As I've mentioned here before, I've long been a big fan of an ever-diminishing chain of "fast food" eateries called Koo Koo Roo. I put those quotes in there because Koo Koo Roo offers pretty healthy cuisine — and pretty tasty, as well. But the brand is failing. There were once more than twenty, mostly around the Southern California area…and I once counted and determined I'd dined at more than half, including a couple in pretty outta-the-way locations. I had a kind of radar sense for them. Driving through unfamiliar territory, Carolyn and I will sometimes decide to stop and get something to eat. A little voice (not from my GPS) used to tell me when to pull off the freeway at the perfect spot to find a Koo Koo Roo.
Now, it's easy to find where they are. There's one on Wilshire in Santa Monica, one on Santa Monica Boulevard near La Cienega and one at Larchmont and Beverly Boulevards. That's it. They're down to three.
I just captured the photo above from Google Maps. It's of one of the two I used to go to on Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills and neither is actually there anymore. The location in the pic is currently being retooled into an outlet of The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company, a chain of bakery-restaurants. Larry King, who I guess needed something to do, is the most prominent investor behind this venture.
I came across this photo when I looked up the address of Mr. King's new line of work so I could know where it was…and there I found this image of the now-defunct Koo Koo Roo. I thought I'd share it with you because something in it struck me as funny.
Google Maps sends cameras all over the world to capture images of street scenes…zillions of 'em. There are often pedestrians in these photos and for legal reasons (I guess), they employ some kind of software that analyzes each image and blurs any facial features that appear. I don't know how well you'll be able to see this on your monitor but the software decided to protect the identity of the little rooster in the Koo Koo Roo logo.