There are a few ways to tell if a restaurant has earned some good local cred.
One? People jealously quibble over its whereabouts. Take the Tam O'Shanter. We've heard friends bicker over whether the Tam is truly in Atwater Village or Glendale or Los Feliz (really, friends? Please; it's in the AV). But it charms us to think that everyone wants to claim it for their own neighborhood.
Two? It is the ultimate place to don plaid, eat haggis, and celebrate poet Robert Burns every January.
And three? Walt Disney was a regular. Like, he ate there, a lot. So much so you'd be hard-pressed to not see shades of the Tam O'Shanter when you watch "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." Lots of cottage-cute crossover. This is not quibble-worthy. This is truth. If we saw Prince Charming stride gallantly out of the Ale and Sandwich Bar we would not look twice. (Well, that's a fib; we would, because, yeah, he's Prince Charming. The tights and the cape and the singing. Heck yes.)
Good local cred can also take decades to build, and the fairytale-esque landmark has had time, is what we're getting at. How much time? Ninety years, in fact; the Tam is about to mark its 90th in June. Meaning, yes, it is one of the oldest restaurants in our city. (Props and respect, Musso and Pacific Dining Car.)
If you'd like to pay tribute to the Tam in its big birthday year, and do some gentle Atwater-Glendale-Los Feliz bickering among your own coterie, get to the restaurant for a taste of some vintage dishes. They're serving them up in honor of the big 90th.
Mmm, Scotch Waffle. Yes, please.
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