Valley Valets : For Patrons of Upscale Restaurants, Service Starts at the Curb
The couple drove up in their brand new Volvo to an elegant French restaurant on Ventura Boulevard, only to find after dinner that an someone had pitched a brick through the car’s rear window.
So much for a fine dining experience.
At a Warner Center hotel, a man went to retrieve his car from the valet, only to learn that his car had been purloined by a well-known TV actor who, when realizing his blunder, dumped the car on the freeway and fled on foot.
In the first incident, the diners opted to park their car across the street from Lautrec’s. For $1.50 (tip optional), a neatly attired attendant would have safely stationed the car at the restaurant’s private off-street lot. Hence, no risk from random joy riders cruising the Ventura strip.
At the Marriott Hotel, it was a case of mistaken car I.D.
“The guy who took the wrong car was highly intoxicated and obviously shouldn’t have been driving in the first place,” notes Detective Carl Bishop of LAPD’s West Valley Division who investigated the caper. (The stolen automobile was eventually restored to the rightful owner and the case turned over to attorneys for disposition.)
Important to Industry
Valet park or self-park? According to observers in the restaurant industry, valet parking is virtually indispensable for today’s upscale epicures. And as Ventura Boulevard has rapidly turned into the Valley’s restaurant row, red-jacketed valet parkers have become a common sight on the boulevard’s sidewalks.
Although the number of eating and drinking establishments which serve alcoholic beverages in the City of Los Angeles has actually declined between 1983 and 1985--from 3,137 to 3,122--revenues are up considerably, reports Jeff Reynolds, chief of research and statistics for the State Board of Equalization. Revenue generated by Los Angeles restaurants and bars were $1.07 billion in 1983, $1.16 billion in 1984 and $1.20 billion in 1985.
“Given the fact that there hasn’t been double-digit inflation recently, it appears that discretionary-income dollars are finding their way into Los Angeles’ eating and drinking establishments,” Reynolds said.
Valet Service Fills Need
But in many cases, lack of places to park causes major headaches for proprietors, customers and neighborhood residents of areas surrounding Ventura Boulevard. Enter valet parking companies.
Of course, long before Ventura Boulevard was fully surveyed and paved and visited with heavy commercial development, valet parking had been invented. The dictionary defines a valet as one who performs personal services for guests, services that predated the automobile.
Until the late 1970s, valet parking was essentially “gratis,” with most patrons content to lay a buck in the hand of the attendant who skillfully jockeyed their car in and out of the establishment’s parking quarters (be they on- or off-street).
Today’s going rate at most popular Ventura strip eating and drinking establishments is $1.50. That’s 50 cents more than the average about four years ago, according to Herb Citrin, founder-president of Valley Parking Service of Los Angeles, established in 1946.
Lawry’s Was First
Citrin says his company pioneered the “service charge” after reaching agreement with his first client, Lawry’s Prime Rib on La Cienega’s Restaurant Row. The fee was set at $1 per car.
“There was resistance to doing this at first, because nobody wanted to be the first. But then (the fee) caught on, and today you’ll find that most good restaurants consider parking their customers’ cars an important part of doing business.”
“Valet parking is, and should be, part of the overall dining experience,” said Billy Kincheloe, owner of Stanley’s, a trendy restaurant and watering hole in Sherman Oaks.
“The parking attendant represents Stanley’s,” Kincheloe says. “The first person the customer sees is the valet or the hostess.
“It is imperative that the valet have a positive attitude, is cordial, clean, properly dressed and presents no hassle to the customer.”
Citrin agrees with Kincheloe, who contracts with Valet Parking Service, which also handles another Stanley’s in Woodland Hills, Fireside Inn and Tony Roma’s in Encino, Anna’s and Cafe Cordiale in Sherman Oaks and Universal City’s Fung Lum, Victoria Station and Womphopper’s.
First Impression Important
“The average customer,” says Citrin, “even though he’s fairly sophisticated, if he thought about it would think (valet parking) was part of the restaurant.
“In effect, the parking attendant is your first and last kiss.”
Valet Parking Service also handles parking for the Academy Awards, the Grammy and Emmy awards. For the Academy Awards alone, the valet service handles 1,200 limousines and cars, Citrin says.
