May 31, 2025 • 14 mins
Guests can now step into a piece of Hollywood and animation history with the launch of the Table 31 Experience at Tam O’Shanter, Los Angeles’ oldest restaurant operated by the same family in the same location. For the first time, diners can reserve Walt Disney’s favorite table and enjoy a curated, story-rich evening in the very seat where Disney and his Imagineers once gathered for countless meals and creative conversations. Take a listen!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Today we're going to change that with John Lindquist. He's
the managing partner at tam O'Shanter in Los Felis. And
I welcome you to the show, my friend Neil. Thanks
for having me. It's a pleasure and I appreciate you
taking the time to come down. I know Saturdays are
very hard, they're a busy time for restaurants for a
(00:21):
couple reasons. I do want to talk about tam as
a whole because it's one of my all time favorite
places that encapsulates, you know, motion, a vibe, a sense
of getting away and away from the noise in life.
Great food, you know, fun servers, people that seem to
want to want to be there and work there, people
(00:43):
enjoying themselves, all these things. But I want to start
out with something you're doing now with Table thirty one,
a special that you're doing. Why don't you tell people
about table thirty one please?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
So Table thirty one is the most requested table in
the restaurant.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
It actually was Walt Disney's favorite table.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Wow, did he ever say why it was? Is there
is the location? I've seen it, I've never sat there,
But is there some reason that he wanted that.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's a foretop, right, Yeah, it's a fore top, mainly
because it was his back would be up to the wall.
He could see everybody coming in through the bar area
was mafia, no, but he would take his meetings there,
and you got to remember the animators were there too,
and they always wanted to get stuff in front of him.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
He could see him coming fire.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
People were going to show his wares or their wares
or whatever. And he had his favorites there as well. Right,
His foods that he liked that he ordered quite often.
Was he the Taypo ordered the same meal over and over?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
From what you've heard, Yeah, he was pretty much here's
a meat potatoes kind of guy. Yeah, so chili fried eggs,
hamburger steaks, real simple.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Fair Wow, sounds like me without all the genius, but
the appetites similar, and so there's a lot of I mean,
the vibe of tam O'Shanter is also whimsical, and it
wasn't far from the studio at the time, and all
of those things, so it made sense. Do you know
(02:13):
of any specific I don't know, deals or ideas that
were made at table thirty one.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, I mean a lot of things were done at
Table thirty one. Table thirty one was part of the
inspiration for some attractions in Disneyland were actually formed right there.
He sketched him on the back of Tama Shanner napkins,
which are now in the family Archive in San Francisco.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Wow, they won't even give us a copy of them,
but really we did.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
We were able to get what was on those napkins
and we were able to etch it into the table.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So you can see the etchings on the table.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
That's cool. Yeah, that's cool and permanent and a really
neat thing. There are so many people that in Los
Angeles have touched or experienced or have had an idea
pop into their head. To be able to, I don't know,
commemorate that in a way is powerful. Now, you folks
(03:10):
at tam O'shantern have gone above and beyond with that
and now offering something that you couldn't get before, and
that is a lunch and a dinner that's been curated
around the Walt Disney experience with a historian or somebody.
So explain about that.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, So guests have the opportunity now to book and
guarantee the table before it was always like a first come,
first serve, you know, and you never knew if you
were going to get it. So those who didn't get
it felt like their day got ruined because they didn't
get to sit at the table. So now we made
an experience via open table where people can book it
out for two hour time slots. So basically how it
works is they get a four course meal either lunch
(03:51):
or dinner, and it's some of We've got Wall's favorite
burger on there, which is the only place in the
restaurant you can get that burger is at that table.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, because it's not on the menu right now, it's not.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
On the menu, and it's it's always been like this
secret menu item, but it was it's never official. It
was not officially put on a menu anywhere. So they
can get they had the opportunity to have that. And
then throughout the meal, we've got our storytellers there. So
we've got our historians on staff, our Disney table ambassadors.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
That's so cool to come to the table and they'll
bring little.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Tidbits and talk about, you know, the experience that Wald
had when he was there.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
You know what's funny is I don't have a problem
eating alone, you know. For what I do, I try
a lot of places out and go places. My wife
is not a big foodie, so so you know, I'd
go occasionally. But Town is one of the few places
where I just go sit at the bar and have
(04:46):
a meal there and don't even think about it. Just
the vibe of the place and talking with whoever's bawding
the stick and just hanging out is just it just
puts you in a whole different mindset. How long have
you been the managing partner.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I've been running the place for the families for fifteen
years now.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, And you know what brought you there? Had you
been in that industry before? Had you known the history
of tam O'Shanter?
