{"id":32738,"date":"2025-11-01T00:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T00:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/32738\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T00:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T00:29:11","slug":"historic-walkers-cafe-continues-a-long-road-to-reopening-in-san-pedro-daily-breeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/32738\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic Walker\u2019s Cafe continues a long road to reopening in San Pedro \u2013 Daily Breeze"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

The City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously backed a push to protect the site of the now-closed Walker\u2019s Cafe in San Pedro. The ocean-side burgers-and-beer hangout next to Point Fermin Park has been a San Pedro mainstay since the 1940s.(Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously backed a push to protect the now-closed Walker\u2019s Cafe site in San Pedro, launching a city process to make sure the site remains a cafe, on Friday, January 28, 2022. The ocean-side burgers-and-beer hangout next to Point Fermin Park has been a San Pedro mainstay since the 1940s. (Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Sign<\/p>\n

Sign for Walker\u2019s Cafe in undated photo.\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A Pacific Electrc Red Car passes the site of the current Walker\u2019s Cafe around 1913. (Daily Breeze files)\n<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An old ice box, T-shirt and other decor from inside Walker\u2019s Cafe in an undated photo. (Courtesy San Pedro Bay Historical Society)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A pay phone outside Walker\u2019s Cafe in San Pedro with notices of the restaurant\u2019s 1994 temporary closing. It reopened two years later. (Courtesy San Pedro Bay Historical Society)\n<\/p>\n

\"Debbie<\/p>\n

Debbie Flowers plays guitar on the roof of Walker\u2019s Cafe in San Pedro during a gathering in this undated photo. (Courtesy San Pedro Bay Historical Society)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

The City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously backed a push to protect the site of the now-closed Walker\u2019s Cafe in San Pedro. The ocean-side burgers-and-beer hangout next to Point Fermin Park has been a San Pedro mainstay since the 1940s.(Photo by Brittany Murray, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

The long-running effort to reopen San Pedro\u2019s Walker\u2019s Cafe under a historic designation was the subject of a zoning hearing Thursday, Oct. 30, the latest step in what has been nearly a four-year process.<\/p>\n

The popular hangout \u2014 closed down in the pandemic and later sold \u2014 received Los Angeles City Historic-Cultural Monument status in 2022 but has faced a long road in getting a final go-ahead.<\/p>\n

Walker\u2019s<\/a>, across from Point Fermin Park on San Pedro\u2019s picturesque south-facing ocean bluffs, has been an institution in San Pedro since the 1940s.<\/p>\n

The 763-square-foot building predates the cafe, having been constructed in 1936 and serving as a grocery store for a while. That is, until Bessie Mae Petersen and her husband, sailor Ray Walker, bought it and turned it into Walker\u2019s Cafe and Grill.<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, the cafe earned a hometown reputation as an unpretentious-but-colorful spot, serving up \u201cBessie burgers,\u201d cold beers \u2014 and plenty of camaraderie.<\/p>\n

In November 2021, the cafe appeared to be closed \u2014 a fact that was confirmed a few months later by the family that has owned the business since it debuted.<\/p>\n

Derek Brummett, the grandson of Bessie Mae Peterson, told city Historic-Cultural Monument commissioners that his father and current owner, Richard Brummett, 89, was in poor health and no longer able to run the restaurant.<\/p>\n

The effort to save the cafe, 700 W. Paseo del Mar, was led by resident Emma Rault<\/a>, who grew up in The Netherlands but eventually settled in San Pedro, where she became a regular at Walker\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The restaurant was purchased by The Prospect Group based in Burbank in 2022.<\/p>\n

An L.A. City zoning administrator took nearly two hours of testimony on Thursday and, after allowing for another five days for the pubic to provide additional comments, will issue a Letter of Determination in about 45 to 60 days following the public hearing.<\/p>\n

And there may be other steps following that before a final go-ahead could come, a spokesperson for the owner said.<\/p>\n

Numerous speakers participated in Thursday\u2019s online public hearing.<\/p>\n

The Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council, after requesting some changes including fewer outdoor seats, earlier endorsed the project and several community members spoke in favor of the plans \u2014 which now include building a two-story family home and attached secondary ADU unit (accessory dwelling unit) on property behind the restaurant.<\/p>\n

The property is in an R1 zone and Prospect representatives said the additional rental income will be needed to make the restaurant sustainable financially.<\/p>\n

Rault said supporters and prospective operators have been \u201cstonewalled\u201d by the owners, adding that the \u201ccafe is being completely boxed in\u201d by the proposed residential units behind it.<\/p>\n

The cafe, she stressed, must be the priority.<\/p>\n

Others raised concerns about finding a cafe operator and making sure the new operation will not be a business appropriate for the area and nearby homes.<\/p>\n

While the cafe will serve beer and wine the service will be confined to indoor tables only, the owners said.<\/p>\n

But it was the addition of homes behind the restaurant that drew most of the objections.<\/p>\n

Peggy Lindquist, the former owner of the The Corner Store in San Pedro, said \u201cas a business the cafe itself\u201d wouldn\u2019t be able to make enough money to be sustainable without the residential addition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in support of their wanting the build a house \u2026 I think that\u2019s the only way to make it work,\u201d Lindquist said.<\/p>\n

Silva Harapetian, spokeswoman for the owner, said the property was purchased for some $600,000 \u201cbut we\u2019ve spent just as much in the last four years in man hours, fees, expertise, architectural (consulting), attorneys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Owners have pledged to reopen and keep the cafe in its original use and has been doing ongoing historic research about the cafe, Harapetian said salvaging anything from Walker\u2019s history and former decor they could find to use in the reopened cafe.<\/p>\n

The group has gone before the neighborhood council on several occasions, she said, and agreed to adjust some of the plans based on the council\u2019s recommendations. The Prospect Group remains committed to the project, she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission unanimously backed a push to protect the site of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32739,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,1335,3172,23,131,133,132,47,137,100,944,412,1439],"class_list":{"0":"post-32738","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-development","10":"tag-harbor-area","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-long-beach","13":"tag-long-beach-headlines","14":"tag-long-beach-news","15":"tag-los-angeles","16":"tag-los-angeles-county","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-restaurant-closures","19":"tag-restaurants","20":"tag-san-pedro"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32738\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}