GHOULA (‘Ghost Hunters of Urban Los Angeles’), a Hollywood-based ghost-lore club, will hold its next monthly ‘Spirits with Spirits’ meeting at Patrick’s Roadhouse in Pacific Palisades on Saturday, September 13 from 6 to 8 p.m. Founded by Hollywood residents Richard Carradine and Lisa Strouss, GHOULA has been meeting on the 13th of every month since 2008. About 20 to 35 GHOULA members attend each meeting. This month’s outing marks the group’s first-ever trip to the Palisades for lore and libations at such (supposedly haunted) L.A. landmarks as Philippe’s French Dip Restaurant near Union Station, the Culver Hotel in Culver City, the Queen Mary in Long Beach, and Musso & Frank’s on Hollywood Boulevard. Carradine stresses that GHOULA is not a science-based, paranormal band of ghost-busters, but rather a social group. The meetings are casual mixers, and GHOULA provides a back-door way to learn about venerable establishments around Los Angeles. ‘Ghost stories are, in essence, a great way to look back in time,’ Carradine says. As for Patrick’s Roadhouse, located on Pacific Coast Highway at Entrada in Santa Monica Canyon, is it truly haunted? Carradine says that Patrick’s current owner, Silvio Moreira, has a story to tell regarding ghosts and Patrick’s, but he has been mum about the details. Moreira, a Portuguese immigrant who for many years worked at Patrick’s and now owns the popular breakfast/lunch destination, promises that all stories will be revealed at the event, when staffers will also divulge their potential ghost sightings as well. Current management aside, Carradine did stumble onto one of the legends about the Roadhouse, which buildings were once constituted a Red Car station and a hotel. ‘When the Red Car lines ended, the passenger depot for the Red Car line was converted into Roy’s Hot Dogs,’ Carradine says. An eccentric, colorful patron named Bill Fischler ordered a hamburger at Roy’s and complained that it was the worst burger he had ever tasted in this life. Roy’s owner said that if Fischler didn’t like the burgers, he could buy the place and make them himself. And so he did. He turned the hot dog stand into Patrick’s (naming it after his son) in 1969. ‘The success of Patrick’s,’ Carradine says, ‘forced them to expand into the adjoining building behind the stand, which was a hotel.’ Fischler died in 1997. According to Carradine’s research, ‘Bill Fischler haunts the restaurant, and his ghost supposedly scared a previous chef, forcing him to quit. He saw the ghost of Bill eyeballing him, making his displeasure known.’ Carradine finds the Fischler burger anecdote fitting. ‘To this day, Patrick’s prides itself on its burgers,’ says Carradine, who notes that President Bill Clinton, while staying in the area, pulled his motorcade over to Patrick’s on word that the burgers were so good there. Admission to the event is free but RSVP is necessary. Call 310-975-4635 or write to rcarradine@live.com GHOULA will provide the beverages, while Patrick’s, which is normally not open for dinner, will offer its full menu (including the burgers) at its usual prices.
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