A busy little restaurant that doesn't serve any food.

http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2...21.html#021460

On Sat, 22 Oct 2011 18:05:52 -0800, Mark Thorson >
arranged random neurons and said:

>A busy little restaurant that doesn't serve any food.
>
>http://www.newsfromme.com/archives/2...21.html#021460

There's a hat shop on Vine nearly to the corner of Hollywood called
"Movieland Hat Designers" that I've been by dozens of times during the
day (it's en route from the Metro to my Hollywood office) and it is
*never* open. Has a display window full of hats, but it is never, ever
open. My boss and I figure it's a mob front <g>

OB: Forget cooking tonight. I've been jonesin' for Chinese,
specifically crispy duck. Hell-OH, China Moon!

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd

--

To reply, remove "spambot" and replace it with "cox"

On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:41:53 -0700, Terry Pulliam Burd
> wrote:

>
> There's a hat shop on Vine nearly to the corner of Hollywood called
> "Movieland Hat Designers" that I've been by dozens of times during the
> day (it's en route from the Metro to my Hollywood office) and it is
> *never* open. Has a display window full of hats, but it is never, ever
> open. My boss and I figure it's a mob front <g>

We had a similar store a few blocks from me (for decades) - we figured
they were laundering money. I haven't noticed it for a while, but I
haven't looked for it either. Maybe they moved on or maybe the law
caught on and busted them.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

On 23/10/2011 4:03 PM, sf wrote:

>> There's a hat shop on Vine nearly to the corner of Hollywood called
>> "Movieland Hat Designers" that I've been by dozens of times during the
>> day (it's en route from the Metro to my Hollywood office) and it is
>> *never* open. Has a display window full of hats, but it is never, ever
>> open. My boss and I figure it's a mob front<g>
>
> We had a similar store a few blocks from me (for decades) - we figured
> they were laundering money. I haven't noticed it for a while, but I
> haven't looked for it either. Maybe they moved on or maybe the law
> caught on and busted them.
>

I have lived in this town for more than 30 years. There is a Chinese
restaurant right near the corner of two highways. All the other
restaurants nearby are busy every day. The one across the street is so
busy that it is hard to find a parking space in their lot. I so seldom
see any cars parked at the Chinese restaurant that I usually noticed
when there is on. I don't know how they could possibly survive even for
a few months, but they have been there fore decades. I came to the
conclusion long ago that they were laundering money.

Dave Smith wrote:
>
> I have lived in this town for more than 30 years. There is a Chinese
> restaurant right near the corner of two highways. All the other
> restaurants nearby are busy every day. The one across the street is so
> busy that it is hard to find a parking space in their lot. I so seldom
> see any cars parked at the Chinese restaurant that I usually noticed
> when there is on. I don't know how they could possibly survive even for
> a few months, but they have been there fore decades. I came to the
> conclusion long ago that they were laundering money.

I don't know about Canada, but in the U.S. you get
a share of the take as a reward for turning in a
tax cheat.

You have an interesting theory. Maybe you should
stop there for a meal now and then to explore it
further. I wonder what might be a good way to test
your theory? Maybe you ask for a recipe for some
dish and see how they react.

What if you were taking notes in the restaurant?
A normal restaurant might think you were a food
critic. A front might think you were a tax
investigator.

sf wrote:
>
> On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:41:53 -0700, Terry Pulliam Burd
> > wrote:
>
> >
> > There's a hat shop on Vine nearly to the corner of Hollywood called
> > "Movieland Hat Designers" that I've been by dozens of times during the
> > day (it's en route from the Metro to my Hollywood office) and it is
> > *never* open. Has a display window full of hats, but it is never, ever
> > open. My boss and I figure it's a mob front <g>
>
> We had a similar store a few blocks from me (for decades) - we figured
> they were laundering money. I haven't noticed it for a while, but I
> haven't looked for it either. Maybe they moved on or maybe the law
> caught on and busted them.

There's a big Kelley-Moore paint store near
where I live, and it never seems to have any
cars parked in front of it. It is open, I
stopped there once when I was looking for paint,
but they seem to be doing very little business.

My theory is that the landlord is giving them
a free ride, or nearly so, to preserve its
Prop 13 tax assessment. Real estate around here
is very expensive, and that would be a way to
ride the advance in property value without
paying the much higher property taxes that
would result from reassessment. If I understand
the law correctly, reassessment would be triggered
by switching the property to another business,
so it has to remain a paint store.

On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:33:46 -0800, Mark Thorson >
wrote:

> My theory is that the landlord is giving them
> a free ride, or nearly so, to preserve its
> Prop 13 tax assessment. Real estate around here
> is very expensive, and that would be a way to
> ride the advance in property value without
> paying the much higher property taxes that
> would result from reassessment. If I understand
> the law correctly, reassessment would be triggered
> by switching the property to another business,
> so it has to remain a paint store.

That doesn't make any sense. Prop 13 is for the property owner, not
the renter.

--
All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.

I think I've told the story before about a little Italian restaurant
in a crummy strip mall in the outer suburbs of Chicago. A friend of
mine owned a pack-n-mail type store in the same strip mall a few doors
down. This restaurant's menu was small, but if you asked for anything
they could make it. Amazing food. There were lots of guys in suits
that would park luxury cars in the alley out back, and they would come
and go constantly. Sometimes the guys in suits would eat out in the
tiny dining area, and when they did, they always invited us over to
their table and shared their wine with us. Often there was lots and
lots of loud, spirited conversation in Italian coming from the kitchen
area.

My friend and I assumed it was a mob front, but the food was so good
and the guys were all so friendly to us, we didn't care.

-J

sf wrote:
>
> On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:33:46 -0800, Mark Thorson >
> wrote:
>
> > My theory is that the landlord is giving them
> > a free ride, or nearly so, to preserve its
> > Prop 13 tax assessment. Real estate around here
> > is very expensive, and that would be a way to
> > ride the advance in property value without
> > paying the much higher property taxes that
> > would result from reassessment. If I understand
> > the law correctly, reassessment would be triggered
> > by switching the property to another business,
> > so it has to remain a paint store.
>
> That doesn't make any sense. Prop 13 is for the property owner, not
> the renter.

When I said "them" I was referring to the paint store,
and when I said "its", I was referring to the property.
Now does it make sense to you? (When I said "I", I was
referring to myself.)