Where retro is king

It’s Wednesday night in Pasadena. Do you know where your granny is?

Elvis is crooning, ladies are swooning and the polyester-clad swinger at the bar is pushing 70 if he’s a day. And he’s still got game. Sporting classic aviators, he sweeps a gray-haired gal a foot taller than him off to the dance floor, where they bust a move to “Viva Las Vegas.”

It’s just another night in paradise, courtesy of Frank & Dean’s, a swinging spot in Pasadena where the good times never end.

“The Rat Pack is what clubs were all about,” says Ken Ciaccio, one of Frank & Dean’s regulars. “These guys were the last of the great bar singers.”

Ciaccio calls Frank & Dean’s his “home away from home.”

Eyeing another lady at the bar, he says with a wink, “My friends call me ‘Cha-chi’ .... “

In the back of the bar, strangers in the night are exchanging glances. A middle-aged couple is making out. It’s really quite lovely. In fact, everything about this retro haven is rather intoxicating. From its ‘60s-modern exterior to the museum that awaits you inside, Frank & Dean’s is a throwback to an era when men were men, women had updos and the martinis were always flowing.

“I met Sinatra seven times,” says owner Frank Abbadessa, who says he’s been collecting Frank Sinatra memorabilia since his teens. “I was just a fan, but Frank truly loved his fans.”

His point is clearly illustrated on the supper club’s walls, which contain treasures from Ol’ Blue Eyes himself. Like the portrait Sinatra sent Abbadessa as a wedding gift. Or the monogrammed handkerchief Sinatra gave him after a Caesars Palace gig. For anyone who loves Frankie, Dino, Sammy, Peter and Joey, a trip to this joint is a trip down memory lane.

The nightclub is roomy and comfortable, with multiple dining areas -- among them, a room dedicated to Sinatra and another dedicated to Dean Martin. In Martin’s room there’s a piano bar and, despite the entertainment happening in the main dancing area, the room is a self-contained oasis. Piano crooner Bryan Miller sings Martin classics on Fridays and Saturdays, and he isn’t interrupted by the eight-piece band kicking out the jams on the main stage. In fact, nothing’s too loud in the club, which, for obvious reasons, is nice for its clientele.

And don’t just walk on by the bathrooms. Pause and notice the signage: Edith’s Head, the aptly named ladies’ room, or Frankie’s Johnny, i.e., the men’s room. Just about everything in Frank & Dean’s has a kitschy spin on it -- including the food, which pays homage to the likes of Joey Bishop, Shirley MacLaine, Liz Taylor and Sonny & Cher by naming noshables after them.

Among the club’s dinner patrons are musicians Sam Butera and Buddy Greco, as well as Richard Dawson and Debbie Reynolds.

On Wednesdays, they bring in James King, an Elvis impersonator from Lebanon who does right by the King. He’s so good, he even has groupies. Each week, ladies of a certain age calling themselves the Jailhouse Rockers, sit front and center while King performs.

“As soon as I walked in, I said, ‘This is the place!’ ” says Sue Keith, a Wednesday night regular. “I couldn’t wait to tell my friends. It’s very romantic and intimate, just perfect.”

And Keith hits the dance floor every chance she gets.

“Elvis is burning love,” she says. “I’m burning calories!”

“I can’t believe I’d never heard of it till now,” says Tina Altman, a Jailhouse Rocker who follows King wherever he performs, even slow-dancing with him while he sings “Fools Rush In.” “This is definitely my new favorite club, and the owner’s charming.”

Abbadessa does have a way. In fact, when one fan was desperate to hear Bobby Darin’s “Beyond the Sea,” Abbadessa told her he’d sing it for her himself. The New York transplant has a smooth-as-silk voice and now the Jailhouse Rockers are coming to hear him.

“Frank’s so cool,” says Altman. “He makes everyone feel good.”

Including the Chairman of the Board.

The club’s prize possession is a heartfelt letter Sinatra sent to Abbadessa after the club owner defended Sinatra in People magazine during the hoopla and scandal over Kitty Kelley’s 1986 book, “His Way: An Unauthorized Biography of Frank Sinatra.”

“When the Kitty Kelley book came out, Frank was devastated,” says Abbadessa. “So I wrote a letter to People saying, ‘What do you want from the guy? He entertains you, he sings for you, shouldn’t that be enough?’ It was the only letter People published, and Frank was so grateful.”

Turns out the fan had earned a fan.

“This whole joint’s a tribute to him and that era,” Abbadessa says. “He never forgot me after that.”

Truth is, everybody needs somebody sometime.

Heidi Siegmund Cuda can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.

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Frank & Dean’s

Where: 3768 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena

When: Open nightly

Price: $8 cover Friday and Saturday (free with dinner); no cover Sunday through Thursday. Free parking.

Info: (626) 793-1847