Munch Box
John and Linda Kent opened the Munch Box in Chatsworth in 1956. Architect Marcel Dumar designed the 300 square foot roadside hamburger/hot dog stand in the Googie style of architecture that was popular for coffee shops and restaurants at the time. The bright yellow and red establishment quickly became a local favorite with its simple menu and root beer made on-site for its popular floats. There was even a hitching post for horses at the rear of the building. Buck Barker, John’s nephew, and his wife, Claire, took over the stand in 1986 and it has been run by the family since. When surrounding development threatened to shut down the restaurant in the early 2000s, the community wrote 1,700 letters and petitions to the city council. In 2003, councilman Hal Bernson successfully championed its designation as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.
Chatsworth, Los Angeles County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt