No Lyin' Eyes

The Joy of the Familiar at Dan Tana's

Red checkered tablecloths in a restaurant are a secret signal for those of us in the hoi polloi - you are welcome here, there will be sauce that is red and there will be cheese. Generally, these establishments are also inexpensive, but not always.

When you visit Dan Tana’s in West Hollywood, you will most certainly feel welcomed, even while rubbing elbows with Hollywood elites. Dan Tana’s was opened in its same location in 1964 by a Serbian soccer player who was once the maitre d’ at the famous La Scala in Beverly Hills. Dobrivoje Tanasijević adopted the moniker Dan Tana after the main character in the television show Vegas, starring Robert Urich, and then named the place after himself.

Housed in a 1929 bungalow, with just 20 tables, serving New York-Italian versions of chicken parm, fettuccini alfredo, and fried ravioli - the place struggled until a rave review in 1966 made it a hot spot. Two years later, Tana hired a waiter who would become his head bartender and an LA legend - a Croatian immigrant named, Miljenko "Michael" Gotovac who became known for his longevity, stiff drinks, and his curmudgeonly demeanor.

The place boomed in the 1970s, frequented by heavyweights like John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, and Johnny Carson. Richard Burton famously complained to Carson on The Tonight Show about being turned away because the restaurant was full.

A lot of what Dan Tana’s is serving is sameness - very much the same menu, the same decor, and the same treatment of its guests, regardless of our status. My parents spent time there in the 80’s, and in the late 80’s the restaurant hired a cook named Neno Mladenović, a Croatian, born in Split, the second-largest city in Croatia and near my grandfather’s village. Neno remains the head chef today. The place was teeming with Croats in the 1980s and our family loved the unique style of gruff hospitality.

Much later, in 2000, we celebrated my father’s belated birthday at Dan Tana’s. The tableside happy birthday from Mike Gotovac made us feel like royalty. The walls in the restaurant are adorned with paintings by local artists and memorabilia. The Magic Johnson and Jerry West Lakers jerseys are favorites. The place is so Laker-crazy that they had braciola Vlade Divac, and shrimp scampi Jerry Buss on the menu. My father’s post-birthday dinner was during the last game of the Western Conference finals, which would send the Lakers back to the NBA Finals, and for the first time Kobe Bryant. The place stopped near the end of the game. It was game 7, the kitchen staff came out to crowd around the bar and watch the game. We left our table to join them, as did others. Shaq dropped 18, Kobe 25 and the Lakers beat the Blazers by 5.

The place erupted.

We all may as well have been in our living room. Which is sort of the point.

The famous live music club, the Troubadour is steps away from Dan Tana’s. Elton John made his US debut there, and Dylan, Springsteen, and Axl Rose have all performed there and all have eaten at Dan Tana’s.

Famously, the Eagles were formed at the Troubadour, as Linda Ronstadt’s backup band, and they also spent late nights at Dan Tana’s. In 1974 Don Henley and Glenn Frye were sitting at table 4, observing all the beautiful women dining there, and began to imagine which ones weren’t with their husbands. Seeing a woman with a much older man, they wrote the lyrics to Lyin’ Eyes on a Napkin.

My buddy and I visited the Troubadour one night to see a singer with a following much younger than myself. We stood at the big bar facing the stage, in the uncrowded venue. The singer was unknown and it was a weeknight. At the end of the bar, two young and attractive women noticed us. My buddy noticed first. As they were completely age-inappropriate for us, I was skeptical until the truth became apparent - “Buddy”, I said. “They think we’re on a date, and probably because we’re dressed exactly alike.” We both wore jeans and black T-shirts because, of course, we had no idea what you wear to a club on a Wednesday in the big city. Our egos deflated, we sought comfort at the Dan Tana’s bar, which took us in, where we kept drinking vodka tonics until closing, punctuated by bowls of Penne Arrabiata.

I more recently had a 50th birthday dinner at Dan Tana’s. Solid. Same as it ever was. But so are sunsets aren’t they? There is comfort in consistency.

Do not come to Dan Tana’s seeking rarity - come expecting the familiar.

Dan Tana’s

9071 Santa Monica Blvd, West Hollywood, CA 90069

(310) 275-9444

Sunday – Saturday 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm