La Tijera Retro Diner for Chicken and Waffles: Pann's

Pann's, at 6710 La Tijera Blvd near LAX, is a 1958 Googie diner designed by Armet & Davis, and it is open for breakfast and lunch only: 7:30 am to 3 pm Monday through Friday and 7 am to 3 pm on Saturday and Sunday. The order that keeps the counter full is the Belgian waffle with fried chicken, and the waffle with three wings costs $19.95. Come for the soaring roofline, stay for the biscuits.

Pann's opened on La Tijera Boulevard in 1958, built by Armet & Davis, the firm that defined Googie architecture in postwar Los Angeles. The roof rises in sharp angles over sweeping walls of glass, and the neon sign out front was created by architect Helen Liu Fong. The restaurant describes the building as one of the finest intact examples of the style left in Southern California, and the Los Angeles Conservancy honored it with a Preservation Award.

The interior has barely moved. Red booths, cream swivel stools, pendant lights and framed photographs fill the dining room, and the site says it looks exactly as it did on opening day. Pann's remains family-owned, operated under the Poulos Corporation, and its story page sums up six-plus decades with a line about good people and good food coming together. The Los Angeles Times and Eater have both written about it, giving the patty melt and the rooflines equal attention.

The menu leans Southern as much as classic diner, and the house section is called Pann's Waffle and Chicken. A Belgian waffle with three wings is $19.95, with five wings $25.95, with one breast $19.95, with two pieces of dark meat $20.45 and with four jumbo tenders $23.95. Cornmeal-breaded catfish, salmon croquettes with hollandaise, country fried steak in pork sausage gravy and collard greens also appear, which tells you who has been eating here for decades.

Ask for a biscuit even if your plate does not include one. On the dine-in menu, breakfasts come with toast and jam, and swapping in a fresh-baked buttermilk biscuit costs 50 cents more. Reviews quoted on the restaurant's own site keep returning to them, with one guest writing that the biscuit is worth dreaming about and another calling the gravy perfect. The house fried-chicken plates and legendary favorites come with a scratch-made biscuit already on the side.

Lunch brings Pann's Dreamburger, with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pink mayo and house relish, for $13.95 single or $17.95 double on the dine-in menu. The patty melt on grilled rye is $17.45, and fries, coleslaw or a side salad add $3.99. Milkshakes are $8.65, and the menu notes that the ice cream has been Thrifty's since 1958. If you are torn between the Dreamburger and the patty melt, pick the melt, since it is the dish the press keeps naming.

Weekends open at 7 am, and the restaurant's own brunch page warns that the booths fill fast and counter seats go quickly. Saturdays and Sundays also bring self-serve mimosas, freshly brewed coffee and the full run of waffles and pancakes. Arrive at opening if you want a booth by the window, or come after 1 pm when the brunch wave has eased but the kitchen is still cooking before the 3 pm close.

Weekdays are easier, with a 7:30 am start. Reviews on the site mention servers by name and guests who never felt rushed even near closing time, which is useful to know if you arrive late in the afternoon. If the wait still looks long, take two stools at the counter. You get the best view of the room's pendant lights and swivel stools, and the food arrives fast.

Pann's runs its own online ordering and rewards program through its site and app, where points earned on orders can be redeemed for free food. The online menu also sells wings by the tray, 25 wings for $79.00 or 96 for $282.00, which makes it a handy pickup if you are feeding a group near the airport. For dine-in groups, the menu adds an 18% service charge to parties of six or more.

For dine-in families, there is a kids menu with pancakes, a half waffle and chicken tenders. The full menu PDF is posted on the site for anyone who wants to plan ahead. Gift cards are sold online, and contact for larger questions goes through the form on the restaurant's contact page or by phone.

Pann's sits on the edge of Westchester and Ladera Heights, a short drive from LAX, which makes it a strong first or last meal of a Los Angeles trip. A short drive south-east, Randy's Donuts, with its giant donut on the roof, is the other roadside landmark worth a photo stop. Add both to an airport run and you have two pieces of classic Los Angeles signage in one morning.

For a walk after breakfast, head to Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area in the Baldwin Hills, a short drive north, where trails climb to views across the basin toward downtown and the ocean. If you would rather stay close, a stroll along La Tijera past the diner gives you the best angle on the neon sign and the folded roof against the sky.

Pann's Restaurant is at 6710 La Tijera Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Hours are Monday through Friday 7:30 am to 3 pm and Saturday and Sunday 7 am to 3 pm. There is no dinner service. The restaurant has its own parking lot, and guests in reviews on its site say they always find a space.

A meal for two built around the waffle with three wings and a single Dreamburger comes to $33.90 before tax, tip and drinks. Give yourself time outside before or after the meal: the sign and roofline are why architecture fans make the trip, and morning sun is the best light for photographs.