Reader "John Galt" wrote to me, asking what I could tell him about "a chain of coffee shops ... called Fiddlers Three" with locations scattered throughout Southern California. He remembers his dad, who he refers to as "a coffee shop nut," taking the family there numerous times.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find any good photos of the place, which is why there's a random photo of the old Fashion Square Mall (one of many Fiddlers Three locations) in La Habra at the top of today's post. The only contemporary visual reference I could find for the chain is an ad, shown below, from the March 13, 1986 issue of the Los Angeles Times.
The Fiddlers Three in La Habra was in operation in 1968 and was still open in the 1980s. I believe there's a Regal movie theater on that spot now.
Another Fiddlers Three opened next to Sears in the Laguna Hills Mall in late 1973 and was still operating as late as 1988.
Just last year, Tustin historian Juanita Louvre wrote about local restaurants in her newspaper column, and mentioned that the "Fiddlers Three Restaurant, which once occupied the Claim Jumper spot on Irvine Blvd. [in Tustin], is still remembered for making the best cheddar cheese soup ever tasted."
Classified ads in the mid-1980s claimed Fiddlers Three had locations in "the Orange County, Long Beach and San Fernando Valley areas." Further research produced references to Fiddlers Three branches in Fullerton, La Mirada, at the Puente Hills Mall, and at the Northridge Fashion Center. In Long Beach, they had a restaurant on Anaheim St. and possibly another one at PCH and Bellflower Blvd. The company's offices were on Signal Hill, and according to a 1986 Times article, the chain's owner was John Faber.
Yelp contributor "T.R." (we loved his review of San Juan Hill!) described the Fiddler Burger as "probably the greatest burger ever made. [It was] served on a long onion bun, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and don't forget to add your favorite cheese. It would come with a salad and they would serve it with [a] three bean salad on top of that."
Today, the chain is gone. However, those with a serious jones for a Fiddler Burger are directed to 12721 Glenoaks Blvd., in Sylmar -- An old Fiddlers Three that has changed hands and partially changed names (it's now just "Fiddler's Restaurant"). At least some of the old menu items are still available there, although opinions seem to vary on whether they're as good as they used to be.
Do you have any memories of Fiddlers Three? I have none. But I do miss the golden era of good coffee shops. Bob's Big Boy was a favorite of mine before they started their downward spiral -- I'm guessing somewhere around the late 1980s. But those kinds of restaurants were aimed squarely at the middle class, which has clearly been marked for extinction.
28 comments:
Yes there was one at PCH and Bellflower. My Mom drug me there many a time as a child. I did not like it. It was dark and had typical burger fare. Bobs Big Boy was much nicer.
The La Habra Fashion Square Fiddlers Three was next to the AMC four screen movie theatre. The Fiddlers Three closed in the mid to late 80's, the theatre in the mid 90's. Both structures were torn down in 2000 and the current Regal theatre's parking lot is roughly where they stood.
Chris, thank you for the great post!
The logo in the newspaper ad was the one I remember. It seems that there was a metal decoration on the building in that late '60's style with the Three Fiddlers from the nursery rhyme.
We were Bob's customers too. Both in SoCal and in their branches in the San Joaquin Valley closer to our home.
My Dad grew up in the San Fernando area and was familiar with Bob's from his youth. I enjoyed the little newsprint comic books too.
I really appreciate your effort in tracking down this information about a dim childhood memory.
Best Regards, JG.
I grew up in Tustin and used to go with my family to the one on Irvine Blvd between Redhill and Newport. I liked it, but I remember my father got irritated with the waitress for poor service and left her one penny as a tip. When he explained it was meant to send a message, and the light bulb went off in my young brain, I thought that was the funniest gesture I'd ever seen.
I worked at Fiddler's Three in the Carson Mall for many years while I was in school at CSULB. It was my first job experience waiting tables(I even had to attend waiter school)
I have thought about Fiddler's Three over the years and wondered what happened to it.(I live on the East Coast now)
I loved working there and often wonder what happened to the manager Sam Wright Jr. He was the best!
My fave thing on the menu...The Frisco Burger...the sour cream dressing(to dip fries in) and Cheese Soup...:)
Thanks for this very useful info you have provided us. I will bookmark this for future reference and refer it to my friends. More power to your blog.
There was also a Fiddlers three in Lakewood near the mall. I went there many times with my mom and dad and always enjoyed it. They had friendly and good looking waitresses too. My favorite was the Frisco burger. I wish I could still get one.
There were 17 "stores" by 1978... I worked as a cook at #14 PCH and Bellflower Blvd. and cleaned the carpets for all the restuarants my senior year in High School. I managed at several locations shortly after high school. The owner was Ed Everly. John Faber was associated with the chain and utilized the commissary for his McKenna's Creek location. The following Restaurants were all part of the Fiddler's Three family: Fiddler's Three, Sixpence, McKenna's Creek, and Miss Lucy's.
