Hof's Hut is a home-style eatery and 1950s coffee shop-style regional

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate many retail markets, dining markets, and service categories in many pa ...

in the

Los Angeles Area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

that specializes in

comfort food Comfort food is food that provides a nostalgic or sentimental value to someone and may be characterized by its high caloric nature associated with childhood or home cooking. The nostalgia may be specific to an individual or it may apply to a ...

s and baked goods such as

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

s. It is considered a cultural landmark and was founded by Harold Hofman in 1951. The company is headquartered in Signal Hill, and operates locations in

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

, Seal Beach, and Torrance.

History

Hofman started out with a

burger Burger or Burgers may refer to: Food and drink Foods * Hamburger, a food consisting of one or more cooked beef patties, placed inside a sliced bread roll or bun roll. ** Cheeseburger, a hamburger with added cheese(s) * Ground beef, minced bee ...

stand on the beach in the 1940s at 5th Place in Long Beach serving "Hofburgers" for 15 cents. The first Hof's Hut opened on September 16, 1951, in

Belmont Shore Belmont Shore is a neighborhood in Long Beach, California. It is home to many shops, restaurants, salons, and business offices. Geography Livingston Drive and 2nd Street form the heart of Belmont Shore, from approximately Bluff Park on the w ...

by Harold Hofman, the same day his son and current owner Craig Hofman was born. In 1975 the chain opened its 9th restaurant, and in 1993 the chain introduced vegetarian burgers. In 1993, Hof's Hut opposed a statewide smoking ban applied to cocktail sections which serve food. The ban was ultimately passed. On January 18, 2015, two fires destroyed the Bixby Knolls location reducing the number of open locations from four to three. George Kosanovich tended bar at the Hof's Hut in

Bixby Knolls Bixby Knolls is a neighborhood in Long Beach, California, named after the Bixby family. Location Bixby Knolls is an area of Long Beach adjoining North Long Beach to the north, California Heights on the southeast, Wrigley on the southwest. ...

for 40 years and while there witnessed president John F. Kennedy getting gunned down in Dallas in 1963 on the television and watched the "fuzzy images" of the first

lunar landing A Moon landing or lunar landing is the arrival of a spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, including both crewed and robotic missions. The first human-made object to touch the Moon was Luna 2 in 1959. In 1969 Apollo 11 was the first cr ...

Lucille's Smokehouse

Facing competitive pressures, Hofman started the

Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que is a chain of restaurants founded in Signal Hill, California specializing in barbecue cuisine as well as southern and Cajun style meals. The restaurants feature a southern American and Blues theme. The chain has l ...

chain that has taken over some Hof's Hut locations. Competition from

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

, newer casual eatery chains with more exciting atmospheres, and breakfast nooks pressured Hof's Hut at the start of the 21st century. After various experiments modifying the format at some locations, owner Craig Hofman hit on the Lucille's Smokehouse concept and has been establishing that chain while reducing the number of Hof's Hut locations from a peak of 18. Lucille's Smokehouse replaced the original Hof's Hutt Belmont Shore location in 2003. This location has since been replaced by a specialty concept called Saint and Second owned by the Hofman family.

References

External links

*
Facebook.com: 1940s photograph of original Hof's Hut
{{Coord, 33.8049, -118.1606, region:US-CA_type:landmark, display=title Restaurants in Greater Los Angeles Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Signal Hill, California Restaurants established in 1951 1951 establishments in California