Chasen’s Chili Is History as Once Star-Studded Eatery Closes : Dining: Famous 58-year-old hangout falls victim to changing times and shifting tastes of Hollywood’s elite.

Everyone thought Chasen’s would forever serve its chili and hobo steak to Hollywood’s elite. But the restaurant’s closing Saturday proved that nothing is permanent in the film capital, especially dining places of the in-crowd.

Chasen’s lasted 58 years, an eternity by L.A. restaurant standards. Musso & Frank, founded in 1919 and a favorite haunt of Charlie Chaplin and Mack Sennett, still offers New York-style food on Hollywood Boulevard, but celebrities rarely venture there.

A Los Angeles developer is planning to raze the building and erect a two-story shopping center, possibly with a smaller version of the famous hangout.

Dave Chasen, a vaudeville actor and comedian, founded the restaurant in 1936 with $3,500 borrowed from his friend, New Yorker magazine founding editor Harold Ross. It opened for business as Chasen’s Southern Pit Barbecue at Beverly Boulevard and Doheny Drive, serving up chili and spareribs at its six tables and counter.

That Chasen’s could have lasted so long is a tribute to its solid--if pricey and unchanging--menu. And also to its reputation as a meeting place for the town’s Establishment.

In its heyday, patrons would not be surprised to see Jimmy Stewart, Alfred Hitchcock, Jack Benny, Ronald Reagan, or Burns and Allen dining at booths in the exclusive front room. Lesser stars were relegated to adjoining rooms.

Chasen’s chili has appeared on the menu from the first barbecue pit days. President John F. Kennedy savored it during his visits to Los Angeles. During her traumatic days on “Cleopatra,” Elizabeth Taylor ordered large quantities flown to her in Rome.

“Dave Chasen gave the place a personal touch,” said George Christy, who has covered the social scene for decades at the Hollywood Reporter and other publications. “After he died, his wife Maude carried on, but it wasn’t the same.

“A restaurant must have a feeling, the owner has to touch base with the patrons. It doesn’t hurt to send a bottle of wine to a table now and then. The patrons felt a part of the Chasen’s family. But that family was dying.”

Director George Sidney (“Annie Get Your Gun,” “Showboat”) has patronized Chasen’s since it was a barbecue stand in 1936. He observed:

“European restaurants go on for generations. But we’re a nation of new models; everyone wants to have a 1995 car. Restaurants in Hollywood are a fad, just like the length of a skirt. They’re always changing, according to public fancy.

“Customs change, too. In the old days, people would give dinner parties for eight or 10 people, and they’d all come in formal dress. They sat down and dined on exquisite dinners.

“Hollywood has gone through a youth thrust. This new bunch don’t dine any more, they don’t ‘gourmetize.’ They just eat.”