Seven Wonders of Hollywood

Themed clubs first popped up in Montmartre (Paris) in the later nineteenth century. In 1885, Café du Bagne (Café of the Penitentiary) was the first of its kind with a prison motif. Within a few years, the trend made its way stateside and by 1925, The Jail Cafe opened its doors on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.

At the Jail Cafe, patrons were served at a table which occupied its own cell, by waiters dressed as convicts. Customers "roughed it" – they weren't given any utensils and were encouraged to eat with their hands.

The Jail opened a second location downtown, but by the time it was named one of the “seven wonders of Hollywood,” by a local newspaper, the trend of theme establishments died down and the cafe closed its doors.