The Airport Cafe - Not THAT Airport!

The Original Joe Petrelli's Airport Cafe, 1940's

On Friday, we took Mom to dinner for her 97th birthday. Decades ago, I'd been to Joe Petrelli's Airport Cafe on Sepulveda, near the corner of Playa St. This is the current location of Sprout's Market. After reading a bit of history on the George Petrelli's Restaurant site and also the City of Culver City Historic Site, I found out that the original Joe Petrelli's Airport Cafe (1931) was across the street from the Culver City Airport. The CC Airport, originally called The Baker Airport was located between Sepulveda Boulevard and Mesmer, edged by Jefferson Boulevard, 1927. This was actually part of Los Angeles County at the time.

This is the building I remember from the mid-1970s

The Pompeian Room at Joe Petrelli's Airport Cafe

Joe Petrelli died in an automobile accident in 1958. His nephew, George had been working in the meat department at the restaurant and took over the operation. Eventually, during a big redevelopment phase in Culver City, George moved the restaurant across the street and built a very large building, including banquet rooms, 1995.

Current George Petrelli's Restaurant, built in 1995

Since we'd never been to the larger restaurant, we decided to take Mom their for her birthday dinner. The bar was hopping on a Friday night! The restaurant is very large and has many rooms. We were seated in a booth. The menu features steaks (of course), Italian food, seafood, chicken, etc. We ordered a filet and two Italian dishes. All entrees come with soup AND salad! It was a large meal that could have been split. The steak was delicious. The Italian entrees were fine, but nothing to rave about. 

Chicken Parm w/ pasta

The service was great and I would definitely come back for a burger or a steak!

Happy Birthday, Mom!