Fullerton's Oldest Drinking Establishment

Photographed by Tatiana Zavala, August 29, 2024

1. Fullerton's Oldest Drinking Establishment Marker

Touch for directions.

Angeles

Ranges.

Coast.

America,

Fire,

Rim,

Hemisphere,

World,

Anglosphere.

Spain

California.

Click or scan to see
this page online

Tucked away among the many brick buildings in downtown Fullerton is a little bar that’s a huge piece of local history.

The Continental Room, originally opened in 1925, is the oldest drinking establishment in the city. It’s taken on many forms in the past few decades, but it was initially known as J.L. Leon’s Billiards, a Prohibition-era pool hall that also served as a speakeasy.

Fast-forward more than 70 years, to 1999, when budding entrepreneur Sean Francis (co-owner of the Slidebar) was cruisin’ the streets of Fullerton on his Vespa. Looking for a cool place to launch a bar in Fullerton,

Photographed by Tatiana Zavala, August 29, 2024

2. Photo of plaque on Continental Room

he stumbled upon the rundown building.

"I saw the door open in an industrial area and I walk in, and lo and behold it used to be a bar," he says. “The old guy who used to run it was in there. We negotiated a lease over a 12-pack of beer and I got the place.”

Francis and his then-business-partner Carlo Terranova completely gutted the venue during reconstruction – and that’s when Francis started to uncover some history. “When we were tearing the place up, there’s an office in the back, and I found old whiskey bottles with the corks still in them.”

It took Francis and Terranova two years to complete the Continental Room’s renovations; the duo decided on a décor that would reflect what the bar would have looked like in the ’60s. In keeping with that theme, Francis purchased and cleaned up old booths and tables from Little Joe’s, a popular Italian restaurant on Broadway near Dodger Stadium that also opened in the ’20s, though the restaurant closed its doors in 1998.

According to Francis, one booth in particular has an interesting history. “The booth we have in the VIP room now used to be Tommy Lasorda’s personal booth at the

Paid Advertisement

restaurant. He would go to Little Joe’s after every home Dodger game and sit in that particular booth.”

The refurbished Continental Room opened its doors in 2002

Local business owners Sean Francis and Carlo Terranova (Hub Café) received approval from the Planning Commission and City Council to renovate Fullerton’s oldest drinking establishment into their vision, the Continental Martini Lounge. The historic brick building at 115 W. Santa Fe Avenue opened in 1925 as J.L. Leon’s Billiards and Tavern and operated throughout the next 67 years as a series of taverns until it closed for good in 1992...Relics from the past uncovered during renovation include newspapers from 1922 and whiskey bottles from the 1930’s and 40’s. The goal of the renovation is a 1960’s vintage martini bar that preserves the building’s original use and provides a creative example for revitalizing this blighted block in historic downtown Fullerton.