Few Los Angeles rooms have a resume like this one: cornfield film set for D.W. Griffith, jail-themed cafe with waiters in inmate stripes, bohemian cabaret where a young Marlon Brando drank, and for six decades now a candlelit replica of a sixteenth-century Spanish tavern. El Cid at 4212 Sunset Boulevard in Silver Lake is one of the city's great survivors, a terraced hideaway dug into the hillside at Sunset Junction. The site's film legend dates to 1915, when Griffith shot scenes for The Birth of a Nation on what was then a hill and cornfield here; historians note the surviving structure came later, but the association stuck. In 1925 the property opened as the Jail Cafe, complete with prison-wall facade and watchtower, became the Gateway Theatre in 1932, and from 1950 to 1961 ran as the Cabaret Concert Theatre, a night spot thick with producers, talent scouts and screen actors. On 7 December 1962, flamenco dancers Juan Talavera and Margarita Cordova, with Cordova's husband Clark Allen, remodelled the playhouse into El Cid, an homage to the taverns of Andalusia built after six years of dancing at the Purple Onion. The flamenco dinner show they founded still runs - guitarists, singers and dancers working an intimate stage while the kitchen serves Spanish and Spanish-fusion plates - making it one of the longest-running flamenco residencies in the United States. Around that tradition the venue has evolved into a full east-side hub: indie bands, DJs, comedy, burlesque, variety shows and film screenings fill the calendar, with a screen hidden behind the stage drapery for premieres and wrap parties. The bi-level outdoor patio, strung with lights beneath mature trees and framed by fountains and murals, is one of the neighbourhood's best-kept secrets for a drink before the room opens. Silver Lake has gentrified around it, but El Cid keeps its velvet-and-brick romance - high wood-beam ceilings, a fireplace, vintage tile - a few minutes' walk from the Sunset Junction cafes. Reservations are the smart move for flamenco Saturdays; club nights are typically 21 and over with door charges that vary by show.

Type: Theater / Concert Hall

Address: 4212 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA, United States, 90029

Website: https://www.elcidsunset.com

Cover Charge: 1

Opening Date: 07/12/1962

Serves Food

Outdoor Area