SHERMAN OAKS : Shain’s Patrons Call Closing of Eatery a Loss

To most patrons, the closing of a Ventura Boulevard restaurant once owned by comedian Bud Abbott was another unfortunate sign of the times.

Shain’s, they said, like Hollywood’s Nickodell’s and Brown Derby, was another example of a charming, one-of-a-kind restaurant forced out of business by economics and a growing taste for food served in chain-style eateries.

“It was like the loss of an old friend,” said award-winning writer and longstanding customer Harlan Ellison, who was on hand Sunday at his usual Table 3 to eat a last meal at Shain’s.

But to owner Don Shain, the closing of the restaurant he had operated for 15 years in Sherman Oaks was a relief.

“It’s wonderful; it’s the end of the trail,” Shain, 57, said Monday, one day after his Continental restaurant, owned in the 1940s by Bud Abbott of Abbott and Costello fame, served its last meal.

Shain may have been relieved, but the restaurant’s demise, triggered by the recession and the Northridge earthquake, was greeted with dismay by long-time customers and former employees. All had their memories.

“I’m very sad that the restaurant is closing,” said former bar manager Kelly Kennedy-Gansinger, who worked at the eatery 10 years ago. “I have friends that I’ve known for 15 years, that I met there.”

Ellison recalled times when he came to the restaurant in his bathrobe, hungry and harried because he was in the middle of a writing project. Unfazed, Don Shain ushered him in and fed him.

And even Shain had fond memories of the restaurant that opened in 1947 as Bud Abbott’s Backstage.

Once, soon after Shain’s opened, a man Shain didn’t know came into the restaurant, had a drink at the bar and left.

The next night, the man came back and introduced himself to Shain. He was Bud Abbott Jr., son of the famed comedian, and he was so pleased with the dining environment Shain had created, he presented the impresario with a 78 r.p.m. record of Abbott and Costello’s famous comedy sketch, “Who’s on First.”

Another time, when an assistant manager went back to Mexico to get married, all of the employees--realizing how important it would be to the man to have Shain at his wedding--pooled their money to buy their boss a plane ticket to Mexico.

Starting today, a French restaurant will open at Shain’s old location--Cafe Bizou, which moved down the street into the larger space.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring in some new people who can bring some dynamism into the community,” said Shain, who owns the building that contains the restaurant and who was helping the new restaurateurs bring their cafe up to speed Monday.

As for Shain, he said he is looking forward to pursuing other interests, including computers and politics.

“Fifteen years is a long time in the restaurant business,” he said. “We have outlasted hundreds of other chefs and fantastically well-financed restaurants. We’ve been here and we beat the odds.”