The California Restaurant Where The Who's Who Of Old Hollywood Would Wait Hours For A Table

If you look up 326 North Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, California, on Google Maps, you will be taken to a sunny image of one of LA's most famous streets. The address houses a Saint Laurent boutique, flanked by Valentino and Moncler shops. This luxury brand surely draws in celebrities in La-La Land, but probably never attracts crowds the way a previous tenant did. During Hollywood's Golden Age, this address housed Romanoff's, a restaurant known for its high-profile clientele and cutthroat selectivity when it came to admittance.

From the time Romanoff's opened in 1939, the crème de la crème of Tinseltown clamored to get inside. The owner, who was known as Prince Michael Alexandrovich Dmitry Obolensky Romanoff, opened the eatery with the help of some A-list pals which included Cary Grant, James Cagney, Charlie Chaplin, and Humphrey Bogart, so the restaurant's reputation for being an illustrious locale was already in place. The most desirable seating at Romanoff's included five booth tables located at the front of the restaurant. Sitting here meant all eyes — those inside the restaurant and those passing by outside — were on you. For a fame-hungry celebrity, this was everything. Some stars would sit at the bar for hours in hopes that they'd score a spot at a booth, but nothing was guaranteed.

Owner Romanoff worked hard to secure his reputation and maintain the exclusiveness of his restaurant. But, interestingly enough, this man who claimed to be of royal bloodlines, turned out to be nothing more than a petty scam artist, despite his very successful restaurant endeavor.

Prince Michael Alexandrovich Dmitry Obolensky Romanoff (pictured above, right) claimed to be the son of Russian Czar Alexander III, but he was actually born in Lithuania and christened Harry Geguzin. He later changed his last name to Gerguson when he came to America and largely lived off being a con man before he found success as a restaurateur in Hollywood. The funny thing is that most of his famous associates knew "Romanoff" was a phony; even his famous investors knew his alleged pedigree, English accent, and backstory were complete hogwash. But this was Hollywood, where faux personas were commonly crafted for personal gain, and they still vied for his attention.

Among those who frequented Romanoff's were Lana Turner, Alfred Hitchcock, Groucho Marx, Billy Wilder, Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe (who ate breakfast like a body builder), Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, and Jimmy Stewart. One of the most famous snapshots of the era, featuring Jayne Mansfield and Sophia Loren (who makes a great lemon spaghetti) was taken at Romanoff's. You know the one: Loren gives Mansfield's chest the side eye just as the camera snapped. Eventually, as the Golden Age of Hollywood was coming to an end, so was the obsession with Romanoff's, and it closed after a final dinner on New Year's Eve in 1962.

It's difficult to think of a modern day equivalent of Romanoff's. Celebrity-owned restaurants (and McDonald's Celebrity Meals) have seemingly taken the place of eateries where movie stars go to be seen. Beverly Hills' Polo Lounge and Spago, and New York's Elaine's and Sardi's may have come close, but nothing has equaled the glitz and glam of Romanoff's.