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I lucked out, honestly, good for you. So I came
out of grad school, I went to Vegas.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I was working in restaurants there, and then I ended
up in la randomly with the same company that I
was working in Vegas. They were opening a restaurant out here.
Didn't do so well, and then I found Lowri's. I
found Lowri's the primer m. I said, wow, it's an
interesting restaurant, it's an interesting concept. I think I'll go
and work for them. So luckily they gave me a job,
and then you know, the spot at the Tama Shutter
came out. They said, this would be perfect for you. You know,
(05:41):
you'd love to do this. It's a real challenge and
it's a fun place to work and I lucked out,
you know, fifteen years ago.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Good for you, I mean, and it is it is.
I would imagine it's a challenge for a couple of reasons.
You have new people coming in. You have old people
who have been there and I mean old who have
experienced the restaurant through whatever changes or thereof, and things
like that that want things exactly the way to stay.
And I always find that heritage places throw that curveball
(06:08):
where keeping it the same but moving it forward is
a battle.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Is that true? That's absolutely true. We have our what
we refer to as our legacy guests, right.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, some of them. I called them old legacy guests
sounds better.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
So we've been open for one hundred and three years.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, we have guests who are one hundred and three
years old who have been there every year for their
birthday essentially, which is which is nuts to think about,
you know, one hundred three years old in the restaurant
business is crazy. But to have guests who have been
there for the better part of that century that we've
been open to balance having to move forward, you know,
having to put a vegetarian dish on the menu. Yeah,
(06:42):
I mean that was a scary thing when that was done,
you know, twenty years ago, and you can imagine the uproar.
But every every time we change the menu a little bit,
we do get a lot of pushback from the guests there.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
So, well, where's this dish? Where's that dish? They said.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
We always tell them, Listen, you got to remember that
that dish you had twenty thirty years ago. It might
have changed, but that was new twenty and thirty years
ago when you started like, yeah, so you're gonna find
something new.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, something Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it.
You know, that's the whole point is. That's why it's
funny how tam o' shantered has been through, you know,
all kinds of different things La has been through. But
the reality is most places that are coming into the
sea and the food scene now are trying to find
(07:25):
a vibe, trying to find something that's worth. It's more
than just the food. Now now people want an atmosphere
and they want you know, and Tam has had it
the whole time. So people get to go in there
enjoy that. And whenever I walk in, I don't care
what time of the year it is, I always feel,
you know. Now, the holidays are always fun, and of
(07:46):
course going in there in March is always a blast.
But it just has its own energy and speaks to
an older La and Hollywood that I happen to be
a fan of. So you're very lucky to do though.
Right now, my guest is John Lindquist. He is the
managing partner of Tam o' shanter in Los Felis in
(08:07):
Los Angeles here right off of the five if you're
going that way, and it just is a special place.
It's owned by the Lowry's folks, so you know that
they The food is already spectacular, but the vibe and
the history one hundred and three years old, it just
is an incredibly special place. And so John was talking
about how Table thirty one is where you know, Walt
(08:30):
Disney used to sit there with you know, three guests
and make deals and come up with you know, ideas
of things, you know, notes on napkins type stuff and
talk about having a foot in the door of history.
