Healthy Nostalgia at Hermosa Beach’s Ocean Diner
Owner Rick Hankus, second from left, with Martin Rodriguez, Jose Rodriguez and Jamie Avila. Photo By Brad Jacobson The people who can actually remember living in the 1940s are few, elderly, and probably not dining out every night. Nevertheless, Ocean Diner seems designed to appeal to their sense of nostalgia. The soundtrack is the Andrews Sisters and Benny Goodman, newspapers on the walls trumpet the Battle of the Bulge, and the décor reminds us of a time when, though conflict raged, the world seemed less complicated. That’s probably why the Ocean Diner is attractive even to the grandchildren of people who lived through that decade. It was an era of certainties, of optimism, and comfort food. Ocean Diner’s website describes their meals as bringing back “memories of Grandma’s kitchen,” which isn’t quite true unless your grandmother was an early adopter of tofu and breakfast burritos. Those items aside, the offerings here are mostly traditional American favorites like meatloaf, pork chops, sandwiches, and the omelets and breakfast dishes that propelled the Ocean Diner to fame. In fact, many locals think of the Ocean Diner exclusively as a breakfast or weekend brunch place, not…
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