallo, pickled jalapeño, avocado and sour cream.  Yum.

These were tasty, but hidden behind the food mountain is a container of unbelievable goodness

It's that last item that was so outstanding - neither one of us have ever had sour cream that was so flavorful, so tangy, so thick, so cold, so perfect in all our lives.  I don't know if was because it was homemade, or because it was local and fresh, or because it was made with ground-up Ecstasy or what, but they could've just served a giant mound of it with a single cheese-covered chip and called it California Nacho and I would have been happy.

After dinner we walked to the box office of the Chinese Theatre and bought 2 tickets to the 7:15pm showing of Jurassic World.  We had already seen the movie, but who cares - it was good and the chance to see a movie inside the famous theater was worth it.  Plus, in 2013 the Chinese was converted to the largest IMAX theater in the world, so how could we not?

After the show

Inside the lobby are several famous original costumes in glass cases and the concession stand.  Off to the right are twisting stairs leading down to the men's restroom.  The auditorium is huge and elaborate...and surprisingly empty.  By the time the movie started there were maybe 20 people in the entire theater.  I can't believe more people aren't taking the opportunity to see a film in one of the most famous movie houses in the world.  At the very least, just think of all the famous butts that have sat in those seats during who-knows-how-many movie premieres over the years.

Very excited to be here

The ceiling is amazing

So ornate

The medallion in the center slowly changes colors

2015

What it must have looked like in 1935
:o)

Shhh...the movie's starting

The movie looked amazing in IMAX on the huge screen, and the sound was incredible!  It was also a great movie to watch before our trip to Universal Studios the next day.