Dal Rae Restaurant
The Los Angeles Letter
Photo: Dal Rae Restaurant
I have many fine memories of Dal Rae Restaurant in Pico Rivera. I have eaten oysters at the bar and have drank my dinner in one of their high-backed booths. The piano player has regaled me as he entertained regulars dressed in finery no longer seen since the tech business told us that fleece vests were formal wear. I went to a friend's birthday dinner at the Dal Rae many years ago, suited and booted. I have vague recollections of that night, which include many martinis, Caesar salads, pepper steaks, and sitting in the back seat of an SUV on the way home, watching a bootlegged copy of Grand Torino. As I attempted to assuage the next morning's hangover with a sink filled with ice water, I was reminded of some questionable commentary fuelled by those icy martinis. The rest is best left unsaid.
Since 1958, the Dal Rae has stood near the corner of Rosemead and Washington Boulevards in the historic small city of Pico Rivera, 11 miles southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. Its location typifies Los Angeles' contradictions and diversity. Pico Rivera is the capital of LA’s Mexican ranch culture. Yet, the Dal Rae remains a shrine to mid-century cool and a temple to the type of steakhouse that reached its zenith in the 1960s - steadfastly elegant yet sufficiently worn around its edges. But categorizing the Dal Rae as merely "retro" seems to miss the point. True, the nostalgia runs heavy and thick here, but sometimes keeping good things good is just smart business. The "Goodfellas" vibe is backed up by killer food. The crowd is still heavy with regulars, a good sign that you're not just Disney dining.
Like many Los Angeles icons, the Dal Rae has a seamy origin story. According to food historian George Geary, the “original founders…Owen Dalton and Rae Harris had to sell their place after Dalton’s divorce following his notorious affair with a burlesque dancer.” It was sold to brothers Ben and Bill Smith from Omaha, and Ben’s sons Kevin and Lorin run the place today. The Dal Rae also allegedly played a role in an FBI sting operation in 2012. The FBI set up a fake film studio in LA, headed by an undercover agent who called himself Rocky Patel. California state Senator Ronald Calderon allegedly accepted over $60,000 in bribes for favorable legislation for the fake filmmaker. According to court documents, the pair dined at the Dal Rae, where the FBI recorded the entire scheme. Calderon was released from Federal prison in 2019.
The FBI has excellent taste. Steak is the thing here, but it doesn't have to be. You could quickly fill up on the seafood-heavy appetizers alone—crab cakes, scampi, and scallops make a brilliant meal. Other great choices include Linguini with Clams, a solid Chicken Parm, and some fantastic Colorado Lamb Chops.
If you do migrate towards the "beef" side of the menu, you will find the "Dal Rae Famous Pepper Steak," an addictive pepper sauce heavy with scallions and bacon served on top of your choice of an 8-ounce filet or 10-ounce New York Strip. It's both unique and delicious. It's so good that LA native and uber-chef Nancy Silverton (of Campanile, La Brea Bakery, Mozza, and Chi Spacca) recreated it at home for years before including it on Chi Spacca's menu.
Aside from donkeys painted like zebras, the Caesar Salad is the best thing to come out of Tijuana. But the Dal Rae Caesar is an intimate affair. It’s still made tableside in a two-minute performance completed so deftly by your server that you will lose time. The emulsion of olive oil, crushed Garlic, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, Worcestershire, egg, and parmesan is intoxicating. Then, you are faced with the often-divisive choice of anchovies. Have the anchovies. Don't be that person, picking and choosing from life, avoiding things that may challenge them. Be brave. Either way, watching the server continually whisk the dressing while keeping time with your conversation is one of the world's great wonders. You will finish your Caesar Salad, a changed person and a better one. You'll have slowed down and enjoyed the sensory experience we previously called dining.
I recommend visiting the Dal Rae at any time of the year, but the best time is the holiday season. The restaurant takes decking the halls to the extreme, plastering the place with Christmas kitsch. The season also elevates the people-watching to a higher level. I have seen ugly sweater parties and ugly Christmas sweaters worn unironically. There were office parties and family parties, a woman singing too loudly, and an old lech at the bar.
I am not alone in my admiration for the absurd beauty of Christmas at the Dal Rae. The beloved late-great Los Angeles food writer Jonathan Gold wrote," freaking hell, the Dal Rae at Christmas, a pulsing, meat-scented wonderland of dark wood and smoked mirrors and shrimp cocktails as big as spaniel pups, Old-Fashioneds pulsing with sugar, tiny lightbulbs of such profusion and such blinking complexity that it can feel as if you are trapped on the inside of a vintage Rock-Ola."
Just go.
xAP
I lived in Montebello as a kid growing up and that was a big treat for us to go to the Del Rae ! It is amazing how long they have kept it up ! Thanks for the memories ! ❤️💯👍🏻
Dal Rae is a wonderful place. Lunch at the bar or dinner at a booth. Always a great experience. This is a vibe that is disappearing from the restaurant scene. Thanks Ante.