Damon's steakhouse, Glendale, (restaurant)

Name:Damon's steakhouse
Type:restaurant
Street:Brand ave
City:Glendale
State:
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:
Status:operational

Description:
This is a cool place that has been around since 1937. Amazing steaks and decore, not super tiki, but super tropical for sure. I think the drink menu is kinda weak, but the food makes up for it. A must visit in so-cal.
http://www.damonsglendale.com/index.html

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I used to live about a mile from Damon's. (I moved away in 2000)
I used to go there quite often. The food is great, but not a great TIPSY factor. The overall atmosphere is very Polynesian. On a recent trip, I discovered that the restaurant has changed ownership, and the old owners took the Leeteg painting with them.

Kelly

I think the bartender talent went with them. Our bartender made faces and rolled her eyes when I would ask for tropical drinks and gave her the "real" recipe for a mai-tai!!!.I think she was honestly AA from an overheard conversation, not a good state of mind for a bartender.

Went to Damon's for the first time last night with the girlfriend. We thought about sitting at the bar to eat, but instead took a table in the dining room so we could get a good view of the joint overall. The fish tank actually had a live puffer fish swimming around, which we thought was very cool. Overall, the decor was great, but not more than one or two actual Tikis could be seen from where we were sitting. Some really beautifull murals on the walls, lots of bamboo, and a good size outrigger was hanging in the middle of the dining room. Should have brought the camera, but didn't this time. The food was great. I had a nice size steak and the girlfriend had fish. We asked for a drink menu, but was told that they don't have one. Our waitress told us they are known for there Mai Tai's and Chi Chi's, so we ordered both. I like the Chi Chi best, and was feeling good after only two drinks.
I'd give Damon's 4 out of 5 stars. If they added more Tiki's and an actual drink menu, they'd get 5 stars from me.

[ Edited by: Chub 2007-11-10 10:45 ]

Found these pictures on the net of the front of Damon's along with an older menu.

A few pics I took on our trip to Damon's on 11-14-07. Our waitress Mary, was one of the best we've had at any Tiki establishment. No joke! Oh, and the food was great too.

This place is super cool,We went with our friends grog and bora boris last month and had a great meal,Im so glad its still going strong and not suffered the dreaded modernization they usually have.

On 2007-11-23 12:52, TIKIWAGON wrote:
. . . Im so glad its still going strong and not suffered the dreaded modernization they usually have.

This is one of the "soul" survivors in Southern California, along with Bali Hai, Bahooka's, Humphrey's Half-Moon Bay, Tiki Ti and the Tonga Hut.

Sadly, Sam's Trader Vic's and Islands restaurant at the Hanalei have all been lost (or had their fate sealed) in the past year or so. We have to enjoy these treasures while they still exist.

More photos:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=2531&forum=1

Good call, 2WT!

A great place, and yes, CT, one of the last of the First Wave Greats in the LA area.

Libby and I were gifted with a couple of neato mugs by one of their less-charismaticly-challenged bartenders not so long ago, after a lengthy exploration of their rum selections. I would wish for more Polynesian culinary choices, but what they offer won't leave you hungry. If you go, I suggest the scallops and a jolt of Orinoco. Oooo.

Cheers and AloHalidays,
SOK

"Don't let it be forgot,
That once there was a Spot,
Where Blowfish all wore sunglasses,
and Tiki-times were hot..."

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-12-01 17:20 ]

On 2007-12-01 17:17, Son-of-Kelbo wrote:

Libby and I were gifted with a couple of neato mugs by one of their less-charismaticly-challenged bartenders not so long ago, after a lengthy exploration of their rum selections.

Mugs and rum?
Wow - I thought Damon's only served vodka-based drinks and I've never seen a tiki mug there.
Such is good news.

Oh yes, they've got a small collection of mugs (some or all of which I think are for sale) in the glass display below the register, and the ones that Libby and I were given were burgundy-colored "bamboo" tumblers (not tikis, per se, but definitely tiki-bar inclusions). And they offered Orinoco, which is very nice, as well as Meyers, which is also very nice. I sometimes stop in (usually after pestering the Small Business Administration offices across the street), for a quick, restorative Meyers and pinapple 50-50. (But the Orinoco and scallops does make for a fine dinner.)

I do wish they'd dial-in the musical atmosphere a bit more, with some choice traditional exotica and maybe some Martini Kings and Tikiyaki Orch. The decor is first-class, really, and the visual feel is superb for the most part, but they've put a big TV blaring sportscasts blocking a portion of the bar's wonderful Polynesian mural (not anti-sports, but it kind of trashes the vibe, not to mention the mural), which is thankfully not visible from (most of) the main dining area.
Add a bit of lush exotiphilia-lounge music to the soundtrack, and it would really be a dreamy scene...