And we were talking a little bit about how you
can now get that. You can reserve that table a
(08:52):
special meal for a special price that I think is fantastic.
It's basically a four course meal there. You can check
that out. Do you have to go to the lowry
site first? You go to Lowry's to find you guys?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Oh yeah, you can go to Tamil Shadder dot com
or Lowry's online dot com dot you either.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Way, and then you can on the open table you
can reserve and get your reservations there. So what's going
on with the menu right now? What are the things?
Prime Rib obviously is going to be on there, but
what are some things that are the favorites of people
that come in tam O Shanter.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
So our number one favorite during the daytime lunch service
is our brisket sandwich. Oh yeah, We've been doing brisket
for a long long time. It's the most popular and
I know why because it's the only thing my wife
asked me to bring home from the restaurant, you know,
after being there at fifteen years that's the one thing
she still requests, can.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You bring me some brisket tonight?
Speaker 1 (09:50):
It is? It is an incredible sandwich. And yeah, brisket's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah, it goes great with our pant coleslaw, beets and
pickles that we've been doing for at least fifty Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
And what's your jam? What do you go to after
being there the whole time fifteen years? Yourself?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I mean, I'm always a sucker for a nice piece
of prime rib. But that said, you know, I'm a
pub food kind of guy. Yeah, I love the vibe
of our pub, so I love our chicken sandwich. It
cannot be beat. It really is a it's a it's
an amazing sandwich. And I'm a burger guy too. Yeah,
but I get mine. I add the extra patty to mine.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, look at you. I'm trying to think if it's
is it served with a knife in the center these days,
I'm trying to think of it, or if the burger
just comes as is it's been a long time.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
It comes as okay, it's topped with you know, your
traditional lettuce tomato.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Oh my god, it.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Just that is like the food that brings a smile
to my face no matter what. And when you don't
know what you want, you can walk into place like
tam O Shantern and get something off the menu and
it's going to bring you that joy that like, oh,
I didn't even know that I wanted this today, but
this is what I want. So of course, okay, that's sandwich.
What about dinner time? What's what's the number one order
(11:06):
that comes in on the menu.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I mean, then number one order is you know, I
mean fifty percent of the guests to order prime rib. Yeah,
and you know, I mean, obviously we've made it famous
with Lowry's the Prime Rib, and Lowry's the Prime Rib
was born at the Tama Shanter. That seasoning salt was
mixed in our garage at the restaurant in nineteen thirty seven,
right before we opened in nineteen thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
At Lowry's. The Prime Rim still one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I learned about it from my mom and now it's
a staple not only in my indoor kitchen, but my
outdoor kitchen in the backyard has it in sealed drawers
back there too. It just is one of those things
that you don't get anywhere else and your side, what's
your side? Your go to side?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
My side is always the cream spinach. Oh yeah, we
do it traditionally with the bacon in it, and it's
you know, it's it's been a staple of that menu
since nineteen thirty eight.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Excellent. How's business been?
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Business is great? Actually good?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
You know, I think we had a very challenging start
to this year, but we've been an anchor in that
community in Atwater Village for one hundred and three years,
so we kind of became their go to comfort spot,
you know, with all the trouble that was happening with
fires and whatnot. I think people found that sense of
(12:17):
comfort and sense of home that the time of Shenner
kind of kind of gives off.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
And it's an interesting vibe there on Los Fieless Boulevard too,
because you have the new I mean, you have Costco
across the street, and you have stuff like that, But
there is that little nook right there on the most gosh,
what would be that most southern part of trying thing
where that runs. But how you have this time capsule
(12:46):
in that building and that it hasn't seemed to change.
I mean, could look at pictures of it forty years ago.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
It looks the same.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah. You go into you know, open the door and
go in there and you see the faux and the history.