They also owned Sixpence which had the same food. There was one outside the lakewood mall- I would love to get the sour cream dressing recipe. I worked there as a teen.
When I was a small child in the 70"s my mother and I used to go shopping in the Puente Hills Mall a lot. Nearly every weekend we would eat at the fiddlers three restaurant. It was one of my favorites. Another long gone favorite was the David Copperfield restaurant in the Santa Anita Mall. Anyone remember that?
Yes David Copperfield's does sound familiar but I never had the chance to go there. Did anyone else go to the Fiddler's Three in Lakewood by the Mall or the one on Bellflower Blvd? Just wondering if any of my old friends have read this. Quite a few of us used to go to both quite often. Brian M
My 1st paycheck as a kid was as a busboy at the Fiddler's in Lakewood. Worked up from there to dishwasher, cook, & later, to bartender. Worked at Lakewood, Sixpence, La Habra, Tustin in the 60's & 70's. The Fiddler Burger was great, especially w/the sour cream dressing instead of 1000 island.
For the Sour Cream dressing try the Coco's Sour Cream recipe on the net (if memory serves me there was some early connection between Coco's & Fiddlers Three).
For the Cheese soup, try the "Canadian Cheese Soup" recipe at Cooks.com. It's pretty close. You might want to add some diced mushrooms or bacon to get it right. Also, Fiddlers used to have a dish called "Cheese Benedict", made like Eggs Benedict, but with scrambled eggs instead of poached & thickened cheese soup instead of hollandaise sauce. Tasty.
Anonymous
They did have good sour cream dressing. I used it for dipping my french fries in as well as on my salad. Does anyone have any idea of there were thoughts to bringing Fiddlers Three back? It would be interesting to see some pictures if anyone has any to share.
What can I say...cheese soup! I have a recipe, probably from the L.A. Times in the '80's, that is supposed to be the recipe from Fiddlers Three. I need to try it sometime.
What were some of the other menu items that were favorites of yours? I usually enjoyed the Frisco Burger or Fiddlers Burger with a side salad. Share some of your favorites and jar our memories a little.
The Lakewood store was the first Fiddlers & John Faber was the manager there when I started as a busboy in 1965 (had to get a "work permit" 'cause I wasn't quite 16 yet), & almost got fired after the first month.
Some odds & ends of memories (in no particular order):
The Fried Chicken was very good. It was cooked in what was called a "Broaster" (kind of a combination fryer/pressure cooker)-cooked quickly, came out crunchy & juicy, but not greasy. I enjoyed the French Dip Sandwich also (the roasts were cooked on premises).
The fries were always cooked in clean, fresh oil (the real stuff, not that veggie crud they use nowadays), so they weren't soggy & the fryers for fried fish were always separate (I know, that was one of my jobs while there). The service plates for hot food were always taken from a plate warmer before plating the food, so it stayed hot, & the salad plates were chilled. The griddle was cleaned to bright metal w/a pumice stone & the broiler grates wire brushed & run thru the dishwasher every night.
When they added the Bar & Grill to the back of the Lakewood store, the Steamed Clams w/garlic toast was really good. The coffee was always very good, a cut above other coffee shops. I can't remember the name of the brand (perhaps Lingle Bros.?), but at that time you couldn't get it in a grocery store. The bread & pastries/pies were always delivered fresh, first thing every morning.
Anonymous
I had forgotten when they added the bar and grill in the back. That French dip sounds good. I do remember the French fries being really good and now I know why. It makes you wonder why Fiddlers didn't last. There are so many places around now that just don't match up that's for sure. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and hope you share more in the future.
Regarding some of the earlier questions:
As I understand it, there is still (1) Fiddlers (sort of) left in Sylmar, Ca., that still has some of the old menu items, although the Cheese Soup reviews are disappointing.
For the Bob's Big Boy fans, I guess they're trying to make a come back, in a small way. I know for a fact that there was a new Bob's in Signal Hill, Ca., (just north of Costco) as of a year ago, 'cause I ate there. Had the Big Boy Burger (brought back some memories).
I filled in as a replacement cook at the Fiddlers in Tustin several times in the late 60's. At that time one of the semi-regular customers was Bill Medley (the taller half of the Righteous Brothers singing duet). I was told he was dating one of the waitresses.
The waitresses/hostesses at all of the Fiddlers were good looking & I dated a few of them (almost popped the question to one of them, but ended up marrying one of the customers instead).
Fiddlers, at its peak had a whole lot of stores (there was even one out in Palm Springs). The Sixpence started out as a sort of gourmet hot dog restaurant.
