Things you didn't know about Downey: Uncle Gabriel's Log Cabin

Uncle Gabriel’s Log Cabin. Image courtesy Downey Historical Society

In the Southeast News (Oct. 4, 1973), there was an article about Uncle Gabriel’s Log Cabin, located at 11625 Paramount Blvd.

Uncle Gabriel’s Log Cabin’s light shone like a beacon in the night, surrounded by darkened croplands and orchards. This restaurant was the closest thing to a roadhouse and didn’t have any competition in the area until the Pow-Wow Restaurant opened in 1937 on Firestone at Lakewood.

Uncle Gabriel’s was a favorite hangout for the test pilots who would swagger in after they left their planes at the Vultee plant, and would “take over” the place with a flair like modern-day knights.

The original restaurant building was once located at Belmont Shore. It was there that Ameno Bunaguidi and his uncle, Gabriel Ispidi, two Downey farmers, found the place in 1935, bought it and moved it to the northeast corner of their farm.

Bunaguidi was the chef and continued to operate the farm in the early mornings. Ispidi, who everyone called “Uncle Gabriel,” was the restaurant maitre’ d. That’s how the restaurant got its name. Bunaguidi’s wife, Armida, worked in the pantry and service bar in the old days.

The farm included all the land between Morning Avenue on the south to just north of the restaurant, and from Paramount Boulevard west to Rives Avenue. They raised asparagus, grapes, celery and other vegetables. They also kept fruit trees for the family’s use.

Bunaguidi continued working both farm and restaurant until he died in 1950. Residential subdivisions came in the following year and the farm land was sold off.

Some additional Downey history: From the Downey LiveWire dated Feb. 25, 1954, the first commercial passenger elevator in Downey was in the New Orleans Building, 8207 E. 3rd St.

Trivia question: What major motion picture star appeared in her first “talkie” at the Meralta Theatre on Christmas Day, 1929?

Joan Crawford. Her first all-talkie film was called “Untamed.”

Bobbi Bruce is a docent at the Downey Historical Society.