Canoodling in The Valley ~ Remembering Dame Liz Taylor (1932-2011)

We at The Valley Film Festival loved her in The Last Time I Saw Paris, A Place in the Sun, and BUtterfield 8, to name a few, and we really, really, wish we could brag to the world that Elizabeth Taylor attended school or lived in The Valley, but alas, we can not. Ms. Taylor was a West Side girl through and through.

Not one to give up, VFF dug deep into the Valley vaults and found the gem we were looking for: Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were regulars at El Chiquito Inn, across from Warner Bros. Wipe that smirk off of your face!  El Chiquito was not a pay-by-the-hour inn, it was a Mexican restaurant that served up fresh chili rellenos to Toluca Lake locals and studio workers. And since El Chiquito Inn opened in the 1950's and closed in the mid-1990's, we'd like to believe that Taylor & Burton's fondest moments were spent canoodling in the corner.

Now the Warner Bros. parking lot, El Chiquito Inn was located at 4211 Olive Avenue, near where Ciao! Christina stands today, and a few short blocks from local legend The Smoke House. Next time you're in the neighborhood, raise your glass and toast to Dame Liz. 

In the meantime, you can (re)discover her filmography on IMDB or Netflix and read all about her tireless efforts to educate & eradicate the world of AIDS via The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.