The 1949 meeting of the Southern California Restaurant Association is a nice, if inevitably incomplete, snapshot of the L.A. restaurant industry by mid-century. Chains with an already established history in the city like Clifton’s, Eaton’s, and Boos Brothers held most of the Officer spots, while the directorial board was a mix of veterans (Tip’s, Globe Coffee Shops, Ontra Cafeteria, Pig N’ Whistle) and relative newcomers who had risen to quick fame in the 40s (Lawry’s, Jack’s Salad Bowl). The Association’s post-WWII board had, perhaps predictably, a distinctly chops-chicken-coffee profile and favored restaurants serving what could then be loosely dubbed as “American Fare,” leaving out the many Mexican, Chinese, and Japanese restaurants (not to mention the handful of fine dining French restaurants still around) that by the 40s had already been key players in the city’s culinary culture.