As I write, Bollywood radio streams through my computer. I recall the curry chicken salad sandwich from Hallenbecks General Store and Cafe, and all is well with the world. Of course, there is more to bliss than going coo coo for curry powder, but right now, all I can tell you is that you must go to Hallenbecks General Store for this sandwich of kings. Not only because it’s under $6 folks, but because it’s as fresh and lip-smacking curry-licious as you could imagine. It yields to your teeth, makes a soft, juicy, crunchy mouthful of happy-time anytime you take a bite. AND they serve little spicy-salt sprinkled carrots, celery and cucumbers with every sandwich! Heaven. But most importantly, a Hallenbecks sandwich will bring you into an atmosphere you won’t soon forget.
Hallenbecks General Store and Cafe is a somewhat unknown little gem that sits at the crux of Cahuenga and Chandler blvd. in North Hollywood’s less than glamorous, apparently burgeoning neighborhood. It could have been painfully easy to miss, had I not been taking acting classes a few years ago at The Actors Boot Camp right next door. Us lovable, scrub-able, actor types would round up our post-class adrenaline by piling into Hallenbecks and disappearing into the quiet, street-hidden cove of it’s cozy interior to feast on some good, cheap lunch. And when you step into Hallenbecks the world, the street rumble… it goes away. It really does. The bell rings and like a warp zone you leave “NOHO” behind to enter a Frontierland, Disneyland, Hollywood-style sound stage of delight.
The walls are coated with apothecary style goods ranging from Victorian soaps and perfume viles to canned food, teddy bears and antique rings. A small stage sits to the right where they host live music on weekends (a great, unpretentious place to play if you are a musician) and Cowboy-friendly pots and pans hang in prop-house rows from the ceiling. No surprise, since the owner used to own and run a prop-renting business from the same location!
That’s pure Hollywood for you.
But take away all those childhood memories of make believe, or the family vacations to old Western towns and movie studios, and you still have a cafe in the heart of one of the least enchanting places in the Valley, that delivers tasty, cockles-warming food for a song. Of course, as I mentioned before, I am a true Taurean, routine-loving connoisseur of their sandwiches, so I must sheepishly admit that I haven’t tried a whole lot else on the menu. But I know they serve up some mean frosty coffee drinks and tea, as well as “to die for” brownies and cookies as testified by family members and my very own Prince Charming. (Who, incidentally, I met one day after acting class over said brownie. Hmm, call me biased). They also serve soups, salads and boast an antique-style espresso bar, with the added bonus of truly friendly customer service.
But the charm of the place is really what brings it home for me. Even now as I write, lilting along to a gentle Beethoven stream of piano keys, I can only think to emphasize the same thing, over and over again. This foodie stops short of her usual fervor over sandwich submissiveness and coffee foam ecstasy to say this: Hallenbecks is calm. An inviting, hand- crafted, homemade kind of calm. An old town you may never have grown up in yet understand as soon as you walk in. And that’s just what I’ve loved about it so dearly for all this time. It’s not a place to see and be seen, to perch outside talking loudly about your screenplay while dabbling cigarette ash over your dangling shoes. It’s quite simply a place to see. A place to take a breath and try a great sandwich, soup, or ice cream sundae. A place that feels, well, not Los Angeles.
And let’s be honest, sometimes that’s a very, very welcoming place to be.
Hallenbecks General Store
5510 Cahuenga Blvd
North Hollywood
California 91601
(818) 985.5916
$
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
0 responses so far ↓
Subscribe to our RSS Feed and leave a comment to enter the commentator of the week competition and win a $20 Amazon.com gift voucher.
Leave a Comment