Monday, July 09, 2007

History of Denny's Restaurant

Denny's restaurant signThe Denny's Restaurant chain did not exactly originate from Orange County, though pretty close. It's first location opened up in Lakewood, CA in 1953. Back then it was just a donut shop named "Danny's Donuts".

But being that it started here in Southern California, many Orange County residents got to experience Denny's long before the rest of the world did, and got to experience first hand the makings of perhaps the most iconic full-service restaurant chain in America.

Denny's did, however, have a connection to Orange County in that it's national headquarters was located in Irvine up until 1991, when it moved to Spartanburg, SC, after it was bought out by TW Services, Inc. TW Services, Inc. went through a series of name changes until it finally decided to call itself, "Denny's Corporation". I guess you can't keep a good Southern California phenomenon down.

I decided to create a blog post about Denny's after an OCThen reader named Ward Hollesen posted a comment (under a Knott's Berry Farm article of all places) explaining how he helped build some of the earliest Denny's restaurant, and explained how Harold Butler, the founder of Denny's, had once owned Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas...

My first wife and I moved from Clovis Ca (near Fresno) to Orange in 1960. Her uncle was one of the founders of Denny's Coffee shops. They were called Danny's at that time. The first one was at Florance and Lakewood in Downey. Her uncle was in charge of the building part and I worked as a framer for them. I helped build three of them. One in Gardena,One in Lancaster, and one in San Bernadino. We lived on Pepper street in Orange. Danny's at that time had a little donut shop in the right hand corner where you could stop at a window and order Donuts or go inside to the coffee shop area. We didn't have much money in those days so we would go to Knott's berry farm because it was free and we could picnic on the lawn. Then the hippies started camping out there so they built a fence and started charging to get in. During that time for corporate reasons they changed the name to Denny's My wife's uncle was not only corporate but he and his wife owned the franchise for the one in Downey and also the one on White Lane in Bakersfield. Harold Butler was the main man I guess he was the CEO he even owned Ceasers Palace in Las Vegas for 48 hours in a stock manipulation. Those were the good old days. Ward Hollesen wardjh@hughes.net

By Ward Hollesen, at May 29, 2007 11:23 PM

There were several Denny's restaurants that my wife and I visited going back into the late 1980s when we started dating. We had our favorites, including the one in Costa Mesa, on the corner of Red Hill and Bristol, and more recently the one in Foothill Ranch, when we lived in Lake Forest.

Post a Comment at the end of this article, and tell us about your memories of Denny's Restaurant in Orange County.

26 comments:

  1. Back in 1968 and 1969, the Denny's at the corner of 17th and Bristol in Santa Ana was a real hangout on Friday and Saturday nights. A lot of the SAHS kids, including myself, would go there for breakfast after a night of partying. Late one Friday night, an extroverted young man(whose last name rhymes with "tulley") performed a striptease outside the large glass window - pressing himself against the glass as he slowly removed his clothing. We were often tossed from Denny's, so we hung out in the parking lot until the cops came.

    Bob SAHS 1969

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    1. Bob - Did the Denny's at 17th and Bristol become another place, like a jewish deli in the late 70's? Or was there one right by the Denny's? I remember going there 1976-1978, but cannot recall the name. Ate bagels with cream cheese and Dr. Brown's celray soda. Any help with memory appreciated!
      Sherry SAHS 1974 (p.s. we hung out mostly at the Bob's Big Boy on East 17th!)

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  2. My grandpa used to go to the Denny's at the corner of Bluebird and PCH in Laguna Beach every morning for coffee. I remember going there once or twice but they tore it down when I was still very young. Laguna sure could've used a 24 hour coffee shop when I was in high school but it alas went away with everything else in Laguna that was normal or nice for middle-lower class people.

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  3. I knew a lovely man named Harold Butler years ago, who happened to be the original brains behind "Denny's". I just passed the Denny's at
    Harbor & Garden Grove, and was appalled to see a banner that read ... "Feliz Navidad" ... I looked around for something 'in English' and found NOTHING.
    Pretty damned pathetic in my book.
    DENNY'S IS AN ALL AMERICAN RESTAURANT and it's too bad new owners don't follow Mr. Butler's lead and treat it as SUCH. Even at Denny's in Acapulco, they probably have a sign in ENGLISH.

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    1. Being American means embracing all culture, thinking otherwise is just appalling

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  4. In 1961 I was attending Fullerton Jr. College as a freshman. I had come from a small town in Ohio and became aquainted with Steve Butler, son of Harold Butler. We became friends and had lots of good times. Harold even flew us to Vegas one weekend for a great time. Steve was a very nice person and I returned to Ohio never to see him again. I would like to reconnect and ask anyone who can assist with information to do so.
    Thank you,
    Tony Langham
    pced@bright.net
    Paulding, OH 45879

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  5. I 'd like to see a Denny"s back in Des Moines Ia we miss the Denny's

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  6. Am I the only person who remembers transitional signs that read Dannys/Dennys? I cannot find any mention of these signs anywhere.

