A product of the Great Depression and a Bombardier and navigator during World War II, Arthur J had an insatiable appetite for living each day with gusto. Armed with a big personality and a penchant for risky endeavors, Arthur J (as everyone, including his children and grandchildren called him) was introduced to the restaurant business through his father-in-law’s coffee shops in Chicago upon his return from military service.
He moved his family to Los Angeles in 1948 and quickly landed a position running the commissary at MGM Studios, where his infectious zeal was enjoyed by the elite Hollywood clientele. Hooked on providing hospitality, Arthur J opened the first (of what would be many) Ben Frank’s coffee shops in 1952, on the Sunset Strip.
In 1974, now joined by his son Tom, The French Quarter in West Hollywood and The Kettle in Manhattan Beach were launched, before founding the first Mimi’s Café in Anaheim in 1978. Now thirty-seven years later, Arthur J’s two younger sons, and his grandchildren carry on the family business of legendary hospitality, expressed most recently through this namesake dining room in the community where he planted roots.
