After 43 years, Shakers Family Restaurant will be remade into an American bistro
After operating in Glendale for over four decades, Shakers Family Restaurant in Glendale has closed. It will reopen as an American bistro.
After a 43-year legacy of serving up old-fashioned diner fare, Shakers Family Restaurant has closed its doors, but the owners plan to reopen it as an American bistro spot.
Shakers was launched by Henry Yost in 1973 at Central Avenue and Burchett Street, and his son David Yost later took over running the restaurant.
Business partner Randy Hoffman said the decision was made to close Shakers because the building was in bad shape, and the timing was right to try something new, especially in an era of booming development and new eateries in Glendale.
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“We don’t want to be irrelevant … We felt like the location is capable of much more,” he said. “The way Glendale is exploding from building and density, we think the timing is good for us.”
We don’t want to be irrelevant … The way Glendale is exploding from building and density, we think the timing is good for us.
— Randy Hoffman
The new business will be called Central Grill and Bar. As the name suggests, it will have a new full-service bar, which was never a part of Shakers.
As for the new menu, Hoffman described it as not quite a steakhouse, a little more upscale in terms of dinner offerings than Shakers, yet still casual.
He compared the menu to that of another restaurant he and Yost run in Pasadena called Central Park Café, which also features American bistro-style dishes.
But some of Shakers signature recipes will continue to live on, especially for older customers who are regulars, Hoffman said.
“We’re going to have a lot of the same things we used to have, like the zucchini bread, carrot cake and some of the good standbys and hope the older-customer base will come try us and be pleasantly surprised,” he said.
Ideally, Central Grill and Bar will be open by mid-October, Hoffman said, adding, however, that unforeseen delays might move the date closer to the end of the year.
The focus will initially be on lunch and dinner offerings with breakfast expected to return at some point, Hoffman added.
Judee Kendall, president of the Glendale Chamber of Commerce, said the corner of Central and Burchett is a good location for a restaurant, and she’s glad one will be returning.
“I think having a restaurant there is a good thing,” she said. “With the number of new people coming to the area, I think it’s good to have that place because it also has great parking, which a lot of restaurants don’t have.”
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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com
Twitter: @ArinMikailian
