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L.A.'S Wildest Cafeteria Served Utopian Fantasy with a Side of Enchiladas (2014)

46 points by samclemens 7y ago

Animats 7y ago
The predecessor to Rainforest Cafe?
- algaeontoast 7y ago
  Thanks for reminding me of awesome times as a kid at rainforest cafe!
  - spike021 7y ago
    Same here! What a fun place back in the day.
HillaryBriss 7y ago
I ate at Cliftons some years ago, before the remodeling. It was pretty cool but also pretty worn out. Standard cafeteria fare, nothing really exciting. Mostly it was about the ambience. Some of the interior decoration (i.e. the fake animals and natural settings) looked like it had inspired Disneyland's designers.
120photo 7y ago
I been there. I once ended up there on a Saturday night and it was a night club with people dressed up straight out of the roaring 20's. Apparently it turns into a club at night. If you get the change it is worth checking out. If you are in the area walk over the "The Last Bookstore", also worth a look.
- byproxy 7y ago
  It's only a club now, as far as I'm aware. I went there once when it was actually a cafeteria and it was...pretty gross.
  - smogcutter 7y ago
    Nope, there is 100% still a cafeteria. They renovated a few years ago, restored the exhibits, and it’s now pretty nice again. The food’s good (like, throwback cafeteria food good, not “good” good. Get the meatloaf.) There’s also a tiki bar on the top floor. Unfortunately in an annoying LA trend the door to the tiki bar is hidden behind a mirror.
- nutate 7y ago
  It was possibly overflow from the Edison which is a separate club in downtown LA. Cliftons is Cliftons
Aloha 7y ago
I remember eating at a Cliftons in Lakewood as a kid before it closed in 2001
52-6F-62 7y ago
That was an interesting article. I don't know much about life in LA. Is downtown still a no-go? Also it looks like the Clifton's website was hacked and filled with Thai blog posts? https://cliftonscafeteria.com/ https://cliftonscafeteria.com/
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- jaaron 7y ago
  Downtown is booming: - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/business/revitalization-projects-reawaken-downtown-los-angeles.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/business/revitalization-p... - https://urbanize.la/post/la-urbanized-sparks-downtown-la%E2%80%99s-boom https://urbanize.la/post/la-urbanized-sparks-downtown-la%E2%...
- byproxy 7y ago
  Downtown is fine. Here's the website: https://www.cliftonsla.com/ https://www.cliftonsla.com/
  - 52-6F-62 7y ago
    Well that's bizarre! I got that other URL from the article and it contains some info. Maybe its just old. Anyway, thanks.
- doh 7y ago
  We moved from SF to DTLA 2.5 years ago. I never been before, but even within the last 2.5 years it improved significantly. A lot of new apartment buildings were built and a lot more are under construction, pushing rents down significantly. We went down by 50% on our rent between SF/LA and now we went down by additional 35% within last year and it doesn't seem to be stopping. A lot of the building are still quite empty and doing everything to attract tenants. The inflow of new people is also bringing new restaurants and other places. DTLA is quite enjoyable these days.
- Rebelgecko 7y ago

46 points by samclemens 7y ago

Animats 7y ago

The predecessor to Rainforest Cafe?

algaeontoast 7y ago
Thanks for reminding me of awesome times as a kid at rainforest cafe!
- spike021 7y ago
  Same here! What a fun place back in the day.

HillaryBriss 7y ago

I ate at Cliftons some years ago, before the remodeling. It was pretty cool but also pretty worn out. Standard cafeteria fare, nothing really exciting. Mostly it was about the ambience. Some of the interior decoration (i.e. the fake animals and natural settings) looked like it had inspired Disneyland's designers.

120photo 7y ago

I been there. I once ended up there on a Saturday night and it was a night club with people dressed up straight out of the roaring 20's. Apparently it turns into a club at night. If you get the change it is worth checking out. If you are in the area walk over the "The Last Bookstore", also worth a look.

byproxy 7y ago
It's only a club now, as far as I'm aware. I went there once when it was actually a cafeteria and it was...pretty gross.
- smogcutter 7y ago
  Nope, there is 100% still a cafeteria. They renovated a few years ago, restored the exhibits, and it’s now pretty nice again. The food’s good (like, throwback cafeteria food good, not “good” good. Get the meatloaf.) There’s also a tiki bar on the top floor. Unfortunately in an annoying LA trend the door to the tiki bar is hidden behind a mirror.
nutate 7y ago
It was possibly overflow from the Edison which is a separate club in downtown LA. Cliftons is Cliftons

Aloha 7y ago

I remember eating at a Cliftons in Lakewood as a kid before it closed in 2001

52-6F-62 7y ago

That was an interesting article. I don't know much about life in LA. Is downtown still a no-go? Also it looks like the Clifton's website was hacked and filled with Thai blog posts? https://cliftonscafeteria.com/ https://cliftonscafeteria.com/

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
jaaron 7y ago
Downtown is booming: - https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/business/revitalization-projects-reawaken-downtown-los-angeles.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/business/revitalization-p... - https://urbanize.la/post/la-urbanized-sparks-downtown-la%E2%80%99s-boom https://urbanize.la/post/la-urbanized-sparks-downtown-la%E2%...
byproxy 7y ago
Downtown is fine. Here's the website: https://www.cliftonsla.com/ https://www.cliftonsla.com/
- 52-6F-62 7y ago
  Well that's bizarre! I got that other URL from the article and it contains some info. Maybe its just old. Anyway, thanks.
doh 7y ago
We moved from SF to DTLA 2.5 years ago. I never been before, but even within the last 2.5 years it improved significantly. A lot of new apartment buildings were built and a lot more are under construction, pushing rents down significantly. We went down by 50% on our rent between SF/LA and now we went down by additional 35% within last year and it doesn't seem to be stopping. A lot of the building are still quite empty and doing everything to attract tenants. The inflow of new people is also bringing new restaurants and other places. DTLA is quite enjoyable these days.
Rebelgecko 7y ago