Ambience Up for Bids

Cocktail glass in hand, his eyes glued to a blue Pacific that beckoned and seduced from just outside, movie maker Gary Robinson described how Gladstone’s had cozied up close to his soul, becoming his signature Los Angeles beach experience.

“I don’t care where your guests come from, but when you entertain people from out of town, this is where you choose to meet them,” said the Agoura Hills director.

“Everybody, even if they live 7,000 miles away, knows how to get to the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway.”

But the beach institution, located on state-owned land in Will Rogers State Park, could be in danger. Citing the end of the restaurant’s 15-year lease in October, county caretakers are soliciting bids from three other major chains, all of which are seeking a 20-year lease to run a restaurant on a location officials call one of the most desirable in the nation.

Since 1981, Gladstone’s in Pacific Palisades has evolved into the place where Los Angeles eats and meets at the beach, becoming a top-grossing restaurant in California. The sawdust-on-the-floor eatery features a curious concoction of local natives and tourists, celebrities and average Joes.

“I think it’s probably one of the best restaurant sites anywhere,” said Stan Wisniewski, director of the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. “It’s got the influence of the beach and ocean going for it. It’s convenient to the city and along one of the most heavily trafficked corridors in California.”

That existence of a potential gold mine isn’t lost on the cash-strapped county, which last year advertised for bids in several major newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal, seeking a minimum of $1 million a year in rent.

Officials have met with each of the four contenders, including California Beach Restaurants, which operates Gladstone’s as well as RJ’s in Beverly Hills, and will make their recommendations March 19 to the county’s Beach Commission. The County Board of Supervisors will then have the final say. Neither Gladstone’s nor county officials would identify the other contenders.

County officials acknowledged that Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s family owns a small portion of Gladstone’s and that the mayor’s closest friends and business associates also have a stake in the eatery.

“Even if it’s true, none of that makes any difference to us,” said Wisniewski. “Revenues from that site support the county’s beach services, and therefore our sole interest is to maximize the county’s revenue over the next two decades.” Chris Lewis, a spokesman for a blind trust established by Riordon when he became mayor, said Thursday that members of the mayor’s family are limited partners in a partnership that owns a small portion of Gladstone’s but that “it dilutes down to a minuscule amount.”

Gladstone managers have spent recent days battling rumors that the landmark is for sale.

Last week, Los Angeles Laker Shaquille O’Neal took general manager Steve Herbert aside and asked him about buying the place.

“He said ‘Sit down here a moment. Are you guys for sale?’ ” recalled Herbert. “His eyes were real wide. I think he wanted to do business. I told him it wasn’t that easy.”

Still, the next day the restaurant received a call from Planet Hollywood in Florida asking about the sale. “They said they heard from Shaquille O’Neal,” Herbert said.

They’ve also received calls from restaurant liquidation companies and from patrons who want to make reservations for a possible last meal.

Alan Redhead, chief executive of California Beach Restaurants, says Gladstone’s obituary is being written too hastily.

“We have put in an enormous bid to keep this restaurant,” he said. “We’re ready to pay rent that nobody has seen in this county or in this state.”

For Redhead, loss of the concession would come as an untimely blow.

Under the tenure of the Liverpool, England, native, business is booming at the 650-seat restaurant--which reached nearly $13 million in sales in 1995--on the heels of efforts to upgrade food quality and ensure that the eatery retains its laid-back L.A. beach atmosphere.

In addition to plentiful outdoor seating and mesmerizing views even from indoors, Gladstone’s has declared itself a no-tie zone and encourages patrons to use their hands to serve themselves at the lobby peanut barrel. There are also hundreds of pictures celebrating Southern California beach life of bygone eras, compliments of a Valley amateur historian whose ancestors once owned the property.

Patrons say the charm of the place goes far beyond its seaside locale.

“I don’t know, the place has just got a vibe,” said Lauren Edwards, who moved here from London several years ago. “It’s the sawdust on the floor, the sea gulls who will try to pick your plate if you eat outside, the way they shape the foil in which you carry your take-home food into the shape of animals.”

Added Graham Edwards: “This was the first restaurant we came to when we first arrived from England. For us, it personifies L.A.”

Which is why longtime patron Gary Robinson wants the place to stay just as it is.

“If it goes down, it’ll take a long time for anyone else to get the feeling back,” he said. “It’s like the Hollywood of the ‘30s. You can never re-create something like that.”