He employs as many as 500 parking attendants in Southern California, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and Reno, and the company has sales exceeding $5 million annually.
Citrin’s parkers wear company-supplied uniforms accented with a red tuxedo-style jacket complete with velvet shawl collar and necktie. They are required to take a training course which includes a film on such matters as safety and do’s and don’ts of contact with the public. They wear name tags on the job.
If they work in Beverly Hills, they must be registered with the police department.
Insurance Is High
The business is competitive, with many firms working both the restaurant rows and private parties. Insurance, which can run as high as $150,000 annually (for Citrin’s firm), is a major part of the overhead.
According to Citrin, the Valley presents one troublesome idiosyncrasy: “Everybody wants to be on Ventura Boulevard.”
At Tony Roma’s, for instance, employees leaving their offices at 5:30 p.m. sometimes get tangled up with incoming diners’ cars pulling into the 20-story Crocker Bank building in Encino.
Attorney Keith Turner, who works in the building which also houses Tony Roma’s, says, “Sometimes it’s a real mess on the street and in the parking lot, but the attendants do a pretty good job of diffusing the confusion.”
At other locations, however, there are many instances of blatant disregard by valet parkers for posted parking restrictions, say parking enforcement officials as well as local residents.
Enforcement Is Swift
Parking enforcement is left to the city’s Department of Transportation. Senior Traffic Supervisor Woodrow Smith, based in Van Nuys, says there are “two or three problem areas along Ventura with valet parkers who ignore parking restrictions, but we’re quick to enforce.”
“We’ll either explain the problem to the offender if we see them on the spot. If not, we’ll cite the vehicle parked in the restricted zone or, if necessary, tow away a vehicle parked in a no-parking-anytime zone.
“If we get enough complaints from residents, we’ll immediately beef up enforcement. Sometimes, residents’ complaints have resulted in creating new parking restrictions,” Smith added.
Sherman Oaks is one of the “problem areas” where competition for parking space frequently gets dicey, according to Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn.
Community Upset
“There are several restaurants that obviously don’t have enough off-street parking, and valet parkers dump the cars in front of residential areas,” he complained. “Some of these businesses are just being piggish and this is causing a lot of aggravation between business and the community.”
While many businesses rent vacant spaces to accommodate overflow parking, others refuse to or simply cancel leases they previously signed, Close alleged.
His group has been holding meetings with governmental officials, including City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, to seek redress. Close says issuance of parking stickers may remedy some of the problem and is under consideration by the city.
“It’s in the best interest of all concerned to clear up these parking problems.”
Self-Park Available
Some establishments are fortunate not to have any space problems, such as the sprawling Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City. Customers are free to self-park in the spacious lots surrounding the restaurant and banquet facilities.
However, Pepper Parking Co. of Encino busily works the crowds from two parking stations that are offered by Sportsmen’s Lodge in addition to the self-parking.
Jerry Breitbart, director of chapter relations for the California Restaurant Association, champions the cause of valet parking.
“Most restaurants do a good job of handling their customers’ cars. The most efficient way is to ‘stack’ the cars two or three deep, since so many establishments are limited in space.
“Valet parking is also a safety factor, because the customer doesn’t have to walk out into a dark lot or street to get his car.”
Few Valet-Related Crimes
Regarding actual crime related to valet-parked cars, Detective Bishop of the police department says, “We really don’t have a problem, with the exception of the occasional dishonest employee who removes something from the vehicle.”
As for tipping the valet, most concede that it’s purely a personal decision.
“A lot of people don’t know what to do, but they don’t seem to mind leaving behind the 50 cents when they hand over $2 to the valet,” said Citrin of Valet Parking Service. “On the other hand, the public is not obligated to tip.
“Before we had a service charge, we found that the more expensive the restaurant, the better the tip was.”
The same could apply to the type of car one drives to the restaurant.
Jay Regan, general manager of Lautrec’s in Woodland Hills, which contracts with Red Tie Parking Service in Sherman Oaks, explained:
“We have a guy who drives in here with an $80,000 Ferrari and drops $20 on the attendant. He pays in advance and knows the valet will take good care of his car.
“If it’s a real classy model, we’ll give it the prime spot.”
