Casa Cabo Bar & Grill soon will breathe life into the shuttered Burbank hotspot, Chadney’s, which once drew the likes of Bob Hope and Johnny Carson. Located in the heart of the media district, the new restaurant will offer a variety of Baja-style menu options and live music. “We want to be known as the ‘House of the Shrimp Burger,’” said Gabriel Rocha, co-owner of the restaurant. The venue is scheduled to open early this year. Casa Cabo has some big shoes to fill. Chadney’s became a favorite in 1970s and 1980s as a lunch spot and after-hours jazz lounge for executives and employees of neighboring studios such as NBC Studios, The Walt Disney Co., and Warner Bros. Studios. The restaurant’s popularity lasted until the 1990s, when it eventually lost its steam and big-name clients and stopped operating. The space has been vacant for about five years, though the search for a fresh tenant to revitalize the property has been ongoing for the past decade and was complicated by the economic downturn. Brad Howard, owner of real estate firm, Jackbilt LA, Inc., said the property at 3000 W. Olive Ave. has been in his family since his father, Jack Howard, purchased it in 1966. In looking for a replacement tenant, the goal was to find a business that would cater to the entertainment industry as Chadney’s once did and lure customers with more than good food. “I wanted to ensure it wasn’t just a restaurant, but a destination location,” Howard said, noting he turned down several proposals for the property, including one involving fast-food chain, Burger King. In 2005, Dimple’s, a popular nightclub and karaoke lounge, showed interest in leasing the property. The deal fell through and Howard began to lease the space’s parking lot. Five years later, brothers Gabriel and Nestor Rocha, restaurateurs with several other establishments in the San Francisco Bay area, showed interest in the space. “If it was a happening spot back in the day, we thought it would be a good thing for us to open there,” Gabriel Rocha said. The Rochas and Howard together invested about $1 million to renovate the space to fit the new restaurant concept. For example, the building’s second floor was modified to create an open balcony that will be used for special events and private parties. The brothers also kept a few remnants of the old Hollywood hangout. The neon sign, for instance, which has become a city landmark of sorts, will remain intact, although it will feature the Casa Cabo moniker. And the building’s brick interior will remain intact and will be complemented by the restaurant’s festive burgundy décor. Mary Hamzoian, economic development manager for the City of Burbank, said Casa Cabo’s opening will mark another step in the city’s path to redevelopment. City officials are anxious to bring back the atmosphere the space once had in its heyday, she said. “We want people to know we have cool restaurants and entertainment venues and that we’re not some hokey pokey town,” she said.
Shuttered Burbank Hotspot Nabs New Baja-Style Tenant
