The Street Seen: The Galley
2442 Main Street @ Hollister
The Galley restaurant opens on the Santa Monica pier in the mid-1930s, and in 1946 moves to Main Street, where it is still operating. In its 90-year history, the Galley has just two owners - Ralph Stephan and now Ron Schur.
In the mid 1930s,1 the Galley Cafe opens west of the La Monica Ballroom (1924 - 1963) at the end of the Santa Monica amusement pier.2 The seafood cafe is managed by Ralph W. Stephan (1900 – 1990).3 As a tourist attraction, the Galley maintains a small saltwater aquarium stocked with sea life from local fishermen. In 1936, a “wonderful fish dinner” is $0.50 to $0.75.
In 1946, Stephan moves the Galley from the pier4 to the former Gallo Cafe space on Main Street with a long-term lease (the Gallo family owns the property into the 1990s). In 1970, dinner at the Galley is $3.50 to $6.00
Originally from New York City, Ronald Schur arrives in Los Angeles in 1971 with the intention of becoming a standup comedian. Schur switches gears to real estate, then a fast food business.5 In 1989, Schur buys the Galley business from Stephan, and 35 years later, he is still operating the business.
The Galley claims a 1934 establishment - local newspapers in June 1935, run Galley Cafe advertisements for cooks. The Galley is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Santa Monica. Bay Cities Italian Deli (opened in 1925) doesn’t qualify as a restaurant, leaving Snug Harbor (opened in 1941) as a distant runner-up.
Looff’s 1916 Santa Monica pleasure pier flourishes in the 1920s. However in the 1930s, most of the amusement park facilities are closed, and its attractions sold off. A breakwater, providing docking for fishing and pleasure boats near the pier, is built in 1934.
Ralph William Stephan (1900 – 1990) is born in New Jersey, one of eight children. He comes to San Pedro with his mother, Elizabeth Stephan, in 1915. He works as a waiter in her restaurant in San Pedro (1920) and in Venice (1925). In 1919, Ralph signs on as a crew member on a steamship voyage to the Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, and back. His mother dies in an automobile accident in 1935, and Ralph takes over the Galley on the Santa Monica pier. Sometime in the 1940s, he marries Teutonia (Toni) Veronica Stricker (1916–1980). In a bizarre sequence of events in 1957, Stephan, who lives in the Pacific Palisades, is arrested for burglarizing his neighbor’s house. After 54 years of operating the Galley, Stephan retires in 1989, and dies in 1990.
Elizabeth J Skodack Stephan (1875 – 1935) comes to the US in 1901, and then to San Pedro with several of her eight children, in 1915. She runs the cafe at the San Pedro Angelus Hotel. In 1918 she buys the Lafayette Café in San Pedro, but sells it in 1920 (after prohibition comes into effect). Her husband, John Stepan (1867–1945), and the other children are living elsewhere in Los Angeles. In June 1935, Elizabeth is killed in northern California when her car, driven by her son John Stephan, Jr, is in a collision with another automobile. The Stephan family, who claim to be employees of Elizabeth’s two restaurants, sue for wrongful death damages of $51,000 but are awarded only $12,850.
The former Galley Café space at the end of the Santa Monica amusement pier is re-opened in 1946 as the Tides Café by Jack Deluca of Santa Monica Seafood.
Schur and partners Steve and Jeff Bradley open a three-location (Sherman Oaks, Studio City, and Santa Ana) fast food business called “Snacks Fifth Avenue”, which is sued by Saks Fifth Avenue for trademark infringement.
