THE RED ONION MEXICAN FOOD RESTAURANTS have been operating in Southern California since 1949 yet many people remain curious about the history of these restaurants, how they got their name and why an apparent “gringo” like me is the third-generation operator of a family business begun with my Mexican great-grandmother’s recipes.

The Earle family got started in the Mexican food business long before there was a Red Onion. During the Depression, Grandfather Harry worked as a short-order cook and manager in a series of hard-luck businesses, including a Chinese takeout and catering facility in San Diego. Harry’s first business in Los Angeles was operating the grill at the Owl Drug Store in the Downtown District. In 1942 he converted an old Victorian house, located on Western Avenue near the famous El Cholo, into a restaurant and named it the El Rae—that’s Earle spelled backwards. Harry and his mom, Catalina, operated the business using the same recipes for chile rellenos, enchiladas and tacos that she used in Las Gijas fifty years before. The business thrived for a while but eventually fell victim to wartime food rationing.

In 1949 Harry opened the first Red Onion in Inglewood. It seated only fifteen people but it was where my dad, Bart, and Uncle Don got their start in the business. Both eventually out grew that tiny restaurant to open Red Onion chains of their own, ultimately numbering a total of twenty-six locations. My dad would eventually sell his restaurants in 1973 to Host International Corporation, keeping only his favorite restaurant, the Palos Verdes Red Onion, which opened in 1963. My Uncle Don has since retired and the many Red Onion restaurants in which he had shared interests have now faded away, leaving the Palos Verdes Red Onion as the only restaurant still owned and operated by the original founding family.

Having worked in the restaurant business since I was 13, I take special pride in ensuring the food here at the Original Red Onion maintains the high standards of excellence established by my great-grandmother almost one-hundred years ago. I have tried to create a unique interior decor by filling the restaurant with antiques, ranging from the Mexican Revolution to a dining room devoted entirely to priceless original drawings and autographed menus from old Hollywood haunts such as the Brown Derby, Romanoff ’s and Sardis.

Th e Palos Verdes Red Onion has been a home away from home for residents of the Peninsula for more than thirty years. Many remember riding thier horses here in the early sixties when the restaurant was one of the only buildings around and the parking lot was mostly dirt. Some customers who came here as children are now bringing in children of their own and are being served by some of the same employees they saw thirty years ago! You see, most of our employees have been with the restaurant for many years and have become extended family.

I speak for myself, my family and for all of my employees when I welcome you to our Home.

  Sincerely,

Jeff Earle
Owner & Proprietor
The Original Red Onion