For more than six decades, A-listers have flocked to L.A. hotspot Dan Tana’s — and not just for the legendary chicken parm. Dan Tana, who died Aug. 16 at 90, opened his eponymous West Hollywood Italian restaurant in 1964 and established the warm service that became a calling card.
Born in Belgrade, Tana played pro soccer in Canada before moving to the U.S. to pursue acting. While honing his craft, he landed gigs at L.A. restaurants Miceli’s and La Scala. Tana’s own spot took over for the former Dominick’s on a stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard that was not yet the nightlife destination it would become.
Business was slow until a 1966 L.A. Times review deemed it the “best new Italian restaurant in the city.” Popularity also increased during the ’70s with the prominence of nearby music venue the Troubadour, as performers like Elton John and the Eagles — whose “Lyin’ Eyes” was inspired by nights at Dan Tana’s — would frequent it after shows.
Dan Tana’s
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“He didn’t make it as an actor, but he certainly got to hang out with them,” Alison Martino, a longtime friend of the restaurant who runs its Facebook page, tells The Hollywood Reporter. Indeed, the eatery’s comforting red-sauce fare and casual feel helped endear it to famous regulars Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Frank Sinatra and Jack Nicholson, to name a few. In 1999, James Woods sung its praises to THR.
Some menu items are named after special guests, like the veal Milanese à la George Clooney, who hosted his 2006 post-Oscars party at Dan Tana’s. “It feels like you walked right into the moment it was conceived,” Cameron Diaz told THR in 2014 about its unchanged look.
Tana dabbled in film producing, and his name inspired Robert Urich’s moniker, Dan Tanna, on Vega$, a series produced by Dan Tana’s fan Aaron Spelling. After spurning offers from such interested parties as maitre d’ Craig Susser — who opened his own namesake restaurant in 2011 — Tana sold Dan Tana’s in 2009 to friend Sonja Perencevic, who still runs it.
“He really cemented a following before he sold it, and they didn’t change anything,” says George Geary, author of L.A.’s Legendary Restaurants. “It’s just that old Hollywood feel.”
In 2014, Tana recalled to THR that Drew Barrymore’s parents changed her diaper on the bar and marveled, “We are still serving my original customers — and their children and grandchildren.”
This story appeared in the Sep. 3 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
