After relocating to a new hotel in Beverlywood, we decided that we’d spend two of our days in LA revisiting some of my favorite museums from previous visits. Before hitting up LACMA for an afternoon of art, we decided to find a light lunch. The Meyers Manx Cafe, located in the Petersen Automotive Museum just across the street, was both convenient in location, and had just the sort of light lunch menu we were hoping for.
Unless you grew up around Southern California, or you’re an automotive enthusiast, you might not get the name or the source of the café’s logo: the name is a reference to the Meyers Manx, the original “Dune Buggy” (the cafe logo replaces the Meyers Manx sword with a spatula).
The café location is actually a pretty nice spot. The indoor seating is filled with all sorts of memorabilia from the 1960s
retro surf-inspired vibe with classic 1960s “dune buggy” decor: colorful fiberglass dune buggies darting all around the beaches and dunes of Southern California. The dining room centers on a nice pizza oven, which is the mainstay of their lunch menu. Meanwhile, outside, they’ve got a small outdoor dining terrace of similar decor, that actually features a nicely-reconditioned Meyers Manx as well.
Sometimes little details are what sticks to you from a visit to a restaurant, and in the case of Meyers Manx, it was the water glasses. Having walked a pretty substantial distance to get to Meers Manx, I was pleased that they promptly served us a nice, cool class of water… in a double-wall, green class insulated cup (much like the Bodum glasses I usually use as juice glasses back home). It was a nice little nod to keeping service consistent with the decor.
When it came time to order, while the pizzas looked quite tempting… we were still recovering from a week of backpacking, and really craving some fresh vegetables, so we both opted for their Cobb salad instead. The result was a surprisingly pleasing salad, with little gem lettuce, grilled chicken, bacon, Point Reyes blue cheese, heirloom tomato, hard boiled egg, Hass avocado, and buttermilk ranch. Served up almost as a deconstructed salad, but it actually worked pretty well since the greens themselves were nicely pre-dressed. Good greens, good dressing, and an ample amount of toppings made for a perfect light lunch.
I like Meyers Manx Café, and adored the Petersen Automobile Museum in which it is located, so if I find myself going back toward Los Angeles’ Miracle Mile anytime soon, I’d certainly consider a revisit, possibly check out their pizza menu.
