California Culinary Creations

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• Hangtown Fry – In 1849, the “Hangtown Fry” is created during the California Gold Rush. The Hangtown Fry is eggs, oysters, and bacon cooked together, scrambled or as an omelet. It was created in Hangtown, now Placerville.

• Harvey Wallbanger cocktail – Pancho’s Bar, Manhattan Beach, late 1960s.

• Hobo steak – Chasen’s, Los Angeles, circa 1930s.

• Hollywood dining – Established in 1919, Musso & Frank Grill was the first full-service restaurant to open in Hollywood.

• Hot fudge sundae – Created at C.C. Brown’s, an ice-cream parlor on Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, 1906.

> Find the Best Ice Cream Shops Near You.

• Mai Tai cocktail – In 1944, Victor Bergeron of Trader Vic’s, Oakland, and his bartender created this concoction.

• Martini cocktail – Originally called the Martinez, this drink originated around 1862; by 1870, it was popularized at Julio Richelieu’s saloon in Martinez, Calif.

> Find Classic Cocktail Recipes.

• Mexican-style roast chicken – Popularized by El Pollo Loco, Los Angeles, 1980.

• Moscow Mule cocktail – In 1941, John G. Martin of Heublein, a spirits and food distributor, and Jack Morgan, owner of the Cock ’n Bull bar on L.A.’s Sunset Strip, invented this cocktail by mixing Morgan’s singer beer with Smirnoff Vodka and lime in order to market the proprietor’s struggling Cock ’n Bull’s ginger-beer franchise.

• Non-smoking dining environment – Mudd’s Restaurant, San Ramon, claims to be one of the first entirely non-smoking restaurants – outdoor-patio included, 1988.

• Orange Julius drink – Willard Hamlin’s lunch counter, Los Angeles, 1926.

• Oyster cocktail – Al Levy, one of the original founders of the CRA, invented this glamorous culinary invention, which he sold to crowds outside of downtown L.A.’s grand opera house, circa late 1880s.

• Oysters Kirkpatrick – Palace Hotel, San Francisco, circa 1900.

> GAYOT’s Guide to Oysters.

• Popsicles – Popsicles were invented by Frank Epperson in Oakland, Calif., 1905. They were originally called Epsicles.

• Radicchio – This red variety of chicory was first grown commercially in California in 1981.

• Ranch salad dressing – Hidden Valley Ranch, Santa Barbara, 1950s.

• Rumaki – Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt (Don the Beachcomber), Hollywood, 1930s.

• Shirley Temple cocktail – The sweet, pink, non-alcohol cocktail was invented in the late 1930s by a bartender at Chasen’s restaurant in Hollywood and is named for the curly-haired child star.

• Single entrée on menu – Lawry’s Restaurant, Los Angeles, 1938.

• Sourdough bread – French immigrant Isador Boudin founded the Boudin Sourdough Bakery in San Francisco and was the first to use ordinary sourdough to bake a French-style bread, 1849.

• Strawberries Romanoff – Romanoff’s, Beverly Hills, circa 1940s.

• Valet parking – In 1946, L.A.’s Lawry’s Restaurant introduces a new concept for the convenience of its guests.

• Veal Oscar – Scandia, Los Angeles, 1946.

• Zombie cocktail – Ernest Raymond Beaumont-Gantt (Don the Beachcomber), Hollywood, circa 1930s.

This article was reprinted with permission by the California Restaurant Association.