Speaker 1: Today we're going to change that with John Lindquist. He's
Speaker 1: the managing partner at tam O'Shanter in Los Felis. And
Speaker 1: I welcome you to the show, my friend Neil. Thanks
Speaker 1: for having me. It's a pleasure and I appreciate you
Speaker 1: taking the time to come down. I know Saturdays are
Speaker 1: very hard, they're a busy time for restaurants for a
Speaker 1: couple reasons. I do want to talk about tam as
Speaker 1: a whole because it's one of my all time favorite
Speaker 1: places that encapsulates, you know, motion, a vibe, a sense
Speaker 1: of getting away and away from the noise in life.
Speaker 1: Great food, you know, fun servers, people that seem to
Speaker 1: want to want to be there and work there, people
Speaker 1: enjoying themselves, all these things. But I want to start
Speaker 1: out with something you're doing now with Table thirty one,
Speaker 1: a special that you're doing. Why don't you tell people
Speaker 1: about table thirty one please?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: So Table thirty one is the most requested table in
Speaker 2: the restaurant.
Speaker 3: It actually was Walt Disney's favorite table.
Speaker 1: Wow, did he ever say why it was? Is there
Speaker 1: is the location? I've seen it, I've never sat there,
Speaker 1: But is there some reason that he wanted that.
Speaker 2: It's a foretop, right, Yeah, it's a fore top, mainly
Speaker 2: because it was his back would be up to the wall.
Speaker 2: He could see everybody coming in through the bar area
Speaker 2: was mafia, no, but he would take his meetings there,
Speaker 2: and you got to remember the animators were there too,
Speaker 2: and they always wanted to get stuff in front of him.
Speaker 1: Gotcha.
Speaker 3: He could see him coming fire.
Speaker 1: People were going to show his wares or their wares
Speaker 1: or whatever. And he had his favorites there as well. Right,
Speaker 1: His foods that he liked that he ordered quite often.
Speaker 1: Was he the Taypo ordered the same meal over and over?
Speaker 2: From what you've heard, Yeah, he was pretty much here's
Speaker 2: a meat potatoes kind of guy. Yeah, so chili fried eggs,
Speaker 2: hamburger steaks, real simple.
Speaker 1: Fair Wow, sounds like me without all the genius, but
Speaker 1: the appetites similar, and so there's a lot of I mean,
Speaker 1: the vibe of tam O'Shanter is also whimsical, and it
Speaker 1: wasn't far from the studio at the time, and all
Speaker 1: of those things, so it made sense. Do you know
Speaker 1: of any specific I don't know, deals or ideas that
Speaker 1: were made at table thirty one.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean a lot of things were done at
Speaker 2: Table thirty one. Table thirty one was part of the
Speaker 2: inspiration for some attractions in Disneyland were actually formed right there.
Speaker 2: He sketched him on the back of Tama Shanner napkins,
Speaker 2: which are now in the family Archive in San Francisco.
Speaker 3: Wow, they won't even give us a copy of them,
Speaker 3: but really we did.
Speaker 2: We were able to get what was on those napkins
Speaker 2: and we were able to etch it into the table.
Speaker 3: So you can see the etchings on the table.
Speaker 1: That's cool. Yeah, that's cool and permanent and a really
Speaker 1: neat thing. There are so many people that in Los
Speaker 1: Angeles have touched or experienced or have had an idea
Speaker 1: pop into their head. To be able to, I don't know,
Speaker 1: commemorate that in a way is powerful. Now, you folks
Speaker 1: at tam O'shantern have gone above and beyond with that
Speaker 1: and now offering something that you couldn't get before, and
Speaker 1: that is a lunch and a dinner that's been curated
Speaker 1: around the Walt Disney experience with a historian or somebody.
Speaker 1: So explain about that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So guests have the opportunity now to book and
Speaker 2: guarantee the table before it was always like a first come,
Speaker 2: first serve, you know, and you never knew if you
Speaker 2: were going to get it. So those who didn't get
Speaker 2: it felt like their day got ruined because they didn't
Speaker 2: get to sit at the table. So now we made
Speaker 2: an experience via open table where people can book it
Speaker 2: out for two hour time slots. So basically how it
Speaker 2: works is they get a four course meal either lunch
Speaker 2: or dinner, and it's some of We've got Wall's favorite
Speaker 2: burger on there, which is the only place in the
Speaker 2: restaurant you can get that burger is at that table.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's not on the menu right now, it's not.
