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Best of 2000: Best Place To Relive 1920s Chula Vista

Flamingo Cafe
396 Broadway (at G), Chula Vista
(619) 691-1076

Sponsored
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Back in 1925, when Chula Vista was miles and miles of vegetable fields, one building stood out like a mole on your hand: the new eatery they called the Flamingo Café. Until a few years ago, one of the original patrons was still coming in. One "newcomer" has been popping in seven days a week for 47 years. Why do they come? "Because it really is like family," says Joanne Angel, the owner. "We get a lot of people on fixed incomes. That's why we have special Sundowner meals -- $3.99, every night." They also have Depression-era plates at Depression-era prices: like chipped beef on toast ($2.60), meatloaf sandwiches with fries ($3.75), or half an egg-salad sandwich or grilled cheese sandwich with a cup of soup ($1.99). Check out the pictures of old Chula Vista -- and the clientele. Got arthritis? Ask for David. He has a uranium mine in Butte, Montana. For $3 an hour go sit in it three times a day. "They reckon after ten days you're a spring chicken, ready to square dance!" If he takes to you, he might even tell you how to get there.

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City Lights: Journey Through Light & Sound, Hotel Holiday Tea Service

Events December 7-December 11, 2024

Flamingo Cafe
396 Broadway (at G), Chula Vista
(619) 691-1076

Sponsored
Sponsored

Back in 1925, when Chula Vista was miles and miles of vegetable fields, one building stood out like a mole on your hand: the new eatery they called the Flamingo Café. Until a few years ago, one of the original patrons was still coming in. One "newcomer" has been popping in seven days a week for 47 years. Why do they come? "Because it really is like family," says Joanne Angel, the owner. "We get a lot of people on fixed incomes. That's why we have special Sundowner meals -- $3.99, every night." They also have Depression-era plates at Depression-era prices: like chipped beef on toast ($2.60), meatloaf sandwiches with fries ($3.75), or half an egg-salad sandwich or grilled cheese sandwich with a cup of soup ($1.99). Check out the pictures of old Chula Vista -- and the clientele. Got arthritis? Ask for David. He has a uranium mine in Butte, Montana. For $3 an hour go sit in it three times a day. "They reckon after ten days you're a spring chicken, ready to square dance!" If he takes to you, he might even tell you how to get there.

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The latest copy of the Reader

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Live Five: Songwriter Sanctuary, B-Side Players, The Crawdaddys, Saint Luna, Brawley

Reunited, in the round, and onstage in Normal Heights, East Village, Little Italy, Encinitas
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O’side Tree Lighting & Gift Market, Holiday Lights at the Museum, The Elovaters and Little Stranger

Events December 5-December 6, 2024
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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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