After opening the Bar & Grill addition to the Lakewood Fiddlers & opening McKenna's Creek & Miss Lucy's, from an outsider & occasional customer viewpoint (by that time), it seemed as if they had over-extended & lost focus. Anyway, the Lakewood store went through a series of other owners(?), for a few years, until finally closing its doors several years ago. It has been torn down & there's a tire store there now. RIP.
As far as "bringing back" the original Fiddler's Three, I don't see that happening & haven't heard anything about it, although I've not been in the area for some time now.
It was a great job for high school kids at that time & place. I made many friends & have a lot of fond memories (some great, some good, some goofy, some painful & some bittersweet). It's good to reminisce, but it's like the old adage, you can never really go home again, after you've left.
Anonymous
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It does sound as though they did over extend which can create problems. I'm out of the area now as well but do visit Long Beach/Lakewood from time to time. Bob's Big Boy was another place I went to quite a bit on Bellflower Blvd. I did also hear they are trying to come back but my sister lives back east and drop into one recently and was deeply disappointed. The Big Boy combo was good and I loved the sauce they put on it. The French toast they had sounds good right about now. Oh the memories. lol Do you have any other blogs you might share regarding Long Beach/Lakewood area? Thanks again for sharing.
I still have the September Special list. Sat. & Sun cheeseburgers or spaghetti were only $2.45, and a Coke was 25 cents! On the back of the specials are some mind bender puzzles to occupy your time while you wait.
They did have good Cheeseburgers. The coffee was good as well. Any idea what brand it was? Pass along any other blogs you may know of regarding Long Beach/Lakewood are of that era. I would appreciate it. Brian
Reading a previous post I noticed the coffee may have been lingle bros. I'm going to see if I can find that in my area. My wife and I went out to eat recently and I noticed a couple of things that have been posted previously. After ordering our meal out salads arrived on warm plates. Thinking back the plates were always cold at Fiddlers and the salads were delicious. When our meal arrived the french fries were limp and cold and the cheeseburger was dry and over cooked. I ordered it with a little pink. It is amazing how some of these places stay in business with all of the competition there is. There are many reasons I look back at Fiddlers fondly. Meals with my mom and dad are just one of them. Going there with family and friends brings back fond memories of enjoyable outings and reminds me of some great friends as well. I knew a couple of people that worked at the Lakewood store for quite a while and have lost touch with them. I'm craving just about anything off of Fiddlers menu right now. lol Some of there wonderful soup sounds good on this cold morning.
seI talked to my sister this weekend and she said isn't Fiddlers where we used to get that great strawberry pie? As I recall they did have great pie. I'm not sure if Im remembering this correctly but it seems they also had Boysenberry along with several others. Does anyone else recall or have any idea what the price of a slice of pie or even coffee was back in the day? Thanks to all the others that post comments.
As I recall, the first day I hired on & looked at the menu, the price for just a standard hamburger (bun, burger, lettuce, tomato, pickles sliced onion on request, w/a dollop of 1000 Island dressing) was $0.65. You could add cheese for a nickle or dime. I think the combo cheeseburger (Burger/Salad & Fires)would set you back around $1.25, & I think a cup of coffee was a nickle or dime w/unlimited re-fills. That was 1965 & a Micky Dee burger was going for $0.15.
If the coffee wasn't Lingle Bros., it could have been Farmers Bros. Not sure, I was pretty busy w/other stuff.
The Strawberry Pies were actually pretty simple: you can do them at home during the season. Just get the biggest, ripest strawberries you can find, a good brand of strawberry glaze (you're gonna need a fair amount), a premade good pie crust in the pan & good whipped cream. Start w/a 1/4" layer of the glaze in the crust. Add a layer of the berries (cleaned), more glaze, more berries< & repeat until you've got a low mountain. Then another layer of glaze over the whole thing. Refrigerate for at least (4) hours to allow setting up (I think that's it). Slice for serving (good luck, it's messy), add whipped cream & enjoy. Not sure about the Boysenberry, but I believe they had fresh Peach Pie done the same way, in season (w/a Peach Glaze).
One of the reasons that I think the food was better (on time & hot), was that the Manager &/or Asst. Managers were on the front floor during the breakfast, lunch & dinner rush periods to monitor the food coming up on the pass-out bar, before the waitresses picked it up. When I first trained as a cook, I had my fair share dishes rejected by the manager & was told "do it again". Another layer of quality assurance, that I think is sorely lacking today.
The regular Dinner Salads were prepped by the waitresses. They had the chilled plates. We (the cooks) made the larger Chef Salads, etc., & had to get the larger chilled plates/bowls from the back (no room in the cook station).
Bob's Big Boy on the corner of Lakewood Blvd & South St. was our alternative hang-out.
