Dear Friend of the Chili Bowl,

Thank you for joining 1193 concerned citizens who have signed the petition urging councilmember Mike Bonin to pause the pending demolition permit and help to move L.A.’s last Chili Bowl from its longtime home at 12244 West Pico Boulevard to a safe location within the city of Los Angeles.

The Chili Bowl is in grave peril, with an active demo permit, obscured from public view with fence and scaffolding surrounding it. And even though they have never proposed any redevelopment for the parcel, know this is a potential National Register landmark and that many people want it moved to safety, the property owner now has a crew inside doing loud, destructive, mysterious stuff.

Damian Sullivan, who has been a great advocate for the Chili Bowl to be preserved and moved somewhere safe, was present Wednesday afternoon to bear witness to the unskilled crew using a crane to remove the priceless original diamond-shaped roof sign placed there by Art Whizin 80+ years ago. The chili gods must be smiling, because they managed not to drop it or mangle the legs.

You can watch the horrible scene for yourself here.

So what's happening to the Chili Bowl? The people who know—the property owner, their work crew and the city council office—aren't talking.

We continue to advocate for the building to be preserved and moved to a safe place, and stand with the West Los Angeles-Sawtelle Neighborhood Council in their call for Mike Bonin to work with the property owner to find the funds and the site to make this happen—before it’s too late!

The NC’s motion comes to full council for a vote on Wednesday 2/23 during the 7pm meeting. The Chili Bowl is agenda item 7-a-v. Also on the agenda at item 4 is a report from two of Mike Bonin’s deputies. We can only hope they speak honestly and on the record about their knowledge of what the property owner is doing to the Chili Bowl.

If you’d like to tune in and make public comment, you can find the info here.

And even if you’ve already reached out, please call Mike Bonin's office at 310-575-8461 and / or email Councilmember.Bonin@lacity.org with the simple, updated message, which you can add to if you like: "I care about the Chili Bowl at 12244 West Pico Boulevard, which is currently has a demolition crew removing and destroying historic features. I am asking the Councilmember to direct the property owner to immediately halt demolition, to resume discussions with Friends of the Chili Bowl and the Los Angeles Conservancy, and to work with the property owner and find the funds needed to move this historic Los Angeles treasure somewhere safe, and not to let it be demolished. Thank you."

This is just a matter of money and real estate and time. Surely the answer can be found to save the only giant Chili Bowl in Los Angeles so it can enjoy another 87 years in the sun. Maybe you’ve got the perfect spot for a giant Chili Bowl to call its temporary home? Call us—we can help!

That’s all the news that fits in a giant Chili Bowl. Please continue to share the petition (http://www.change.org/SaveTheChiliBowl) with friends who love the Chili Bowl and want to see it saved. And stay tuned for additional updates as they happen.

Yours for Los Angeles,
Kim Cooper & Richard Schave
Friends of the Chili Bowl