Catalina Jazz Club

How Hollywood’s Legendary Catalina Jazz Club Endured for 37 Years | Eater LA

"Inside a dark, converted warehouse minutes before a show, I watched owner Catalina Popescu do a final walk-through as concert-goers wandered across a worn red carpet toward a stage lit in deep blue, violet, and red; the club’s industrial checkered ceiling fades into darkness and the room snaps into place when iconic performers like Marcus Miller take the stage. Opened by Popescu and her husband in October 1986 and moved to its current 235-seat Sunset Boulevard location in 2003, the supper-club model pairs a retro Cal-Italian menu with high-caliber contemporary jazz: starters include a beet and mesclun salad dotted with goat cheese and walnuts, fried calamari with chipotle aioli, and pork-and-tangy veal meatballs under grilled ciabatta; classic entrees still on the menu are shrimp scampi and blackened Cajun catfish (served with rice pilaf, steamed vegetables, and mashed potatoes), seafood fettuccine with caper–white wine sauce, rack of lamb with rosemary cabernet tarragon sauce, chicken piccata, and plates of primavera pasta, alongside garlicky fries and long pours of sauvignon blanc. The kitchen and staff—chef de cuisine Luis Guzman, who rose from dishwasher, and longtime server Frank Chavez—run a menu designed to move plates quickly for simultaneous seating, and while the food is dated compared with contemporary chef-driven spots, I found it affordable, relatable, and perfectly suited to an audience that comes first and food second; more than a restaurant, Catalina is a resilient institution that has kept jazz alive in Los Angeles by nurturing decades-long relationships with musicians and audiences alike." - Bill Esparza