Page:The Tourist's California by Wood, Ruth Kedzie.djvu/72

 50 THE TOURIST'S CALIFORNIA Opposite the Los Angeles Court House there is a likeable little Spanish Kitchen where one may dine well for two-bits. Americanized foreign dishes are served at Campi's near the Plaza, and native Chinese cooking is the reason-for-being of one or two places on South Main Street. The " cafete- rias " are first-aids to the hurried. Provided with a tray the patron chooses from a savoury board what viands his appetite prompts and betakes him- self to a broad-armed chair or shiny table to con- sume them. Passing out, he pays a punched check at the desk. Some of these eminently clean, wait- erless resorts boast a patronage of thousands in a single hungry day. Such establishments have ob- tained a great vogue in bustling South California, which has been dubbed by supercilious San Fran- cisco, " the cafeteria belt." Modish Angelenos affect the excellent restaurant of the Van Nuys Hotel, and the grill of the Alex- andria whose decorative theme is Mission Indian. Motorists sustain a multitude of open-air res- taurants on well travelled routes. Among them are a number whose appeal is an individual cuisine or an original setting. The little Mexican fonda in San Gabriel village has an occasional gringo guest. Beneath the spreading grape-tree near the Mission, tourists rest, and quaff the juice pressed from its glowing bunches.