The Original Saugus Cafe is officially closing its doors after almost 140 years of being in business — making it, as of its final days, the longest-running restaurant in Los Angeles County.
Saugus Cafe was first opened in 1888 by James Herbert Tolfree and was first called the “Saugus Eating House.” It officially became the famed Saugus Cafe in 1899. The café moved out of the train station in 1916 and across the tracks to a location that’s approximately where it exists now.
The area at the time was becoming a favored film making location. Directors John Ford and D.W. Griffith came for lunch or dinner. Doug Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Charlie Chaplin stopped by in 1919…