Just the vibe, the the smell of the place is
just welcoming, everything about it. So I just I can't
say enough great things about it. Any last words about
tam O'Shanter that you want people to know or if
(13:16):
they haven't been in, what they should try.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Yeah, if you haven't been in. I mean, we've got
a diverse menu. We're not We're not a one dish
restaurant like Lowry's the Prime Rim. We've got a little
bit of everything for everybody.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You know. We're family friendly. We always have been.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
You know, we see three generations of a family sitting
around the dining room table and love it. You know,
dining rooms every night. So you know, it's just it's
a great place to to get away from the hustle
and bustle of LA.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Yeah, and it's friendly and you're always met with friendly.
It just the whole I can't recommend it enough if
you if you've never been, and I know we've got
a massive audience, you know throughout California and beyond even
Las Vegas and Arizona and everything else. But you know,
make a day trip. If you're you know south here,
(14:04):
you're in Orange County, make a day trip or plan
to come out. And if you're local and haven't been,
just take yourself out, go and enjoy yourself. It just
really is a special place and there's good people. So
it's my first time meeting John Lindquist there, so it
was a real pleasure.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Man.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I appreciate you taking the time to come in.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah, Neil, thanks for having me, and I really appreciate
me you.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
It's my pleasure. But I know that Saturdays are busy,
so you've got to run back and make sure that
the cats are all where they're supposed to be. But
good time had by all at tam O'Shanter. Get out
there and enjoy yourself. And if you have the testecular
fortitude to go there four in March and enjoy a
(14:45):
little Saint Patti's Day, good luck to you. It's packed,
but man, it's like nothing else you've ever experienced.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
As well,
Today we're going to change that with John Lindquist. He's
the managing partner at tam O'Shanter in Los Felis. And
I welcome you to the show, my friend Neil. Thanks
for having me. It's a pleasure and I appreciate you
taking the time to come down. I know Saturdays are
very hard, they're a busy time for restaurants for a
(00:21):
couple reasons. I do want to talk about tam as
a whole because it's one of my all time favorite
places that encapsulates, you know, motion, a vibe, a sense
of getting away and away from the noise in life.
Great food, you know, fun servers, people that seem to
want to want to be there and work there, people
(00:43):
enjoying themselves, all these things. But I want to start
out with something you're doing now with Table thirty one,
a special that you're doing. Why don't you tell people
about table thirty one please?
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:53):
So Table thirty one is the most requested table in
the restaurant.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
It actually was Walt Disney's favorite table.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
Wow, did he ever say why it was? Is there
is the location? I've seen it, I've never sat there,
But is there some reason that he wanted that.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
It's a foretop, right, Yeah, it's a fore top, mainly
because it was his back would be up to the wall.
He could see everybody coming in through the bar area
was mafia, no, but he would take his meetings there,
and you got to remember the animators were there too,
and they always wanted to get stuff in front of him.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Gotcha.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
He could see him coming fire.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
People were going to show his wares or their wares
or whatever. And he had his favorites there as well. Right,
His foods that he liked that he ordered quite often.
Was he the Taypo ordered the same meal over and over?
Speaker 2 (01:43):
From what you've heard, Yeah, he was pretty much here's
a meat potatoes kind of guy. Yeah, so chili fried eggs,
hamburger steaks, real simple.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Fair Wow, sounds like me without all the genius, but
the appetites similar, and so there's a lot of I mean,
the vibe of tam O'Shanter is also whimsical, and it
wasn't far from the studio at the time, and all
of those things, so it made sense. Do you know
(02:13):
of any specific I don't know, deals or ideas that
were made at table thirty one.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, I mean a lot of things were done at
Table thirty one. Table thirty one was part of the
inspiration for some attractions in Disneyland were actually formed right there.
He sketched him on the back of Tama Shanner napkins,
which are now in the family Archive in San Francisco.
Speaker 3 (02:37):
Wow, they won't even give us a copy of them,
but really we did.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
We were able to get what was on those napkins
and we were able to etch it into the table.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So you can see the etchings on the table.