Speaker 2: On the menu, and it's it's always been like this
Speaker 2: secret menu item, but it was it's never official. It
Speaker 2: was not officially put on a menu anywhere. So they
Speaker 2: can get they had the opportunity to have that. And
Speaker 2: then throughout the meal, we've got our storytellers there. So
Speaker 2: we've got our historians on staff, our Disney table ambassadors.
Speaker 3: That's so cool to come to the table and they'll
Speaker 3: bring little.
Speaker 2: Tidbits and talk about, you know, the experience that Wald
Speaker 2: had when he was there.
Speaker 1: You know what's funny is I don't have a problem
Speaker 1: eating alone, you know. For what I do, I try
Speaker 1: a lot of places out and go places. My wife
Speaker 1: is not a big foodie, so so you know, I'd
Speaker 1: go occasionally. But Town is one of the few places
Speaker 1: where I just go sit at the bar and have
Speaker 1: a meal there and don't even think about it. Just
Speaker 1: the vibe of the place and talking with whoever's bawding
Speaker 1: the stick and just hanging out is just it just
Speaker 1: puts you in a whole different mindset. How long have
Speaker 1: you been the managing partner.
Speaker 2: I've been running the place for the families for fifteen
Speaker 2: years now.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know what brought you there? Had you
Speaker 1: been in that industry before? Had you known the history
Speaker 1: of tam O'Shanter?
Speaker 3: I lucked out, honestly, good for you. So I came
Speaker 3: out of grad school, I went to Vegas.
Speaker 2: I was working in restaurants there, and then I ended
Speaker 2: up in la randomly with the same company that I
Speaker 2: was working in Vegas. They were opening a restaurant out here.
Speaker 2: Didn't do so well, and then I found Lowri's. I
Speaker 2: found Lowri's the primer m. I said, wow, it's an
Speaker 2: interesting restaurant, it's an interesting concept. I think I'll go
Speaker 2: and work for them. So luckily they gave me a job,
Speaker 2: and then you know, the spot at the Tama Shutter
Speaker 2: came out. They said, this would be perfect for you. You know,
Speaker 2: you'd love to do this. It's a real challenge and
Speaker 2: it's a fun place to work and I lucked out,
Speaker 2: you know, fifteen years ago.
Speaker 1: Good for you, I mean, and it is it is.
Speaker 1: I would imagine it's a challenge for a couple of reasons.
Speaker 1: You have new people coming in. You have old people
Speaker 1: who have been there and I mean old who have
Speaker 1: experienced the restaurant through whatever changes or thereof, and things
Speaker 1: like that that want things exactly the way to stay.
Speaker 1: And I always find that heritage places throw that curveball
Speaker 1: where keeping it the same but moving it forward is
Speaker 1: a battle.
Speaker 2: Is that true? That's absolutely true. We have our what
Speaker 2: we refer to as our legacy guests, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, some of them. I called them old legacy guests
Speaker 1: sounds better.
Speaker 3: So we've been open for one hundred and three years.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we have guests who are one hundred and three
Speaker 2: years old who have been there every year for their
Speaker 2: birthday essentially, which is which is nuts to think about,
Speaker 2: you know, one hundred three years old in the restaurant
Speaker 2: business is crazy. But to have guests who have been
Speaker 2: there for the better part of that century that we've
Speaker 2: been open to balance having to move forward, you know,
Speaker 2: having to put a vegetarian dish on the menu. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean that was a scary thing when that was done,
Speaker 2: you know, twenty years ago, and you can imagine the uproar.
Speaker 2: But every every time we change the menu a little bit,
Speaker 2: we do get a lot of pushback from the guests there.
Speaker 3: So, well, where's this dish? Where's that dish? They said.
Speaker 2: We always tell them, Listen, you got to remember that
Speaker 2: that dish you had twenty thirty years ago. It might
Speaker 2: have changed, but that was new twenty and thirty years
Speaker 2: ago when you started like, yeah, so you're gonna find
Speaker 2: something new.
Speaker 1: Yeah, something Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it.
