LOOKING BACK

Young Chang

The cash register at Dick Church’s Restaurant in Costa Mesa works. It

looks like a prop -- almost like a rented relic from a historical

society. It has a crank on the side that can be wound during power

outages. It’s black and chunky and dates back to 1947.

“Everything looks old, but everything works good,” said George King,

who celebrates his 20th anniversary as owner of Dick Church’s on March

19.

The business has changed hands -- and names -- about five times since

it was built in 1947. From Baby’s Beef Burger to Bud’s Beef Burger to

Art’s Coffee Shop to The Coffee Tree, Coffee Shop and finally Dick

Church’s Restaurant in 1972. The building started as, and has always

remained an eatery. When King took over in 1981, he retained the former

owner’s name.

On March 19, the classic-American-cuisine restaurant will offer select

items from a 35-year-old menu at 1965 prices. Features include a short

stack of pancakes for 40 cents, a 5-cake stack for 50 cents, French toast

with maple syrup for 75 cents and Special No. 2 (one egg, two bacon

strips, juice and toast) for all of 90 cents.

But the menu isn’t Dick Church’s only connection to the past.

The restaurant’s chefs have all been brothers and cousins. Quartets,

trios and duos of servers have been sisters. Some of the customers have

been here longer than King himself.

One patron of 50 years recently passed away, said King, quietly.

A moment later, seeing a group of regulars walk into the back dining

room, King approached a 94-year-old man. He carded him, even though the

customer wasn’t ordering alcohol. They laughed.

“Seventy-five percent of our customers are regulars,” said Fu King,

George’s wife. “A lot of people come five times a day -- for coffee, then

go home, come back for breakfast, then lunch, then dinner....”

Jack Watkins, 68, has been a customer there since the late ‘60s --

since before Dick Church’s became Dick Church’s. He not only knows

everyone’s names, but also their nicknames. There’s “Crazy so-and-so,”

“Badmouth so-and-so,” “Lightning so-and-so” and “Prozac so-and-so.”

“Some of the people don’t know they represent some of the nicknames,”

Watkins said. “It’s a friendly bunch. It’s not a group that invades your

privacy, but a group that welcomes a person.”

King’s 20th anniversary celebration can also be seen, somewhat, as the

celebration of an immigrant’s success story. He and his family came to

the United States from Taiwan 24 years ago. King’s intention was to

attend school, but he started washing dishes at restaurants. He passed

through the ranks of waiter, cook, manager and, finally, became owner.

“They’re extraordinarily giving,” Watkins said of King and his crew.

“During Christmas time they put up stockings for their employees. They

give of their time and they give of their talents.”

* Do you know of a person, place or event that deserves a historical

Look Back? Let us know. Contact Young Chang by fax at (949) 646-4170;

e-mail at [email protected]; or mail her at c/o Daily Pilot, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627.