For many years, the long-lasting family-owned Dan Tana’s Italian restaurant has been a Hollywood hotspot, thanks partly to its lengthy listing of movie star clientele.
Opened in 1964 by the late Serbian-American restaurateur and soccer participant Dan Tana, the institution has grow to be a landmark within the coronary heart of West Hollywood.
In honor of Tana, born Dobrivoje Tanasijević, who died in August 2025 at age 90, his two daughters, Katerina and Gabrielle, not too long ago revealed his posthumous memoir, All people Got here to Tana’s: An American Dream Come True. The e-book chronicles his journey from wartime Yugoslavia to Los Angeles, the place he befriended film legends Frank Sinatra and James Dean earlier than founding his beloved eatery.
Whereas attracting a well-known crowd was by no means Tana’s intention, the restaurant’s timeless, red-checkered tablecloths and homey environment has drawn generations of high-profile regulars, from Brad Pitt, Fred Astaire, Elizabeth Taylor, Drew Barrymore and Leonardo DiCaprio to Barack Obama, Joni Mitchell, Bob Newhart and John Belushi, in accordanceVainness Truthful.
The e-book incorporates a number of tales in regards to the celebrities who would are available on a weekly foundation.
Tana remembered that O.J. Simpson was an everyday patron. However after the soccer star was accused of murdering his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her pal Ron Goldman (prices he was finally acquitted of), Tana advised him to by no means come again.
The e-book additionally recounts tales of the celebrities who dined at his restaurant within the hours earlier than their tragic deaths.
“One night time I’ll always remember: August 9, 1969. Celeb hairstylist Jay Sebring, who had dated Sharon Tate, was internet hosting a celebration of six individuals on the restaurant,” the memoir reads. “In the course of dinner, somebody known as him. He paid the examine and left. I believe he then met Tate and several other pals at one other restaurant and afterward they went to [Roman] Polanski’s home. Hours later, Jay and the others have been brutally murdered by three members of Charles Manson’s household.”
Tana additional recalled witnessing Belushi’s lethal cocaine dependancy first-hand, writing: “Belushi was additionally an everyday at any time when he was on the town. Individuals routinely put mirrors on their tables or on the bar and snorted traces of cocaine, Belushi being among the many most open about it.
“Belushi declined [Robert] De Niro’s and Harry Dean’s invitation to hitch them for dinner, however he did order a steak delivered to him at his bungalow on the Chateau Marmont Resort, the place he died of a drug overdose later that night time.”
Regardless of the star energy Dan Tana’s attracted, Katerina mentioned that her father was all the time welcoming of on a regular basis patrons.
“One time our father got here in from London and noticed a celeb at each single desk,” Katerina advised Vainness Truthful.
“He turned to [maître d’] Guido and mentioned, ‘The subsequent time you are available right here, you’re fired, if that’s the case, as a result of I need actual individuals right here. These individuals will come in the future after which they gained’t come the following. They’ll comply with one another, they usually’re fickle. I need actual individuals, I need medical doctors, I need legal professionals, I need businesspeople.’”
