Founded in 1949 by Norm Roybark, Norms began as a single location near Hollywood and has today expanded to 23 locations in Southern California and one in Las Vegas.

Famous for its iconic sawtooth neon signs – as illustrated on this menu cover – the most spectacular Norms is on N La Cienega Blvd.

The enthralling Googie-style building was created by the architectural firm Armét & Davis in 1957 and features the pioneering duo’s trademark bold geometric shapes, cantilevered roofs and other futuristic elements that reflected mid-century optimism about the Space Age.

Such architecture typified many coffee shops, gas stations and restaurants in Southern California in the 50s and 60s, many of which have sadly been lost to gentrification. That's why this particular Norms location is a treasured one.

In 2024, after a community outcry, the restaurant group Raising Cane’s, that owns the land on which this diner is located, gracefully  backtracked on a suggestion that it would change the iconic diner into a fast-food chicken joint.

Open 24 hours a day, Norms has been a fixture in the lives of Californians for seven decades, and the N La Cienega Blvd outlet has been a designated historic monument since 2015 and is under the supervision of the Cultural Heritage Commission.

The longest-operating restaurant in the chain, Norms was also the subject of Ed Ruscha’s famed painting, Norms, La Cienega, on Fire (1964).

Courtesy Bob Reiss