I’ve driven down Cesar Chavez/Brooklyn Ave in East LA hundreds of times and always pause to take a look at this old bar. Something about the place intrigues me. Every year another letter falls.
Damn. That bar looked pretty messed up when I was a kid. It’s off the corner of Gage and Cesar Chavez/Brooklyn, right? I became pretty familiar with that intersection when I was a kid because it was on the way to visit my grandparents.
I wondered who would go in there. I never saw anyone enter or leave or loiter. That was probably related to the fact that most of the time I saw it was during daylight hours…
Chimatli says:
Yes, that’s the bar exactly! You know, I’ve never seen anyone in there either, nor do I remember it ever being open.
I imagine it’s the kind of place where my great uncle would have been a regular. He was affectionately referred to in our family as a “wino.” 😉 Despite his drinking habits and his penchant for wasting the days away in Brooklyn Ave dives, he was always a sharp dresser in jacket and slacks and had slick Tres Flores coiffed hair.
My favorite memory of him was during one of the last LA Street Scenes, Circle Jerks was getting ready to play and there amongst the multi-colored mohawks was my uncle coolly smoking a cigarette, chilling against a wall and watching the punks walk by.
The LATIN PLAYBOY is on the corner of NORTH ROWAN AVENUE and BROOKLYN AVENUE
(now Cesar Chavez) it is not on Gage, which is 2 blocks further east…….
PAM CRAMPTON says:
My grandfather and his brother owned this business. Wow what memories.
Marco Antonio Aguiar says:
Wanna hear history on “Latin Playboy” in East LA? My mom owned a bar in Skid Row back in the 70’s. She was going to buy the Latin Playboy. I remember going with her and inside it looked more like a Lounge than a Bar. I remember seeing a huge, or looked huge to a 5 year old, aquarium with amazing looking fish. I don’t know why her purchase didn’t go through but whenever we passed it she would always ask me if I remember the “Latin Playboy”.
Damn. That bar looked pretty messed up when I was a kid. It’s off the corner of Gage and Cesar Chavez/Brooklyn, right? I became pretty familiar with that intersection when I was a kid because it was on the way to visit my grandparents.
I wondered who would go in there. I never saw anyone enter or leave or loiter. That was probably related to the fact that most of the time I saw it was during daylight hours…
Yes, that’s the bar exactly! You know, I’ve never seen anyone in there either, nor do I remember it ever being open.
I imagine it’s the kind of place where my great uncle would have been a regular. He was affectionately referred to in our family as a “wino.” 😉 Despite his drinking habits and his penchant for wasting the days away in Brooklyn Ave dives, he was always a sharp dresser in jacket and slacks and had slick Tres Flores coiffed hair.
My favorite memory of him was during one of the last LA Street Scenes, Circle Jerks was getting ready to play and there amongst the multi-colored mohawks was my uncle coolly smoking a cigarette, chilling against a wall and watching the punks walk by.
that place is ready to fall!!
Love the picture! the place is rotting almost but they still seem to let it stand
The LATIN PLAYBOY is on the corner of NORTH ROWAN AVENUE and BROOKLYN AVENUE
(now Cesar Chavez) it is not on Gage, which is 2 blocks further east…….
My grandfather and his brother owned this business. Wow what memories.
Wanna hear history on “Latin Playboy” in East LA? My mom owned a bar in Skid Row back in the 70’s. She was going to buy the Latin Playboy. I remember going with her and inside it looked more like a Lounge than a Bar. I remember seeing a huge, or looked huge to a 5 year old, aquarium with amazing looking fish. I don’t know why her purchase didn’t go through but whenever we passed it she would always ask me if I remember the “Latin Playboy”.