Dear Friend of the Chili Bowl,

Thank you for joining 1220 concerned citizens who have signed the petition urging councilman Mike Bonin to stop the demolition 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.

Yeah, that didn’t happen. Although Bonin’s planning staff told us that he’d made a deal with the property owner to move the building if he blocked landmark designation, the Chili Bowl got cut into pieces by the property owner in February, and to date there has still been no announcement of any plan for the remains of the potential landmark or its original diamond shaped rooftop sign.

We were feeling pretty sick about the whole affair, but recently dropped a couple of Dramamine tablets and headed over to see the state of the Chili Bowl parcel for ourselves.

It’s a parking lot. And despite the false claims from the Abundant Housing real estate lobby group when demanding that City Council reject the landmark nomination, there is still no new construction proposed for the parcel. The Chili Bowl appears to have been broken up for nothing.

This update isn’t really an update. There’s no news to share. But with an election happening next Tuesday, we thought people who care about the Chili Bowl would want to know that the Abundant Housing group that rallied their followers to call in to City Hall and lie that this cool old building stood in the way of new housing have picked their favorite for Mayor of Los Angeles: Karen Bass.

A friend of Abundant Housing who can’t even name a post office after Marvin Gaye without doing favors for property developers is no friend of historic preservation.

Now as for the Chili Bowl, 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 (now deconstructed) giant Chili Bowl to call its temporary home? Call us—we want to 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