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  7. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5173037512_321d7e37cd.jpg

    Denny's San Bernardino

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  8. The Denny's on Rosemead/Lakewood Blvd. just north of Florence Ave. on the west side and on a strangely tapered piece of property wasthe first one I was aware of. It was about 300 feet north of the MacDonald's on the southwest corner of Lakewood and Florence. Is the 5520 South St. address in the city of Lakewood presently occupied by a Denny's the site of the first one? Rex saylor7@centurytel.net

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  9. In the 1950's there was also the "Danny's Doughnuts" Denny's restaurant on Bellflower Blvd. and Del Amo Blvd. in Lakewood, CA. It was right around the block from me and I would beg my mom to allow me to go and buy a doughnut. It is now a KFC!

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  10. I worked with Harold Butler for a period of time when he was the CEO of the JoJo's restaurant chain. I was hired as a construction manager and managed the construction of JoJo's restaurants in Wisconsin. Illinois, and California. Harold was great to work with and was a true innovator in the restaurant industry.
    I have fond memories of the folks I worked with at JoJo's. It was a great learning experience.

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  11. Can anyone tell me if there has been a Denny's in Jonesboro, Ar.

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  12. I knew Harold Butler and his wife (who was actor Tom Mix's daughter). When I met Harold, the main Denny's headquarters was just North of Lincoln Ave. and Knott. It was about the size of a house. I sold the Los Angeles Times and Hearld Examiner (their Sunday edition was sold outside grocery stores on both Saturday and Sunday). On that corner was a Thriftimart Supermarket (that's where I sold newspapers). One Saturday, Harold came to the market (a 2 minute walk from Denny's headquarters) and bought a paper. He asked me to bring him every Saturday at the headquarters; which I did. Several years later they moved the office to LaMirada (along I-5) and he bought out Winchell's. During the headquarters time there, a child got lost one night and a bunch of us CB radio nuts when to Fullerton to see if we could help find the child. When it was over, Mrs. Butler took all the CBers (she was one too) to the Harbor and Orangethorpe Denny's and bought us all coffee. While there she showed us her dad's (Tom Mix's) badge he wore in the western movies. After about 1973 I lost track of the Butler's, but remember that they both were friendly people. In the 1960's I cooked at the Denny's (#29) which was located in the East Anaheim Center at State College Blvd and Lincoln. I ate in the 50's at the Danny's Donuts and Cafe, which later became one of the original Denny's. It was also on Lincoln, but just East of Brookhurst st.

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  13. They didn't put up a fence to keep the hippies out, what a redneck statement.
    Knott's Berry Farm launched a $17 million expansion. Between 1968 and 1975 was the reason.

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    1. Not quite. the original reason was to keep all people from camping overnight in fall 1966. After almost two years Knotts' went into the amusement ride business in 1968.

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  14. My car club met at the Denny's on State College just north of the 91. for a few years. Had lots of fun there. This would have been around 1981 or so.

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    1. Carolina ,the watress in Dennys Rancho Bernardo, was great. She deserves a raise in pay.

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    2. U take too long to publish my comment.I am glad my waitress in Rancho Bernardo was so efficient ,friendly and competent. Carolina deserves a raise. Now publish please.


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  16. Hurry up please.
    .

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  17. It wasnot You kept erasing. a positive complement about Carolina, my terrific waitress in Rancho Bernardo. Why? Very unfair.

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  18. In 1976-77, I worked the 11 pm -7 am shift at Denny's in Costa Mesa on Harbour Blvd, right off the freeway. We had some fun times in the wee hours of that place. Things would be really busy after the bars closed, then we'd get a second rush when all the bartenders would roll in between 3-4 am. There was a coffee shop area with bright lights, counters and booths, and a dining room with low-lights, candles and a fireplace in the center of the room. I worked with a wonderful woman who loved the night-shift -- she was about 60 and tiny -- could run circles around all of us. She trained me in all the waitressing short cuts. She had a great sense of humor and fun -- we had some whipped cream fights in the middle of the night that were epic. The bartender called it the "Denny's Floor Show."

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  20. I worked at JoJo's restaurent in La Mirada in late 70's. Harold Butler's offshoot of Denny's. Menu was the same only different names.Any body remember that ??

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  21. The Denny's on Harbor across from Disneyland was a big hang-out for many Funny Car Drivers in the late 60's and early 70's.....they would stay at a Motel behind the Denny's called The Marco Polo............That is when Orange Country Raceway, Irwindale and Lions Drag Strip was still around....great memories and lots of laughs...a gal named Peggy ran the Denny's and Mr and Mrs Berman were the franchise owners....they were all like a big family

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