OPEN: 1939–1962
LOCATION: 140 S. Rodeo Drive Beverly Hills, CA 90210
ORIGINAL PHONE: CR 4-2105
CUISINE: Country Club
DESIGN: Honnold and Rex, Architects and Associated Architects
BUILDING STYLE: Modernist Sleek
CURRENTLY: Real Estate Office
The self-styled Prince Michael Dimitri Alexandrovich Obolensky-Romanoff, also known as Hershel Geguzin.
ROMANOFF’S, CALLED THE “SUPPER CLUB OF THE STARS” DURING HOLLYWOOD’S GOLDEN AGE, WAS BUILT ON A MOUNTAIN OF LIES. Its owner—originally born Hershel Geguzin before he changed his name to Harry Gerguson and then, finally, the pseudonym Michael Romanoff—was a petty criminal and check forger who used a variety of aliases to pose as a Russian gentleman of Hollywood society. In reality, Mike Romanoff had been a poor peasant boy in his home country of Lithuania who, at ten years old, was sent to live with his cousin in New York City, where he worked odd jobs to survive.
Romanoff was a slick con artist. Scraping together a living as a two-bit actor who ingratiated himself with the real movie stars, he claimed to be the last tsar of Russia, Prince Michael Dimitri Alexandrovich Obolensky-Romanoff (at least one member of the Russian Guard identified him as a fraud for this juicy claim). He spoke in an unplaceable accent, sported a bushy mustache, and dressed impeccably in the latest fashions, complete with spats and a walking stick.
Word got around of Romanoff’s tall tales. In 1932, the New Yorker ran a series of stories about imposters that traced the peasant/tsar/prince’s history from birth and uncovered his past. This only seemed to further endear Romanoff to the stars, though; the press loved his scandalous story, and he became famous as a legendary—but loveable—imposter.
In 1939, Romanoff talked Charlie Chaplin, Humphrey Bogart, and James Cagney into backing him in his restaurant endeavor. Romanoff’s opened on Rodeo Drive that same year, back when it was a trendy spot for restaurants, rather than a shopping destination. The menu consisted of rich French fare such as filet mignon, eggs Benedict, crab-stuffed tomatoes, and frog legs. The restaurant was especially famous for its chocolate soufflé and special dessert, Strawberries Romanoff.
Fans often stood outside the establishment, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite stars—perhaps Lauren Bacall, Sid Luft, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Katharine Hepburn, or Humphrey Bogart, all of whom were regulars. Despite the restaurant’s strict rule that men must wear ties, Bogart insisted on entering without one. In 1942, Myrna Loy and her first husband, producer Arthur Hornblow Jr., celebrated their divorce at Romanoff’s (less than a year later, she married John Hertz Jr. of the Hertz car rental family).
Romanoff’s had a second location at 140 S. Rodeo Drive, and, in 1951, it moved a few blocks down the street to 240 S. Rodeo, behind the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The top floor housed a rooftop garden that was perfect for stargazing. The large ballroom could accommodate 125 people, the main dining room offered 24 booths, and a smaller, private dining room was reserved for intimate gatherings. The four booths around the staircase leading up to the rooftop were the most desirable seats in the house; anyone sitting there had a view of the entire dining room and could see who was going up to the rooftop.
Romanoff’s did well in the ’50s, but with so many great restaurants in town, it was becoming difficult to fill the room. It didn’t help that Mike Romanoff was a conservative Republican serving a Democratic community. He often handed out right-wing literature with the menus, and even his most loyal friends and star patrons were offended by his friendship with J. Edgar Hoover. Gangsters tried to buy out Romanoff more than a few times, to no avail. In the end, his political views may have cost him his restaurant and business.
Romanoff’s officially closed after a New Year’s Eve party in 1962. Romanoff himself—deemed “the most wonderful liar of the twentieth century” by Life magazine—spent the rest of his life in retirement and died of a heart attack in 1971, at the age of seventy-eight.
After the restaurant closed, Stouffer’s Top of the Rock restaurant in Chicago began serving Romanoff’s Noodles. After Stouffer’s closed its restaurant division, it focused on its frozen food brands and started packaging Romanoff’s Noodles.
The exterior of Romanoff’s can be seen in the 1967 film A Guide for the Married Man, in which the maître d’ is played by Romanoff himself. He appeared in more than twenty films and television shows, either acting in bit roles or playing himself—his specialty. 
Romanoff’s on Rodeo Drive, 1955.