Famous signs along the nearly 2,500 miles of Route 66 include the 66-foot soda bottle at Pops in Oklahoma, the wagging neon tail at the Albuquerque Dog House and the hand-painted slogans of the Snow Cap Drive-In in Arizona. But in Los Angeles, none are as iconic as the looming giant penguin representing milkshakes, burgers, throwback playlists and pure Americana at the end of the road.
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The Mother Road that stretches from Chicago to the West Coast unofficially ends at the Santa Monica Pier, but in its technical term, Mel's Drive-In declares “THE ROAD ENDS HERE,” embedded in terrazzo beneath that giant penguin in a tuxedo. It's been a beacon for decades, and although the beloved restaurant recently went up for sale for $26 million, Mel's owners hope it will remain a restaurant and destination for generations.
For much of its history, the restaurant at the end of Route 66 was the Penguin Coffee Shop, founded in 1959, a marvel of Googie architecture with angular windows, rock walls and small cartoon penguins hanging above swivel stools and an open kitchen.
The original penguin sign from the old Penguin Coffee Shop still stands at Mel's Drive-In in Santa Monica.
When I was very little, I remember sitting in the booths with my father, whose office was nearby on Wilshire. Back then, the high angled ceilings seemed to soar and the breakfast combinations seemed mountainous.
“It was a Googie-type restaurant—you know, we don't have that many anymore,” my dad remembers. “It had a roadside diner aura… Everyone saw the giant penguin there. Although I don't think Burgess Meredith ever ate there.” The joke takes me a moment before landing; My version of Batman's Penguin will always be Danny DeVito.
“It was kind of a Googie restaurant; you know, we don't have that many anymore,” the writer's father recalls.
We visited every month or two, until Penguin closed its doors in 1991 and became a Western Dental office, which kept the Penguin sign but lowered those high ceilings and eliminated the kitchen along with other hallmarks of its roadside charm. Fortunately, his journey did not end there.
The Weiss family, which founded Mel's Drive-In restaurant in 1947, had been eyeing the property for years and signed a lease in 2016. Then there was the link to its own history: The prolific architecture firm Armet & Davis designed the Penguin and Mel's current home Sherman Oaks.
“When the dentist's office closed,” said co-owner Colton Weiss, “it seemed like a no-brainer to turn it into Mel's and bring it back to the glory days of being a restaurant.”
What followed were two years of “very expensive” renovations, according to Mel's third-generation owner.
Beyond the iconic penguin sign, which earned “historically or architecturally significant” designation in 2000, Mel's pays homage with large, custom-made sculptural glass globe lights that replicate the originals. The Weisses hired gardening specialists to review decades-old photographs of the Penguin Coffee Shop to determine which varieties of flowers decorated the front of the restaurant and then replanted them.
Since the building's reopening in 2018, thousands of guests have ended their trip down Route 66 with a meal at the restaurant.
“Now we are like the authorities of Route 66.”
— Colton Weiss, co-owner of Mel's Drive-In
While hammering drywall, they discovered the restaurant's original rock wall. Along a hallway near the bathrooms, a small gallery of photographs of the Penguin Coffee Shop offers another glimpse of the predecessor. This spot also features a marshmallow and chocolate sauce Penguin Shake in honor of the original's tuxedo mascot.
It wasn't until they were close to signing an agreement that they realized it was located along Route 66.
“Now we're like the authorities of Route 66,” said Weiss, whose father, Steven Weiss, was largely responsible for the restoration.
Since the building reopened in 2018, the owners say thousands of guests have ended their trips with a meal at the restaurant. They walk through the doors after the long trip, sometimes decked out in Route 66 merchandise and sometimes purchasing Mel's own brand of Route 66 merchandise while they're there.
Atmosphere and details of Mel's Drive-In Diner.
“One guy did it in a '67 Chevy, which was on his wish list – an older guy who did it with his wife, and it was a convertible,” Weiss said. “He made it in the summer, so when it showed up it was covered in dust and dirt. I couldn't be happier to get to Mel's and get a burger.”
Another, he said, made the entire trip on a bicycle.
The restaurant offers completion certificates for those who finish the hike and came up with a burger named after the trail. A fish tank at the entrance features a Route 66 theme, as does a mural on a small wall in the parking lot. Two official signs, posted around the city, indicate the importance of the place.
“The city knew there would be renewed interest in a restaurant being the true end of Route 66,” Weiss said. “I didn't know anyone before who wanted to end their trip at the dentist's office. Maybe someone who broke their teeth on the way.”
But the end of the road could one day see its own end. The property was listed for sale in 2025. Representatives for the building's management company did not respond to requests for comment.
“We're trying to keep it that way as long as possible,” Weiss said. “People really enjoy this place and it seems like one of the last restaurants in Santa Monica.” Weiss declined to comment further.
Mel's assistant manager, Yazmin Minguela, says she sees more travelers now because it's the 100th anniversary of Route 66. “But even before that, we still had a lot of visitors.”
He has worked for Mel for 22 years, six of which were spent at the Santa Monica restaurant. Their shifts are filled with Westside regulars, celebrities and guests finishing their Route 66 trip.
“Ending up at a dinner party is nostalgic,” my dad reflected. “Having a place like Mel's, which is a substitute for the kind of flea-bitten ptomaine joints you might find on Route 66, brings back memories for very old people. And very new people ask questions like, 'Who is Burgess Meredith?'”
Mel's Drive-In is open at 1670 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica, Sunday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to midnight.