Thanks for the last post. I have to laugh when I see those prices thinking back to how to scrape up enough to go out for a bite to eat or on a date just out of high school. Those pies were really good and now that you mention the peach pie that does ring a bell although I usually went for the strawberry. The coffee was good whatever brand it was. When you say the salad plates were chilled that they were. To be honest now that I think about it I don't think that happens most of the time now as well. Food being served hot when arriving at the table. What a treat. lol If you mention something is not hot or downright cold now they give you a kiss my a** look instead of offering to make it right. It sounds like they ran a pretty tight ship for the most part. Would you agree? Can you think of anything other things that they did that for the most part is not done now? It's really not much to ask for hot food and coffee and friendly service but it can be difficult to find that's for sure. Did they serve a french dip, shrimp,steak or ribs back then? With my budget I stuck with the Fiddler burger or something similar from what I can recall. I could be wrong but I believe they had a San Franciscan as well. My other hang out was the Big Boy on Bellflower Blvd and Atherton near Los Altos mall. I always enjoy your post and look forward to hearing more if you have anything to share.
Brian
When I started at Fiddler's in 1965 I believe my hire-in wage was $0.85 an hour, until I didn't need a work permit & it went up to $1.35/hour. So, when a cheese burger deluxe cost an hours wages, you were careful about how you spent your money. Of course, you could also get a gallon of gas for less than $0.25. Fiddlers put themselves a cut above the other chain burger joints by paying attention to the little details.
In no particular order: There was always a Hostess/Cashier on hand during the rush hour (that was her only job). No one was ever seated at a dirty table. When I was a busboy, part of my job (when I wasn't busing tables was to run a hand pushed carpet sweeper over the rug (away from current customers)& make sure the condiments at each table were clean & filled, & to re-wipe down the unoccupied tables, booths, chairs, etc.
None of the food was store-bought. It either came in prepped from the commissary, bakery, or was prepped fresh in the store. None of the frozen veggies you see nowadays. Another thing, was that the Fiddlers I worked at, always had a double door entrance set-up, so that any cold outside air didn't blow in onto the customers sitting at the counter. Neither was the ventilation set up so that any air (hot or cold) blew down onto the tables (& no stupid fans over the tables). That's a pet peeve of mine. If you serve a dish (especially hot), even if it's on a hot plate, if there's a draft, the food might as well be cold. The idea that a server is there to take care of the customer at the risk of losing a tip has gotten lost in the "ME-ME-ME" mentality of today.
The menu was mostly standard fare of ham, bacon, Hash Browns, eggs, omelets, pancakes, cereal, hot oatmeal, etc. for breakfast. Burgers, fries, sandwiches, salads, etc., for lunch. Dinner was a bit more upscale. In addition to all of the stuff offered for breakfast & lunch, Steaks, Halibut Steaks, Liver, Fried Chicken/Shrimp/Fish, Baked Potatoes & a few years later, Prime Rib were offered. The French Dip was always a staple. Don't recall any ribs. Maybe that was added later. Two other dishes that I recall when the Lakewood store added the bar & grill, were the Stuffed Mushrooms (with a Crab/Shrimp mix) & Grilled Jumbo Shrimp on skewers. the 'Frisco Burger came along just as I was leaving to go into the Navy, so I was never familiar with that.
One odd bit of trivia when I was a cook: about once a week, an older gentleman would come in alone, sit at the counter & order a plain hamburger (cold bun, lettuce, tomato, etc., & a raw, cold burger patty). He'd chow down on that, pay & walk out with a wave & a smile. Always wondered what happened to him.
I can remember making $1.65 per hour a few years later. Yes you did have to think before you spent. I think gas may have been a whopping $0.35 per gallon. When you went to Fiddler's you knew you were getting a good meal. As I have said before I went there with my parents and they usually picked up the tab fortunately. I did go with friends and on dates a few times as well. I do recall the tables always being clean and also the carpet sweeper as well. It just seemed to me that people took pride in working there or were afraid if they didn't do there job they would be working somewhere else pretty quickly. I can't remember if the Fiddler's near Lakewood Mall had a double door but I think it did. We usually sat at a table so I probably didn't pay attention to that. What year did they add the bar and grill at the Lakewood store? I'm guessing 1973 or 1974 perhaps. I loved the Fiddler Burger but I also wolfed down the Frisco Burger when it came onto the menu. I did enjoy the salads with sour cream? dressing and the round croutons. We always found the food good and the waitresses always helpful and friendly. Just curious. Were you a chef in the Navy? It seems as though your experience at Fiddler's was a positive one for sure. I look forward to your next post.
I was trying to remember if Fiddlers did anything special for mothers day. We did take mom there on mothers day and she always had a good time and enjoyed the meal but I'm having a hard time with if they had anything special on the menu even dessert wise?
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