La Fonda Mexican Restaurant

Object/Artifact

-

Museum of Neon Art

Name/Title

La Fonda Mexican Restaurant

Entry/Object ID

2004.5.1

Description

From Glendale, CA.

Category

Signs

Made/Created

Date made

1946

Dimensions

Height

91 in

Width

94 in

Depth

8 in

Dimension Notes

Double-sided. On rolling stand. 10 amps. Transformers: 2/12k 2/9k

Exhibitions

Notes

Displayed at Universal CityWalk 1993-2000.

Notes

Installed 2010 on the median of Santa Monica Boulevard for "On Route – 66 Lights" in celebration of West Hollywood's 25th anniversary. Removed 2013.
#SIGNGEEKS

Interpretative Labels

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.