But if you haven't been, or it's been a while, why not lead a canoe party over to give 'em some business?

(PS edit: CT, perhaps I should've made it clearer, that my "lengthy exploration" of Damon's rum selections refered more to the time spent enjoying them than to the scope of their choices, sorry.)

"Don't let it be forgot,
That once there was a Spot,
Where Blowfish all wore sunglasses,
and Tiki-times were hot..."

[ Edited by: Son-of-Kelbo 2007-12-04 11:56 ]

  twowheelin'tiki,
my mom tells stories about going to Damon's when she was a little girl, before her dad left for the war. It must have been so exotic in those days, before air travel. Nobody had seen Polynesia except a few sailors, so tiki was cutting-edge cool. They mix a mean mai tai, or at least they used to. I haven't been in a couple of years.

    Dan

[ Edited by: danimal 2007-12-31 21:50 ]

Damon's has a live puffer fish in the dinning room tank. Not sure what his name is, but we call him "Mr. Lunch".

On 2008-01-10 11:41, Chub wrote:
Damon's has a live puffer fish in the dinning room tank. Not sure what his name is, but we call him "Mr. Lunch".

Nice picture Chub! I did not know that puffer fish existed without a light in it.

Today, after a trip down to Oceanic Arts, my friend and I stopped by Damon's for lunch. The owner had just discovered some treasures up in Damon's attic and gave us a tour.

There were just boxes and boxes of their original glass floats, hanging lamps, and menu covers from the 50's

Just an unbelievable amount of treasures. We helped her pull a few of the floats out and they will soon be making their way back into the (already beautiful) Damon's decor.

[ Edited by: Joe Banks 2008-01-26 17:39 ]

Gee-zazz Christ! What a great urban archeology moment! Never saw that "Tapa cut-outs on resin ball" concept before, how cool. And how great to see their appreciation return in a new generation of restaurant owners ....who will hang them up again!

On 2008-01-26 18:10, bigbrotiki wrote:
Never saw that "Tapa cut-outs on resin ball" concept before, how cool.

No shoes, man, that opens up some very neat (retro)new Tiki Hut decorating possibilities. Nice find, Indiana.

Thanks! I really felt like I had stumbled on to the Well of Souls.

Anyone have pictures of the restroom signs?

Went into Damon's today. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me, but some of the tapa lamps and glass floats are up! I'll try to get over and snap some photos later this weekend.

Pics from 4-20-08
Main Dining Room

Bar

Side Dining Room



Entrance Mural


Back wall by bar mural

Into Main Dining Room

Nice pics! I was planning on going there when I was out west last October, but we didn't have enough time. Maybe next visit.

Awesome pics! I have not been to Damon's in way too long, these pics are inspiring me to take another trip.

Super pictures!

We went to Damon's last night to celebrate my birthday. We all had a great time. The puffer fish is the cutest! Nice to see that they are still in business after all these years!

Inky and I will be in the Burbank/Glendale this weekend and hopefully will hit Damons Saturday afternoon....

Damon's was on my mind all day today because last night we went into Glendale to have a bite & we were too late for eats so ended up at JAC'S down the street(which is a treat by the way). I was on the hunt for some old photos of Damon's in the Original location (pre 1990) when I came upon this Damon's food critique http://www.yelp.com/biz/damons-steak-house-glendale Just goes to show how ignorant people are or ? is it just that they don't get it? Here's what this patron had to say just last week, I was amused:

3
Soledad M.

Glendale, CA
3 star rating05/16/2008
I had such high expectations of this place after reading all the glowing reviews on Yelp. My fiance Daniel and I are sort of new in Glendale so we didn't really have any clue as to where to go for dinner on my birthday in April. I was craving a good steak so did some research on restaurants in Glendale and decided to try Damon's (calling it a Steak House is a bit of a misnomer).

I knew the from the reviews that the place had a "Polynesian Tiki Hut" theme but really did not know what to expect. The minute we walked in, we exchanged a mutual glance wondering if it was too late to change our minds. For one thing, the locale stinks of what I can only describe as "stale." I understand that it's an older building, but it just smells dank and old. The wannabe Hawaiian decor looks like it hasn't been updated in decades and paired with the bad lighting, the ambiance was literally depressing. The decorations reminded me of the Small World ride at Disneyland or some forgotten theme casino off the strip in Vegas. I felt like I had been transported back in time to an era from before I was born. I felt for my cell phone in my pocket just in case.

Being the eternal optimist (and ignoring Daniel's pleading glances), I decided to ignore the cheesy decor and stick it out. I've been to enough holes in the wall that turned out to be hidden gems to know that the decor does not necessarily determine the food. A host took us to a booth and gave us our menus. Being that it was a weekday (and rather early in the evening), it was not too crowded so we figured we wouldn't have to wait too long for service. We were wrong.

