Johnie's Coffee Shop, Former coffee shop in Googie style on Miracle Mile, Los Angeles, California, US
Johnie's Coffee Shop is a former coffee shop at the corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, designed by Louis Armét and Eldon Davis of Armét & Davis. The single-story building has a blue and white facade: angled panels of white perforated material alternate with blue above the storefront, topped by a blue cornice. Red script letters on that band read "Johnie's" over "Coffee Shop" and "Restaurant"; below, a glass door sits between windows, and a white simulated-stone pillar stands at the right corner. The striped roof rests on rock columns and slopes down toward the back, ending in a sharp decline.
Johnie's opened in 1956 as Romeo's Times Square, designed by Louis Armét and Eldon Davis of Armét & Davis. It traded as Ram's in the early 1960s before taking the Johnie's name shortly afterwards. The Gold family, founders of 99 Cents Only Stores, bought it in 1994 and closed it in 2000; the parking lot is still leased to their outlet two doors away. The Los Angeles City Council declared it a historic landmark on November 27, 2013.
The name "Johnie's" reflects the shop's changing identities over the decades, from Romeo's Times Square to Ram's before settling on its current name. The building expresses the postwar fascination with cars and space exploration, visible in its striking forward-looking design that made it a symbol of that era's optimism.
Johnie's closed in 2000 and is not open to the public, so the interior cannot be visited; the exterior is best seen from the Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue corner. The parking lot is leased to the 99 Cents Only store two doors away, so it is not free visitor parking. The building stands across from the former May Co. department store, now part of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
The building was designated a Historic-Cultural Monument in 2013, granting it official protection status. In 2016 it was temporarily renamed Bernie's Coffee Shop and served as a campaign headquarters, underscoring its continued relevance to the community.
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