Speaker 1: You know, that's the whole point is. That's why it's
Speaker 1: funny how tam o' shantered has been through, you know,
Speaker 1: all kinds of different things La has been through. But
Speaker 1: the reality is most places that are coming into the
Speaker 1: sea and the food scene now are trying to find
Speaker 1: a vibe, trying to find something that's worth. It's more
Speaker 1: than just the food. Now now people want an atmosphere
Speaker 1: and they want you know, and Tam has had it
Speaker 1: the whole time. So people get to go in there
Speaker 1: enjoy that. And whenever I walk in, I don't care
Speaker 1: what time of the year it is, I always feel,
Speaker 1: you know. Now, the holidays are always fun, and of
Speaker 1: course going in there in March is always a blast.
Speaker 1: But it just has its own energy and speaks to
Speaker 1: an older La and Hollywood that I happen to be
Speaker 1: a fan of. So you're very lucky to do though.
Speaker 1: Right now, my guest is John Lindquist. He is the
Speaker 1: managing partner of Tam o' shanter in Los Felis in
Speaker 1: Los Angeles here right off of the five if you're
Speaker 1: going that way, and it just is a special place.
Speaker 1: It's owned by the Lowry's folks, so you know that
Speaker 1: they The food is already spectacular, but the vibe and
Speaker 1: the history one hundred and three years old, it just
Speaker 1: is an incredibly special place. And so John was talking
Speaker 1: about how Table thirty one is where you know, Walt
Speaker 1: Disney used to sit there with you know, three guests
Speaker 1: and make deals and come up with you know, ideas
Speaker 1: of things, you know, notes on napkins type stuff and
Speaker 1: talk about having a foot in the door of history.
Speaker 1: And we were talking a little bit about how you
Speaker 1: can now get that. You can reserve that table a
Speaker 1: special meal for a special price that I think is fantastic.
Speaker 1: It's basically a four course meal there. You can check
Speaker 1: that out. Do you have to go to the lowry
Speaker 1: site first? You go to Lowry's to find you guys?
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, you can go to Tamil Shadder dot com
Speaker 2: or Lowry's online dot com dot you either.
Speaker 1: Way, and then you can on the open table you
Speaker 1: can reserve and get your reservations there. So what's going
Speaker 1: on with the menu right now? What are the things?
Speaker 1: Prime Rib obviously is going to be on there, but
Speaker 1: what are some things that are the favorites of people
Speaker 1: that come in tam O Shanter.
Speaker 2: So our number one favorite during the daytime lunch service
Speaker 2: is our brisket sandwich. Oh yeah, We've been doing brisket
Speaker 2: for a long long time. It's the most popular and
Speaker 2: I know why because it's the only thing my wife
Speaker 2: asked me to bring home from the restaurant, you know,
Speaker 2: after being there at fifteen years that's the one thing
Speaker 2: she still requests, can.
Speaker 3: You bring me some brisket tonight?
Speaker 1: It is? It is an incredible sandwich. And yeah, brisket's fantastic.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it goes great with our pant coleslaw, beets and
Speaker 2: pickles that we've been doing for at least fifty Wow.
Speaker 1: And what's your jam? What do you go to after
Speaker 1: being there the whole time fifteen years? Yourself?
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm always a sucker for a nice piece
Speaker 2: of prime rib. But that said, you know, I'm a
Speaker 2: pub food kind of guy. Yeah, I love the vibe
Speaker 2: of our pub, so I love our chicken sandwich. It
Speaker 2: cannot be beat. It really is a it's a it's
Speaker 2: an amazing sandwich. And I'm a burger guy too. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but I get mine. I add the extra patty to mine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, look at you. I'm trying to think if it's
Speaker 1: is it served with a knife in the center these days,
Speaker 1: I'm trying to think of it, or if the burger
Speaker 1: just comes as is it's been a long time.
Speaker 2: It comes as okay, it's topped with you know, your
Speaker 2: traditional lettuce tomato.
Speaker 3: Oh my god, it.
Speaker 1: Just that is like the food that brings a smile
Speaker 1: to my face no matter what. And when you don't
Speaker 1: know what you want, you can walk into place like
Speaker 1: tam O Shantern and get something off the menu and
Speaker 1: it's going to bring you that joy that like, oh,
Speaker 1: I didn't even know that I wanted this today, but
Speaker 1: this is what I want. So of course, okay, that's sandwich.
Speaker 1: What about dinner time? What's what's the number one order
Speaker 1: that comes in on the menu.
