Clifton's Cafteria

If you, like I, appreciate a good old fashioned cafeteria and happen to be around the Los Angeles area, I recommend a visit to Clifton's. 

Apart from the food court where you collect your own food on a tray, pay per item and seat yourself any resemblance with other cafeterias ceases. 

Clifton's 600-seats dining room is adorned with a 6 meter tall waterfall 'cascading into a stream that meanders through the room', a life size forest featuring animated racoons and fishing bear. Top this with a chapel inside a hollow faux tree where you can press a button to hear 'The Perable of the Redwoods.'

This landmark of a Cafeteria opened its doors in Downtown Los Angeles in 1935 and have amazed visitors ever since. The interior behind the handsome art deco facade on Broadway has been described as a 'slightly down-at-the-heels Disney version of a twilight forest'. Truth be told, there is something slightly scary about the kitschy and theatrical interior, but the food is good and inexpensive. The selection is enormous, the staff is courteous in an old school kind of way and a meal at Clifton's guarantees a dining experience out of the ordinary. If not, the slogan of the establishment is 'Dine Free Unless Delighted.'