Still cooking after all these years

What follows is a guide to some of our venerable restaurants:

The Apple Pan

10801 W. Pico Blvd., West L.A., (310) 475-3585. Nothing here but burgers, sandwiches and homemade fruit pies: a winning formula since 1947.

The Arches

3334 W. Pacific Coast Highway, Newport Beach, (949) 645-7077. Balboa-adjacent steaks and Continental food for 83 years.

Barney’s Beanery

8447 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 654-2287. A perennial hangout for twentysomethings since 1927. It has a branch in Santa Monica and will open one in Pasadena next year.

Bob’s Big Boy

4211 W. Riverside Drive, Burbank, (818) 843-9334. The great hotrod-era hamburger restaurant chain dates from 1936. This particular monument of proto-’50s coffee shop architecture, built in 1949, is the oldest Bob’s still standing.

The Buggy Whip

7420 La Tijera Blvd., Westchester (310) 645-7131. Old-fashioned continental food, complete with a crooner. Unchanged since 1952.

Canter’s Delicatessen

419 N. Fairfax Ave., L.A., (323) 651-2030. Founded in Boyle Heights in 1920, it moved to Fairfax in 1931.

Casa Bianca

1650 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, (323) 256-9617. People have been lining up for old-fashioned thin-crust pizza since 1948.

Cassell’s

3266 W. 6th St., L.A., (323) 480-8668. Major-league hamburgers in a room with all the charm of a coin laundry; it dates from 1938.

Chez Jay

1657 Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, (310) 395-1741. Peanut shells on the floor, Christmas lights over the bar, surprisingly good steaks -- everything is pretty much as it has been for 46 years.

Chianti

7383 Melrose Ave., L.A., (323) 653-8333. Old Hollywood’s special-occasion Italian place, opened 1938.

Clearman’s Steak ‘n Stein Inn

9545 E. Whittier Blvd., Pico Rivera, (562) 699-4716. Grilling steaks (and taking no reservations) since 1946.

Colombo’s Restaurant Italian Steak House

1833 Colorado Blvd., Eagle Rock, (323) 254-9138. It’s an Italian restaurant, it’s a steakhouse, it’s a jazz club. Since 1954.

Dal Rae

9023 E. Washington Blvd., Pico Rivera, (562) 949-2444. The full grandeur of 1959: steaks and rich continental food in a dramatic high-roofed room.

Damon’s Steak House

317 N. Brand Blvd., Glendale, (818) 507-1510. Inexpensive steaks in a spectacular Polynesian fantasy setting. Founded (originally without all the tiki stuff) in 1937.

The Derby

233 E. Huntington Drive, Arcadia, (626) 447-2430. Where winners at Santa Anita Racetrack have been coming since 1938.

Dinah’s Family Restaurant

6521 S. Sepulveda Blvd, Westchester, (310) 645-0456. For 46 years, the chicken-and-pancake stop on the way to LAX.

Dolores Restaurant

11407 Santa Monica Blvd., West L.A., (310) 477-1061. An immortal coffee shop, dating from 1944.

Du-Par’s

Farmers Market. 6333 W. 3rd St., L.A., 323) 933-9446. Part of the Farmers Market practically from the beginning (1938). Since 1948 it’s had a branch at 12036 Ventura Blvd., Studio City, (818) 766-4437, and more recently has opened a branch in Thousand Oaks.

Edward’s Steak House

9600 Flair Drive, El Monte, (626) 442-2400. One of the 1946 cohort of steak houses with decor blending the Old West, 1890s and a Mississippi riverboat.

El Cholo

1121 S. Western Ave., L.A., (323) 734-2773. Began creating the American idea of Mexican food in 1927 and now has several branches.

El Coyote

7312 Beverly Blvd., L.A., (323) 939-2255. Open 74 years; known for middling Mexican food and great margaritas.

Five Crowns

3801 E. Pacific Coast Highway, Corona del Mar, (949) 760-0331. Built in 1920 on the model of a famous English tavern, for the last 40 years it’s been run by the Lawry’s group. So? Quasi-Elizabethan menu, great roast beef.

Formosa Cafe

7156 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood, (323) 850-9050. Hollywood’s Chinese restaurant hangout since 1927.

Galley Steak House

2442 Main St., Santa Monica, (310) 452-1934. The oldest restaurant in Santa Monica (1934), with steak and seafood in a quasi-nautical setting.

Johnnie’s Pastrami

4017 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Culver City, (310) 397-6654. Huge pastrami sandwiches with seriously hot mustard in a Googie-style diner, crowded all day since 1952.

Lawry’s the Prime Rib

100 N. La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 652-2827. Still glamorous and still making our town’s benchmark roast beef these 67 years.

Mazzarino’s Italian Food

12920 1/2 Riverside Drive, Sherman Oaks, (818) 788-5050. Classic red-check-tablecloth Italian, going back to 1947.

Miceli’s Pizza

1646 N. Las Palmas St., Hollywood, (323) 466-3438; 3655 Cahuenga Blvd. West, Universal City, (323) 852-3344. Hollywood’s Italian nook since 1949.

Musso & Frank Grill

6667 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, (323) 467-7788. A movie industry favorite for 86 years.

Nate ‘n Al’s

414 N. Beverly Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 274-0101. Our oldest upscale deli, vintage 1945.

The Original Pantry Cafe

877 Figueroa St., L.A., (213) 972-9279. Plain old-time diner food 24/7.

The Original Petrillo’s

833 E. Valley Blvd., San Gabriel, (626) 280-7332. Old-time pastas and outstanding thin-crust pizzas for 51 years.

Pacific Dining Car

1310 W. 6th St., L.A., (213) 483-6000. Opened 1921, it now has a branch in Santa Monica.

Pann’s

6710 La Tijera Blvd., L.A., (310) 337-2860. An eclectic upscale diner (salmon cakes, fried chicken, lasagna), here since 1958.

Rae’s Coffee Shop

2901 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, (310) 828-7937. Inconspicuous but often mobbed for its old-fashioned coffee shop food; opened in 1958.

Rusty’s Hacienda

6439 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood, (818) 761-5176. The present staff is uncertain exactly when in the 1940s this old-fashioned Mexican place opened. Wednesday through Sunday nights, it’s a Latin dance club, Salsa 2000.

The Smoke House

Burbank, 4420 Lakeside Drive, Burbank, (818) 845-3731. Open since 1946, it offers steaks and continental food across the street from the Warner Bros. Studio.

Taix French Restaurant

1911 Sunset Blvd., L.A., (213) 484-1265. L.A.’s idea of French food circa 1927.

Tam O’Shanter Inn

2980 Los Feliz Blvd., Atwater Village, (323) 664-0228. A pioneering theme restaurant. In 83 years, it has grown into its Scottish motif so thoroughly it’s not a theme any longer -- it’s a tradition.

Taylor’s Prime Steaks

3361 W. 8th St., L.A., (213) 382-8449. Opened in 1953; Koreatown grew up around it -- no problem. Now there’s a branch in La Canada Flintridge.

Tom Bergin’s Tavern

840 S. Fairfax Ave., L.A., (323) 936-7151. Opened 1936, it’s the sort of bar-restaurant whose customers think of themselves as living there. Claims to have introduced Irish coffee to California.

Trader Vic’s

Beverly Hilton Hotel, 9876 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, (310) 276-6345. OK, the classic Polynesian fantasy restaurant may have originated in Oakland, but this branch has been an L.A. fixture for 50 years.

The Valley Inn

4557 Sherman Oaks Ave., Sherman Oaks, (818) 784-1163. A cozy 1947

steakhouse that has fervently loyal

customers.

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-- Charles Perry