Dinerwood: Los Angeles Diner Reviews: Chips--Something familiar.
I finally did it, after nearly three years of writing this blog. I finally made the trip to Hawthorne to visit the classic Googie restaurant, Chips. Dinerpal Paul and I celebrated our President's Day off work (actually Paul has been out of work for a year so he probably just thought it was a regular Saturday) and drove out to Inglewood. I can now say I've hit all of the titans of the LA Diner pantheon.
A recent review on Yelp claims that this was the location of the Pumpkin/Honey Bunny scene in "Pulp Fiction," but like most things on Yelp, it's wrong. This is actually a fairly common misconception, though. That scene was actually filmed at the Hawthorne Grill, which was located on the same street as Chips, but was demolished several years ago.
There's a lot of plants inside for some reason. They are really out of place and honestly distract from the retro decor. They didn't need plants inside in the 50s, they had plenty of oxygen.
I grumbled a little bit when it took a while for our waitress to come over to take our drink orders. She returned with my coffee and Paul's iced tea. She also brought me a gigantic bowl of non-dairy creamer. Even if I did use that nasty stuff, I couldn't have hoped to use all of it in the span of a normal meal time. The coffee was pretty good.
Looking up from our table, I noticed this sign above the counter. I've seen it before and only about two weeks ago. Then I looked at the menu.
This is the same menu as Rod's Grill! It turns out that they have the same owner. Manny (I'm assuming his name is Manny) has a Los Angeles diner empire.
Dinerpal Paul ordered the Mardi Gras Omelet. Why is it the Mardi Gras omelet? No idea. It has turkey, spinach, bacon, avocado, and jack cheese. I guess it's colorful like Mardi Gras? Paul liked it. He said that the spinach didn't over power everything else in the omelet.
Paul also wanted me to note that "the ketchup flowed easily" and that they also had sugar-free syrup, which to a diabetic like him is "like a dream." Sometimes I really appreciate when Paul comes out with me, sometimes...not.
My breakfast was great. The home fries were simple but crispy on the edges and soft in the middle. I did get the odd surprise off a small piece of chicken mixed in with my potatoes. I wouldn't expect that every time though. My eggs, over-easy, were perfect. The ham steak was a delicious cut of meat that was just a little crispy.
My pancakes were very dense. I had to use a knife to cut them. They were smaller around than what you usually see, but since this was just a side order, I could see them doing a smaller size than for a regular order. The syrup was really good. It had a hint of butterscotch flavor in it. I know this might be weird, but I actually poured a little into a cup and took a sip. It was really tasty on its own.
I asked our waitress about pie and she said they only had apple today. That was a little disappointing as I was really in the mood for a cream pie.
Chips's food was great and reasonably priced. I definitely would recommend checking it out.
If you had listed whether the ketchup flowed easily on ALL your reviews, this website would be like goddamn CNN.
Grew up in Hawthorne, was a Sunday tradition to go to the movies at Hawthorne mall with my mother and grandmother then afterwards we'd go to Chips for dessert and I'd always get a banana split. Haven't been back in decades but I still drive by it all the time. Seeing your review has me ready to stop back in soon. Love your blog.