Speaker 1 (02:48):
That's cool. Yeah, that's cool and permanent and a really
neat thing. There are so many people that in Los
Angeles have touched or experienced or have had an idea
pop into their head. To be able to, I don't know,
commemorate that in a way is powerful. Now, you folks
(03:10):
at tam O'shantern have gone above and beyond with that
and now offering something that you couldn't get before, and
that is a lunch and a dinner that's been curated
around the Walt Disney experience with a historian or somebody.
So explain about that.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Yeah, So guests have the opportunity now to book and
guarantee the table before it was always like a first come,
first serve, you know, and you never knew if you
were going to get it. So those who didn't get
it felt like their day got ruined because they didn't
get to sit at the table. So now we made
an experience via open table where people can book it
out for two hour time slots. So basically how it
works is they get a four course meal either lunch
(03:51):
or dinner, and it's some of We've got Wall's favorite
burger on there, which is the only place in the
restaurant you can get that burger is at that table.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
Yeah, because it's not on the menu right now, it's not.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
On the menu, and it's it's always been like this
secret menu item, but it was it's never official. It
was not officially put on a menu anywhere. So they
can get they had the opportunity to have that. And
then throughout the meal, we've got our storytellers there. So
we've got our historians on staff, our Disney table ambassadors.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
That's so cool to come to the table and they'll
bring little.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Tidbits and talk about, you know, the experience that Wald
had when he was there.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
You know what's funny is I don't have a problem
eating alone, you know. For what I do, I try
a lot of places out and go places. My wife
is not a big foodie, so so you know, I'd
go occasionally. But Town is one of the few places
where I just go sit at the bar and have
(04:46):
a meal there and don't even think about it. Just
the vibe of the place and talking with whoever's bawding
the stick and just hanging out is just it just
puts you in a whole different mindset. How long have
you been the managing partner.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
I've been running the place for the families for fifteen
years now.
Speaker 3 (05:05):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (05:06):
Yeah, And you know what brought you there? Had you
been in that industry before? Had you known the history
of tam O'Shanter?
Speaker 3 (05:15):
I lucked out, honestly, good for you. So I came
out of grad school, I went to Vegas.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
I was working in restaurants there, and then I ended
up in la randomly with the same company that I
was working in Vegas. They were opening a restaurant out here.
Didn't do so well, and then I found Lowri's. I
found Lowri's the primer m. I said, wow, it's an
interesting restaurant, it's an interesting concept. I think I'll go
and work for them. So luckily they gave me a job,
and then you know, the spot at the Tama Shutter
came out. They said, this would be perfect for you. You know,
(05:41):
you'd love to do this. It's a real challenge and
it's a fun place to work and I lucked out,
you know, fifteen years ago.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Good for you, I mean, and it is it is.
I would imagine it's a challenge for a couple of reasons.
You have new people coming in. You have old people
who have been there and I mean old who have
experienced the restaurant through whatever changes or thereof, and things
like that that want things exactly the way to stay.
And I always find that heritage places throw that curveball
(06:08):
where keeping it the same but moving it forward is
a battle.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Is that true? That's absolutely true. We have our what
we refer to as our legacy guests, right.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah, some of them. I called them old legacy guests
sounds better.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
So we've been open for one hundred and three years.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Yeah, we have guests who are one hundred and three
years old who have been there every year for their
birthday essentially, which is which is nuts to think about,
you know, one hundred three years old in the restaurant
business is crazy. But to have guests who have been
there for the better part of that century that we've
been open to balance having to move forward, you know,
having to put a vegetarian dish on the menu. Yeah,
(06:42):
I mean that was a scary thing when that was done,
you know, twenty years ago, and you can imagine the uproar.
But every every time we change the menu a little bit,
we do get a lot of pushback from the guests there.