Speaker 2: I mean, then number one order is you know, I
Speaker 2: mean fifty percent of the guests to order prime rib. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and you know, I mean, obviously we've made it famous
Speaker 2: with Lowry's the Prime Rib, and Lowry's the Prime Rib
Speaker 2: was born at the Tama Shanter. That seasoning salt was
Speaker 2: mixed in our garage at the restaurant in nineteen thirty seven,
Speaker 2: right before we opened in nineteen thirty eight.
Speaker 3: At Lowry's. The Prime Rim still one of my favorites.
Speaker 1: I learned about it from my mom and now it's
Speaker 1: a staple not only in my indoor kitchen, but my
Speaker 1: outdoor kitchen in the backyard has it in sealed drawers
Speaker 1: back there too. It just is one of those things
Speaker 1: that you don't get anywhere else and your side, what's
Speaker 1: your side? Your go to side?
Speaker 2: My side is always the cream spinach. Oh yeah, we
Speaker 2: do it traditionally with the bacon in it, and it's
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's been a staple of that menu
Speaker 2: since nineteen thirty eight.
Speaker 1: Excellent. How's business been?
Speaker 3: Business is great? Actually good?
Speaker 2: You know, I think we had a very challenging start
Speaker 2: to this year, but we've been an anchor in that
Speaker 2: community in Atwater Village for one hundred and three years,
Speaker 2: so we kind of became their go to comfort spot,
Speaker 2: you know, with all the trouble that was happening with
Speaker 2: fires and whatnot. I think people found that sense of
Speaker 2: comfort and sense of home that the time of Shenner
Speaker 2: kind of kind of gives off.
Speaker 1: And it's an interesting vibe there on Los Fieless Boulevard too,
Speaker 1: because you have the new I mean, you have Costco
Speaker 1: across the street, and you have stuff like that, But
Speaker 1: there is that little nook right there on the most gosh,
Speaker 1: what would be that most southern part of trying thing
Speaker 1: where that runs. But how you have this time capsule
Speaker 1: in that building and that it hasn't seemed to change.
Speaker 1: I mean, could look at pictures of it forty years ago.
Speaker 3: It looks the same.
Speaker 1: Yeah. You go into you know, open the door and
Speaker 1: go in there and you see the faux and the history.
Speaker 1: Just the vibe, the the smell of the place is
Speaker 1: just welcoming, everything about it. So I just I can't
Speaker 1: say enough great things about it. Any last words about
Speaker 1: tam O'Shanter that you want people to know or if
Speaker 1: they haven't been in, what they should try.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you haven't been in. I mean, we've got
Speaker 2: a diverse menu. We're not We're not a one dish
Speaker 2: restaurant like Lowry's the Prime Rim. We've got a little
Speaker 2: bit of everything for everybody.
Speaker 3: You know. We're family friendly. We always have been.
Speaker 2: You know, we see three generations of a family sitting
Speaker 2: around the dining room table and love it. You know,
Speaker 2: dining rooms every night. So you know, it's just it's
Speaker 2: a great place to to get away from the hustle
Speaker 2: and bustle of LA.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's friendly and you're always met with friendly.
Speaker 1: It just the whole I can't recommend it enough if
Speaker 1: you if you've never been, and I know we've got
Speaker 1: a massive audience, you know throughout California and beyond even
Speaker 1: Las Vegas and Arizona and everything else. But you know,
Speaker 1: make a day trip. If you're you know south here,
Speaker 1: you're in Orange County, make a day trip or plan
Speaker 1: to come out. And if you're local and haven't been,
Speaker 1: just take yourself out, go and enjoy yourself. It just
Speaker 1: really is a special place and there's good people. So
Speaker 1: it's my first time meeting John Lindquist there, so it
Speaker 1: was a real pleasure.
Speaker 3: Man.
Speaker 1: I appreciate you taking the time to come in.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Neil, thanks for having me, and I really appreciate
Speaker 3: me you.
Speaker 1: It's my pleasure. But I know that Saturdays are busy,
Speaker 1: so you've got to run back and make sure that
Speaker 1: the cats are all where they're supposed to be. But
Speaker 1: good time had by all at tam O'Shanter. Get out
Speaker 1: there and enjoy yourself. And if you have the testecular
Speaker 1: fortitude to go there four in March and enjoy a
Speaker 1: little Saint Patti's Day, good luck to you. It's packed,
Speaker 1: but man, it's like nothing else you've ever experienced.
Speaker 3: As well,