[ RIP ] L.A.’s Best Delis: Celebrity Edition! Curtis Armstrong at Victor’s Square

Sadly Victor’s Square has closed 🙁

Original 2014 Post:

Victor’s Square Restaurant & Delicatessen has been around in various forms since 1929, always on the corner of Franklin and Bronson in Hollywood.  

Known for it’s old school charm and delicious meals, it’s long been the area’s best kept secret.  The current incarnation opened here in the mid-1980s and is what we call a classic “Two in One.”  Part top notch New York City deli and part world class Italian eatery.   The decor is delightfully dark and dingy.  But in a good way.  Slip into one of the giant welcoming beige leather booths and get ready to browse Victor’s huge menu–big enough to make a New Jersey diner blush.  Breakfast?  Yup.  Sky high sandwiches? Check.  Linguine and clams?  You bet.

Located in an unassuming strip mall, Victor’s is around the corner from one of the hippest blocks in town.  Before your meal you can walk into Counter Point Book and Record Shop, the perfect place to pick up a Mrs Miller Sings LP or a dog eared copy of Phyllis Diller’s Biography.  Both of which I’ve bought there over the years.  You can also take in a post dinner comedy show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater (UCB for short) where everyone from Sarah Silverman to Missi Pyle perform.

 For my latest Retro Roadmap West Coast visit to one of L.A.’s best places, I thought I would make it special and invite along Mr. Curtis Armstrong:

The talented character actor is best known for his work in the retro-rific films “Revenge Of The Nerds”, “Risky Business” “Better Off Dead” and “Clan Of The Cave Bear.”  He is also the host of the new TBS reality show “King Of The Nerds.”

 RR: How long have you been coming here?

Curtis:  This is one of my favorite restaurants.  I’ve been coming here since the week it opened..

Wait. It says it opened in 1929 and you are too young to have been around then.

Yes.  This version actually opened in 1988 or something like that.  I was out here working on “Moonlighting” and I used to live down the street in the Hollywood Hills.  This location used to be a nightclub/disco that had some problems with fighting and violence. Something happened and it closed down.  The next thing I knew Victor’s was here.

 In a city full of restaurants what attracted you to Victor’s?

I had moved here from New York and loved good Italian food and I loved deli’s.  Both of which were hard to find here in L.A. in the 1980s.  Bill Gotti is the owner of the place.  From New York.

 Any relation to John Gotti from New York?

Yes. I’m not sure how much of that is common knowledge.  But yes he is of the Gotti Family and decided he wanted to get away from New York and all that to start a new life.  So he came out here and established this version of Victor’s, which is now one of the best kept secrets in Hollywood.  Because not only is a a great New York Deli, with typical New York deli food but the pasta and Italian foods are also amazing.  It’s like a different restaurant depending on what you order.  They make everything themselves and it’s all fresh.  The recipes come from Bill’s family.  He really did bring New York to Los Angeles.  That is why I’m here all the time.

They know you here?

It was the first restaurant we brought my daughter to when she was old enough to go out in public.  Bill used to carry her around while we would eat.  He’s a really amazing guy.  When she had her bat mitzvah we told her she could have whatever food she wanted and she chose Victor’s.  Because they cater too.  There was a time when I was having my house redone and I would have three meals a day here.  It’s my home away from home.

 Besides yourself, do you ever see any other famous folks here?

I used to see more people back in the old days.  Rhea Perlman would be here.  I used to see Sinead O’Connor.  Lily Tomlin.  Bonnie Raitt.

 What is your usual?

Turkey burger for lunch with blue cheese.  I add blue cheese.  That’s my deli lunch.  What are you gonna get?

 How’s the pastrami here?

Oohh. (Note:  Curtis and I both order the pastrami.  Mine of toasted sourdough.  His on toasted rye.  And he was right.  Oooh!)

Italian wise I like linguine chicken diablo.  Or the Bolognese, either the traditional or chicken Bolognese.   I have tried for years to duplicate their Bolognese sauce but can not do it.

Is there one thing on the menu you would never order?

Curtis:The fruit cup.  I mean that is the thing in the deli that I would probably not order.

 If you were to design a celebrity sandwich called “The Curtis Armstrong” what would it be?

Curtis:  Wow!  Good question.  It would have to be chicken because I probably eat chicken more than any other thing.  It would be chicken..  No.  wait.  Chicken is too easy.  The Curtis Armstrong Sandwich?  I’ll say a sandwich which does not exist in life.  It would be a Haggis sandwich.

 You actually eat haggis?

Curtis: I’ve eaten haggis many times.  I like haggis.  It’s good.  But my haggis would be with a whiskey demi glaze on a french roll.  That’s the Curtis Armstrong Sandwich!

Victor’s Square Restaurant is a must for anyone looking for a little bid of old Hollywood charm.  For less than $40.00 Curtis and I enjoyed two tasty pastrami sandwiches, sides and drinks all while surrounded by old ladies and beige leather.  What more could you want.  The joint is perfect day or night.  I can’t wait to go back and try the Italian selections.  You’ll love it’s retro charm and who knows you may bump into Curtis Armstrong.

 Watch Curtis Armstrong on the TBS reality show “King Of The Nerds”