Speaker 3 (06:52):
So, well, where's this dish? Where's that dish? They said.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
We always tell them, Listen, you got to remember that
that dish you had twenty thirty years ago. It might
have changed, but that was new twenty and thirty years
ago when you started like, yeah, so you're gonna find
something new.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Yeah, something Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it.
You know, that's the whole point is. That's why it's
funny how tam o' shantered has been through, you know,
all kinds of different things La has been through. But
the reality is most places that are coming into the
sea and the food scene now are trying to find
(07:25):
a vibe, trying to find something that's worth. It's more
than just the food. Now now people want an atmosphere
and they want you know, and Tam has had it
the whole time. So people get to go in there
enjoy that. And whenever I walk in, I don't care
what time of the year it is, I always feel,
you know. Now, the holidays are always fun, and of
(07:46):
course going in there in March is always a blast.
But it just has its own energy and speaks to
an older La and Hollywood that I happen to be
a fan of. So you're very lucky to do though.
Right now, my guest is John Lindquist. He is the
managing partner of Tam o' shanter in Los Felis in
(08:07):
Los Angeles here right off of the five if you're
going that way, and it just is a special place.
It's owned by the Lowry's folks, so you know that
they The food is already spectacular, but the vibe and
the history one hundred and three years old, it just
is an incredibly special place. And so John was talking
about how Table thirty one is where you know, Walt
(08:30):
Disney used to sit there with you know, three guests
and make deals and come up with you know, ideas
of things, you know, notes on napkins type stuff and
talk about having a foot in the door of history.
And we were talking a little bit about how you
can now get that. You can reserve that table a
(08:52):
special meal for a special price that I think is fantastic.
It's basically a four course meal there. You can check
that out. Do you have to go to the lowry
site first? You go to Lowry's to find you guys?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Oh yeah, you can go to Tamil Shadder dot com
or Lowry's online dot com dot you either.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Way, and then you can on the open table you
can reserve and get your reservations there. So what's going
on with the menu right now? What are the things?
Prime Rib obviously is going to be on there, but
what are some things that are the favorites of people
that come in tam O Shanter.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
So our number one favorite during the daytime lunch service
is our brisket sandwich. Oh yeah, We've been doing brisket
for a long long time. It's the most popular and
I know why because it's the only thing my wife
asked me to bring home from the restaurant, you know,
after being there at fifteen years that's the one thing
she still requests, can.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
You bring me some brisket tonight?
Speaker 1 (09:50):
It is? It is an incredible sandwich. And yeah, brisket's fantastic.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
Yeah, it goes great with our pant coleslaw, beets and
pickles that we've been doing for at least fifty Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
And what's your jam? What do you go to after
being there the whole time fifteen years? Yourself?
Speaker 2 (10:08):
I mean, I'm always a sucker for a nice piece
of prime rib. But that said, you know, I'm a
pub food kind of guy. Yeah, I love the vibe
of our pub, so I love our chicken sandwich. It
cannot be beat. It really is a it's a it's
an amazing sandwich. And I'm a burger guy too. Yeah,
but I get mine. I add the extra patty to mine.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, look at you. I'm trying to think if it's
is it served with a knife in the center these days,
I'm trying to think of it, or if the burger
just comes as is it's been a long time.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
It comes as okay, it's topped with you know, your
traditional lettuce tomato.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Oh my god, it.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Just that is like the food that brings a smile
to my face no matter what. And when you don't
know what you want, you can walk into place like
tam O Shantern and get something off the menu and
it's going to bring you that joy that like, oh,
I didn't even know that I wanted this today, but
this is what I want. So of course, okay, that's sandwich.
What about dinner time? What's what's the number one order
(11:06):
that comes in on the menu.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
I mean, then number one order is you know, I
mean fifty percent of the guests to order prime rib. Yeah,
and you know, I mean, obviously we've made it famous
with Lowry's the Prime Rib, and Lowry's the Prime Rib
was born at the Tama Shanter. That seasoning salt was
mixed in our garage at the restaurant in nineteen thirty seven,
right before we opened in nineteen thirty eight.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
At Lowry's. The Prime Rim still one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
I learned about it from my mom and now it's
a staple not only in my indoor kitchen, but my
outdoor kitchen in the backyard has it in sealed drawers
back there too. It just is one of those things
that you don't get anywhere else and your side, what's
your side? Your go to side?
