Landmark Hermosa: La Playita, by the Sea

on 14th Street, next to Noble Park, has been a part of Hermosa Beach for about 30 years. But when the restaurant first opened, it sat on the opposite side of the street where it is now, said owner Harold Cohen.

"The history is quite interesting," he said while standing outside of the eatery Friday afternoon and looking over at the restaurant's old location.

From 1980 to 1990, La Playita was a seaside business where the now sits. The restaurant expanded in 1982 along the Strand, Cohen said. Then in 1985 the city gave La Playita permission to have an outdoor patio.

As La Playita was growing, so was the idea to build a large hotel in the same area.

According to an article published in the Los Angeles Times on March 16, 1990:

"The history of the [hotel] project is a tortuous one that began with the razing in the 1960s of the Biltmore Hotel at 14th Street and The Strand. Once grand, the establishment by the time of its demolition had deteriorated into a low-rent residential hotel that many in the community regarded as an eyesore and a magnet for riffraff.

The site was taken over by the city, but from that point on, indecision reigned. From 17-story skyscrapers to public parks, every idea put forward for the site was rejected by the city's voters."

Eventually the hotel proposal won the space. La Playita moved a short distance away to where it now sits, taking over a building that Cohen said used to house Cafe Christopher. A few years following, , which neighbors La Playita, was voted into place, Cohen said.

Hermosa locals continue to hang out at La Playita during beach visits—often for brunch. The restaurant in 2010 was as a popular breakfast destination.

Patch reader Robyn Alatorre at the time said that the Mexican restaurant has "great food, ocean view, [and a] comfortable atmosphere."

Do you have memories of the La Playita-Noble Park area to share?

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