Chasen's

Chasen's was a famous restaurant frequented by film stars, entertainers, politicians, and other dignitaries in West Hollywood, California, located at 9039 Beverly Boulevard on the border of Beverly Hills. It opened for business in 1936 and was the site of the Academy Awards party for many years. It was also famous for its chili. Elizabeth Taylor had several orders of Chasen's chili flown to the set of Cleopatra in 1963 while filming in Rome, and to Oroville, California during the filming of The Klansman in 1974.

Many of the restaurant's regular customers had booths named in their honor. The Ronald Reagan booth is now on display at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and was where Reagan proposed to his actress wife Nancy Davis.

Well-known celebrities with their own booths included Frank Sinatra, Alfred Hitchcock, James Stewart, and Groucho Marx. The restaurant suffered a decline in business over the course of many years and closed permanently in 1995.

Comedian Dave Chasen, who had starred in many shows, especially with Joe Cook, such as Fine and Dandy, opened the restaurant in December 1936 on the advice of director Frank Capra.

When Walt Disney went to Chasen's to have dinner in late 1937 following the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, he met conductor Leopold Stokowski and talked to him about arranging Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice for a short with Mickey Mouse and he agreed which eventually led to the development of Disney's 3rd full-length animated film Fantasia.^{[citation needed]}

It was initially called "Chasen's Southern Pit". The New Yorker's founder/editor Harold Ross funded the operation, along with business associate Daniel Silberberg. It was nothing more than a shack at the beginning, but it quickly became well known for its chili and was soon a favorite among Hollywood stars. Capra had to lend Chasen his silverware for the restaurant's operation.

Walt Disney, Leopold Stokowski, Cary Grant, Jack Benny, Jackie Gleason, and W. C. Fields were among its customers.

As newer generations took the reins of Hollywood, trendier restaurants drew the celebrities and "stole" some of Chasen's clientele, but many stayed faithful to the end. Ronald Reagan and Frank Sinatra as well as Richard Nixon, Gregory Peck, Bob Hope, and Jack Lord were still regulars, along with newer celebrities such as Jack Nicholson, John Travolta and Mel Gibson.