Fonz's Returns To Manhattan Beach For 5 Sold-Out Nights

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — For five nights this week, a Manhattan Beach restaurant that became a neighborhood institution over more than two decades will come back to life in the very place where it began, bringing former employees, familiar dishes and plenty of memories back to its longtime downtown home.

Fonz's will return Wednesday through Sunday for a pop-up at Fête Bistro by Slay, 1017 Manhattan Ave., and judging by the response, Manhattan Beach hasn't forgotten it.

Former Fonz's owner Danny Boehle told Patch that reservations for all five nights disappeared within about 24 hours, and he has since been fielding as many as 20 or 30 calls and texts a day from people hoping he can somehow squeeze them in.

"It's booked up solid," Boehle said, adding that the response has been strong enough to make him think the five-night resurrection may not be the last.

"I believe it makes me think that we're going to probably do another one, probably around Christmas time would be my guess," Boehle told Patch, although another pop-up would depend on how this week's event goes and whether the restaurant wants to do it again.

'The Cheers Of Manhattan Beach'

Fonz's opened in 1997, founded by Boehle and Manhattan Beach beach volleyball star Mike Dodd, who won a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics. The restaurant was named for Dodd's late father, whose nickname was Fonz, and a Los Angeles Times review published shortly after it opened described the new Manhattan Avenue restaurant as a cheerful neighborhood spot decorated with photographs of local beach life and volleyball stars.

Over the years, however, Fonz's became much more than somewhere to eat, according to Boehle, who remembers a restaurant where employees stayed for years, regulars returned several times a week and seemingly everybody knew everybody else.

"We were basically like the Cheers of Manhattan Beach," Boehle said. "We were the watering hole."

Boehle bought out Dodd in 2005 and soldhis interest in the restaurant in 2017, the same year the Manhattan Beach City Council recognized Fonz's among the city's longstanding businesses. Fonz's continued operating after Boehle's departure before eventually closing, and Michelin-starred chef Josiah Citrin subsequently took over the space for Costa Manhattan Beach, which opened in late 2019 and closed at the end of November 2020. By December 2021, Pa-Do Dumpling and Noodle Bar had opened at the address.

Even after Boehle sold his interest, he said former customers continued reaching out to ask whether he would ever bring Fonz's back, but rising rents, which were among the reasons he got out of the business in 2017, made the prospect of another permanent restaurant difficult to justify.

A five-night reunion, however, was a different proposition. The idea eventually led to a conversation with chef and restaurateur David Slay, whose Fête Bistro now occupies the old Fonz's address, and when Boehle was asked whether he would come back for five nights, he agreed.

Old Faces, Old Food

Boehle isn't promising a perfect replica of Fonz's, acknowledging that the kitchen, sauces and staff cannot be exactly as they were years ago, but the idea is to recreate as much as possible of the atmosphere that made the restaurant a gathering place for generations of Manhattan Beach customers.

Former Fonz's chef Luis Sandoval will return Wednesday to help show the kitchen how the dishes should look, Boehle said, while a group of longtime former employees will also return during the pop-up, putting some of the familiar faces back inside the restaurant alongside much of its familiar food.

The menu will draw heavily from the old Fonz's offerings, including meatloaf, chicken, filet, New York steak and swordfish, along with appetizers and desserts, while Fête will also offer some of its own dishes.

The nostalgia will extend beyond the kitchen into the adjoining bar, where old AVP beach volleyball footage featuring Dodd and Tim Hovland will play on screens alongside footage from the 2023 Little League World Series championship won by El Segundo with Boehle as manager. Members of Boehle's extended Lennon family, whose musical roots stretch through Venice and the Westside, are also expected to perform an acoustic set Sunday.

Dinner service begins at 4 p.m. during the pop-up, and while reservations are already gone, Boehle said people without one can still try their luck at the adjoining bar, where seating will be first come, first served and food will also be available. OpenTable lists "Fonz's @ Fête" for Sept. 23 through Sept. 27.

Could Fonz's Come Back Again?

The extraordinary response to the pop-up inevitably raises a larger question about whether Fonz's could ever make a permanent comeback, something Boehle said he has been asked repeatedly in recent days.

For now, he remains wary of returning to an industry he describes as extraordinarily difficult to sustain, particularly given the cost of rent in communities such as Manhattan Beach. Boehle said he has already been asked about taking over the current space on a longer-term basis and declined, but he hasn't completely shut the door on Fonz's returning somewhere under the right circumstances.

"It'd have to be a special offer for me to do it again," Boehle said, explaining that any arrangement would have to substantially reduce his financial exposure. He also said there have been discussions about a possible location in Playa Vista, although nothing has been settled.

For now, his attention is on five nights in Manhattan Beach and giving former customers something resembling the restaurant they remember, even if Boehle is careful not to promise that the experience will be an exact recreation.

The pop-up happens to coincide with Boehle's promotion of his new book, "Second to None: A Coach's Message of Love & Selflessness Propels Tiny El Segundo to a Dramatic Little League World Title," about the El Segundo team's 2023 Little League World Series championship run, but he said the book had nothing to do with the decision to resurrect Fonz's.

Asked how much the book launch played into the pop-up, Boehle's answer was immediate, "Zero."

Copies will be available during the event, he said, but he isn't treating it as a book launch or planning the sort of speaking and signing program he has held at dedicated book events. Instead, this week is about the restaurant, its former employees and the customers who have spent years asking him to bring it back.

"They just want to see us," Boehle said. "They just want to see it back to normal again." And for five nights in downtown Manhattan Beach, they'll get pretty close.