The iconic Dresden Room restaurant and lounge has been a Los Angeles landmark since it opened in 1954. This menu cover, with an intriguing illustration of a jester and an exhausted party girl, is likely to be from its earliest era since it announces the arrival of ‘Hollywood’s new, smart rendezvous.’

Impressively, seven decades on and counting, the Dresden is still a landmark, still a smart rendezvous and still owned by the same family. Carl Ferraro and his wife Sara initially bought the Loz Feliz restaurant and kept the name, which referred to the porcelain Dresden dolls utilized as décor by the previous owner.

The couple remodeled in 1963, adding white Leatherette booths, chandeliers made of Venetian glass and a wood-beamed ceiling. This vintage interior, refreshed in 2020, remains in mint condition.

The restaurant has featured in films such as The Two Jakes (1990) starring Jack Nicholson, What Women Want (2000) with Mel Gibson, Anchorman ( 2004) with Will Ferrell and the Mad Men television series.

But it was the Dresden’s appearance in Swingers (1996) that is most memorable and shot the restaurant into pop culture stardom. The film starred Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn and Heather Graham as struggling actors trying to make it in Hollywood and also featured the beloved husband-and-wife duo Marty and Elayne and their singular version of the Bee Gees hit Stayin’ Alive.

The couple – Marty on drums and vocal and Elayne on piano and flute - performed their lounge act at the Dresden five or six nights a week for a remarkable 40 years until Marty’s death, at the age of 89, in 2022. Live music featuring other artists continues to be played nightly at the restaurant.

The Dresden is now in the capable hands of Carl and Sara’s son Jimmy and grandson Mark. 

Each order includes a print of the interior menu.

All printed in USA.