Apple Pan

The Apple Pan has been around  since 1947  My parents started taking my brother and I there when we were about 12, in the early 60’s. They allowed us to start going there on our way home. Giving us $5 each for the two of us to have two burgers, two fries with the amazing secret Hickory Sauce, two Cokes and apple or chocolate cream pie. Plus tip. The Apple Pan has unwritten rules, like remembering who is waiting before you to take their seat at the counter.Over the years I’ve seen shouting matches, even fights), As the small room fills customers will be stacked 4 to 5 deep, People get territorial about where they are in getting a seat. I captured this scene before all hell broke loose, and I can’t wait for those days to return. It will set me back way more than 5 bucks a kid though.

Upon seeing Eliot’s latest series of a surf shop that he treasures from his youth, my shot, my turn, was a no brainer. Immediately, I thought of the Apple Pan in Westwood. A 1940s diner that makes fresh apple, chocolate cream, and other pies, and delicious hamburgers. I’ve been ordering the “hickory burger, fry one well, hickory sauce on the side” for the fries for over 52 years. My mother owned an art gallery on Westwood Blvd. She and my father took us (my identical twin brother Tom) there when we were twelve. Any occasion was a good one for the Apple Pan, after high school proms, after seeing movies in Westwood, after a day at the beach. Now my kids go there. I ran out the door with my wife last night at 9pm when I saw Eliot’s shot. The Apple Pan is dark on Mondays so I was hoping to get a shot before they closed. I’ve got other older shots I could have used but I wanted a hickory burger, root beer served in a paper cone cup, and a piece of pie. The college students at the counter were laughing and joking around taking selfles. I could not have set this up even if I tried.