As we perused the menu I was underwhelmed by the lack of options. I literally felt like I was staring at a Sizzler's menu from 1984. After about twenty minutes of staring at the menu and at each other, wondering where our server was, a middle-aged lady walked over and casually asked us how everything was. We told her no one had taken our order yet. She seemed exaggeratedly shocked. So in an overly familiar tone she proceeded to take our order and give her recommendations. I had to repeat everything I said twice since she didn't seem to grasp anything I said the first time. She stared at us like we were speaking in German when I ordered a water and Daniel ordered a Coke. I guess people go there for the drinks. Drinks must be their fort because as it turns out, the food was not (neither was the service).

She brought the salad and tossed it at our table. The dressing was sort of a bright orange French dressing but it wasn't bad. Daniel didn't care for it. I ordered the grilled artichokes as a starter and I have to say that was the best thing I ate. We both ordered the petite fillet - I ordered mine medium rare and he ordered his medium. When the food arrived our steaks were reversed which was no big deal; we just traded. The fillets basically tasted as if they were hardly seasoned at all. Maybe a pinch of salt. They were a little hard and charred on the outside but tender on the inside - not too bad overall.

I was really annoyed by the inconsistency of the service most of all. First we waited twenty minutes for her to take our order, then she came to our table literally every two minutes for a total of about six visits. Then when we were done eating and just wanted to get the check and be on our way, she forgot about us again. We waited literally forty-five minutes to get the check. A busboy had boxed up our food for us and we were just sitting there waiting. The busboy even went looking for her for us but still she did not come back for three quarters of an hour. By the time we paid, we were only too happy to get out of that garish joint.

What we concluded after our first and last visit to Damon's is that this is a place that many people love for nostalgic reasons - and for the drinks. Maybe I'd come here again for drinks, but definitely not for the food. While nothing we ate stood out as being particularly bad, it was all boring and mediocre at best (with the exception of the artichoke). I think the majority of their patrons are people who grew up eating there and it takes them back to a special place in their lives. I can't imagine why else anyone would give this place such rave reviews.

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On 2007-11-15 00:38, Chub wrote:
A few pics I took on our trip to Damon's on 11-14-07.

The murals are spectacular in quantity and quality.
I was there Sat afternoon - instead of going to Americana - and the place was happening with people trying to beat the heat with Hawaiian vibes!

Here is an old Damon's menu from my collection with the outrigger scene and the monkeys in the tree.

Love the sign image. That would make a great design for someones home bar.

New York steak dinner for $2.50, what a deal. I think I paid a bit more than that the last time I was there!

I found a little bonus inside the menu, a couple of old cocktail napkins.

DC

Gotta love those menu prices. We were just there for dinner this past Saturday & I can tell you you can add a zero and some change to those prices to make them current! Thanks for posting the cool images.

[ Edited by: Tobor64 2011-02-15 16:15 ]

HaHa! I had the filet a coupla weeks ago & it was a wee bit pricier than that. The food was good & the interior of that place is very cool, though & the lamps are awesome.

New Tiki at Damon's.

I thought I'd do a little "bump" here for Damon's since I recently threw a great Tiki-Christmas event with them. I have been enjoying this wonderful place for years. The food is homestyle-excellent and affordable, and atmosphere is wonderful. People sure seem love their version of a Mai Tai and Chi Chi, but I'm REALLY happy to say that Damon's is planning to expand their Tiki drinks this year! I'm sure more will be posted on that, once it takes shape. Oh, and they're also going to be putting out their very first Tiki mug this summer, designed by Thor!

In the meantime, here's a short film that our beloved ohana member, Chris Bonomo, shot this past December 16th, at the event I mentioned above. How fun was this? A LOT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mYvrEPkN58

On 2013-01-06 16:59, Tangaroa-Ru wrote:
People sure seem love their version of a Mai Tai and Chi Chi, but I'm REALLY happy to say that Damon's is planning to expand their Tiki drinks this year! I'm sure more will be posted on that, once it takes shape. Oh, and they're also going to be putting out their very first Tiki mug this summer, designed by Thor!

Very nice to read!

I'm not sure if this belongs here or in events.

I saw that Damon's is celebrating their 76th Anniversary on June 15th. 11am to 11pm

$15 Filet Mignon - $4 Mai Tai - $4 Chi Chi

They said on Facebook that there are more things to be announced (perhaps that Mug release??)

Made a stop at Damon's on Saturday after the Tonga Hut, forgot how great this place is! Good food, good drinks, and a really family feel to it.

They are having a 78th anniversary celebration this weekend with the same great deal on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (June 12, 13 & 14). You should go!

DC

Going through some of my old photo archives...Here's another one I thought I would post this menu. Not super old or new. 🤔