The Adventurer’s Club

This isn’t technically a restaurant, but a visit does include dinner so I’m going to count it. The Adventurer’s Club of Los Angeles was incorporated in 1921 for men to gather and “share stories of unique and exotic adventures”. Past members and attendees of the national organization include Teddy Roosevelt and Walt Disney, who may have lifted a thing or two for Adventureland. It’s held on in a nearly unchanged configuration for over a century. Since 1994 the group’s clubhouse is the second floor of an old Masonic Temple in Lincoln Heights, absolutely packed with taxidermy, hunting trophies, and indigenous artifacts picked up from around the world. The club meets every Thursday with a ticketed dinner and lecture from an adventurer and/or member. These days they’re mostly glorified vacations. When I went attendees shared their most recent adventures like going on a sailing trip and sneaking into President Trump’s second inauguration. The whole thing is a time warp and the group is reluctant to change anything. In fact, they didn’t even allow female members until last year.