Label
LA FONDA MEXICAN FOOD
1946
Donated by Ricardo Romero, 1984
Restoration by Michael Flechtner, with a generous grant from The Los Angeles Breakfast Club
This neon couple danced above La Fonda Mexican Food for 38 years before the city of Glendale passed a sign ordinance calling for the removal of hundreds of neon signs in 1982. Rather than see his family’s history gone forever, Ricardo Romero donated the sign his parents had commissioned to the Museum of Neon Art. From 1993 to 2000, the sign graced the central plaza of CityWalk with other historic signs from MONA’s collection. When the sign was removed from CityWalk, Swain Sign Company in Ontario, CA stored it until it was returned to MONA. This double faced sign is in perfect condition on one side, but maintains its original patina on the other side.