Los Angeles, CA - The Holiday Bowl has been a local Crenshaw area landmark since it was built in 1957 by architects Armet & Davis. Known as a place where anyone in the community could congregate, regardless of race or culture, the Holiday Bowl has served its community well. 03-99
Holiday Bowl during better times
Los Angeles, CA Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
Along Crenshaw Boulevard, Holiday Bowl offered more than a place to roll a few games. Its angular windows, sweeping roofline, and roadside signage gave the neighborhood a little Googie scenery, while the coffee shop provided a reason to stop even without a bowling ball in hand.
Opened in 1958 by five Japanese American entrepreneurs, the center was built with financial support from the local Japanese American community. Families rebuilding their lives after wartime incarceration helped establish a place where recreation, food, and conversation could bring people together.
Holiday Bowl (Closed)
Los Angeles, CA Photo courtesy Georg Balandran
Bowling alleys have been
a form of entertainment since the early 20th Century. Some of the venues
still surviving sprouted after WWII and continue, though shakily, today.
The architecture made quite an introduction. Designed by Helen Liu Fong of Armet & Davis, the coffee shop featured broad glass walls and sharp angles that gave customers a view of the boulevard. The building had the optimism of the space age, but much of its appeal came from the everyday activity inside.
The "Bowl" sign
Los Angeles, CA Photo courtesy Ralph Garcia
Japanese American, African American, and Latino residents shared the lanes and the coffee counter. Holiday Bowl became a neighborhood gathering place where people who might have been separated elsewhere could sit down for a meal or join the same league.
The menu told some of that story. Udon, grits, hamburgers, and Louisiana hot sausages appeared under one roof, reflecting the customers who kept the place busy. An evening of bowling could end with a meal that took a different direction from the usual coffee-shop fare.
The 24-hour operation also meant the welcome extended beyond league night. There were reasons to come early, stay late, or simply pull in for something to eat. Over the decades, the building became familiar to people whose memories involved the counter as much as the lanes.
Unfortunately, that long history didn’t keep the bowling center open. Holiday Bowl closed in 2000, prompting a preservation campaign that secured its designation as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 688.
Holiday Bowl(Rem.)
Los Angeles, CA Photo by RoadsidePeek.com
The recognition helped preserve part of the property, but the lanes and rear building were demolished in 2003. The coffee shop survived and was adapted into a Starbucks, retaining a recognizable piece of the old roadside architecture.
The surviving front gives motorists something of the earlier scene to appreciate. Behind those windows, however, the bowling nights, varied menu, and longtime gathering place belong to another chapter of Crenshaw Boulevard.
The Holiday Bowl was torn down in October 2003 and is now home to a shopping center. Starbucks now occupies what once was the coffee shop.
Close-up of front
Los Angeles, CA Photo courtesy Ralph Garcia
UPDATE: The Crenshaw district mainstay, Holiday Bowl, was recently boarded
up as plans to develop the block this alley is situated on into a strip
mall continue. However, according to a Los Angeles Times article, the
Cultural Heritage Commission of the City of L.A. voted 3 to 2 to recommended
the Bowl be designated a Historic-Cultural Monument. Contact your city councilperson, as this recommendation still needs to
go through a special committee, then a full council, before designation. 03-99
UPDATE: Holiday Bowl at 3730 Crenshaw Boulevard closed in 2000, and its bowling portion was demolished in 2003. The historic Googie coffee shop was preserved and converted into a Starbucks, keeping part of this neighborhood landmark in view. 10-26
Holiday Bowl during better times
The "Bowl" sign
Close-up of front