Speaker 2 (11:44):
My side is always the cream spinach. Oh yeah, we
do it traditionally with the bacon in it, and it's
you know, it's it's been a staple of that menu
since nineteen thirty eight.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Excellent. How's business been?
Speaker 3 (11:54):
Business is great? Actually good?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
You know, I think we had a very challenging start
to this year, but we've been an anchor in that
community in Atwater Village for one hundred and three years,
so we kind of became their go to comfort spot,
you know, with all the trouble that was happening with
fires and whatnot. I think people found that sense of
(12:17):
comfort and sense of home that the time of Shenner
kind of kind of gives off.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
And it's an interesting vibe there on Los Fieless Boulevard too,
because you have the new I mean, you have Costco
across the street, and you have stuff like that, But
there is that little nook right there on the most gosh,
what would be that most southern part of trying thing
where that runs. But how you have this time capsule
(12:46):
in that building and that it hasn't seemed to change.
I mean, could look at pictures of it forty years ago.
Speaker 3 (12:53):
It looks the same.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yeah. You go into you know, open the door and
go in there and you see the faux and the history.
Just the vibe, the the smell of the place is
just welcoming, everything about it. So I just I can't
say enough great things about it. Any last words about
tam O'Shanter that you want people to know or if
(13:16):
they haven't been in, what they should try.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Yeah, if you haven't been in. I mean, we've got
a diverse menu. We're not We're not a one dish
restaurant like Lowry's the Prime Rim. We've got a little
bit of everything for everybody.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
You know. We're family friendly. We always have been.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
You know, we see three generations of a family sitting
around the dining room table and love it. You know,
dining rooms every night. So you know, it's just it's
a great place to to get away from the hustle
and bustle of LA.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Yeah, and it's friendly and you're always met with friendly.
It just the whole I can't recommend it enough if
you if you've never been, and I know we've got
a massive audience, you know throughout California and beyond even
Las Vegas and Arizona and everything else. But you know,
make a day trip. If you're you know south here,
(14:04):
you're in Orange County, make a day trip or plan
to come out. And if you're local and haven't been,
just take yourself out, go and enjoy yourself. It just
really is a special place and there's good people. So
it's my first time meeting John Lindquist there, so it
was a real pleasure.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
Man.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
I appreciate you taking the time to come in.
Speaker 3 (14:21):
Yeah, Neil, thanks for having me, and I really appreciate
me you.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
It's my pleasure. But I know that Saturdays are busy,
so you've got to run back and make sure that
the cats are all where they're supposed to be. But
good time had by all at tam O'Shanter. Get out
there and enjoy yourself. And if you have the testecular
fortitude to go there four in March and enjoy a
(14:45):
little Saint Patti's Day, good luck to you. It's packed,
but man, it's like nothing else you've ever experienced.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
As well,
Popular Podcasts
True Crime Tonight
If you eat, sleep, and breathe true crime, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT is serving up your nightly fix. Five nights a week, KT STUDIOS & iHEART RADIO invite listeners to pull up a seat for an unfiltered look at the biggest cases making headlines, celebrity scandals, and the trials everyone is watching. With a mix of expert analysis, hot takes, and listener call-ins, TRUE CRIME TONIGHT goes beyond the headlines to uncover the twists, turns, and unanswered questions that keep us all obsessed—because, at TRUE CRIME TONIGHT, there’s a seat for everyone. Whether breaking down crime scene forensics, scrutinizing serial killers, or debating the most binge-worthy true crime docs, True Crime Tonight is the fresh, fast-paced, and slightly addictive home for true crime lovers.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.