In Celebration of Restaurants Past : Restaurant History : What Are They Now?

What happened to your favorite haunt of yesteryear? Odds are, there are cars parked on it. Progress is no respecter of fine cuisine. If some of the addresses don’t jibe with your memories, be aware that many of these restaurants changed location even during their heyday.

* The Brown Derby, 1628 Vine St. in Hollywood, was destroyed by fire.

* The Cocoanut Grove, 3400 Wilshire Blvd., was in the Ambassador Hotel, now owned by Donald Trump and the subject of a lawsuit: The City of Los Angeles wants the site for a high school.

* Mocambo, 8588 Sunset Blvd., is the parking lot for the Playboy Club.

* Sardi’s Restaurant, 6315 Hollywood Blvd., is now the Cave Adult Theater.

* Trocadero, 8610 Sunset Blvd., is a parking lot.

* Romanoff’s, 326 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, is now a fancy boutique.

* La Rue, which was located at 8633 Sunset Blvd. when the Strip was literally a “strip” of unincorporated county land, is now Nicole Miller, a very trendy women’s store.

* Maison Gerard, 4100 Cahuenga Blvd., North Hollywood, is now Ca’ del Sole, an Italian restaurant from the Locanda Veneta/Ca’Brea folk.

* Scandia, at least the building, can still be seen at 9040 Sunset Blvd. near Doheny: The ‘I’ in the name has disappeared and the building is used for offices.

* Perino’s, 3927 Wilshire Blvd., near Western, is now a mid-rise office building. In the space where stars once dined is a furniture store.

* Mike Lyman’s Grill Downtown, once on the corner of 8th and Hill streets, is now somewhere under the parking structure for the First Interstate Bank Building.

* The site of Mike Lyman’s Grill in Hollywood, on the 1600 block of Vine Street, is now a parking lot next to the Doolittle Theater, which in those days was the Huntington Hartford.

* Tail O’ the Cock, once at 477 S. La Cienega Blvd., is now the Hotel Nikko.

* Lucey’s, 5444 Melrose Ave., is now an office building across from Paramount Studios.

* Tick Tock Tea Room, 1716 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, is in the process of becoming--who knows what? The building is presently under reconstruction. There’s no sign indicating what is slated to come.

* Don the Beachcomber’s, 1727 N. McCadden Place, Hollywood, is now a parking lot.

* Cock ‘n’ Bull’s space on the 9100 block of Sunset Boulevard was recently annexed by a Jaguar and Range Rover dealership.