Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset Strip to close, blog says

You've got a couple of months to pay a last visit to the Hamburger Hamlet where Sunset forks into Doheny Road, at the Beverly Hills end of West Hollywood. Closing day is Dec. 19, says Kat Odell at Eater LA. She calls this the original Hamburger Hamlet, but most references place that one four blocks east at 8931 Sunset, at Hilldale Avenue a few doors from the Whisky-a-Go-Go. But it's the original in spirit. The first Hamlet was opened in 1950 by dress designer Marilyn Lewis and her actor-boyfriend, later husband, Harry. They attracted a celebrity crowd with burgers served alongside higher-scale offerings by waitresses trained to say sauteed not fried. It grew into a chain of 20-some restaurants on both coats that has been contracting for years; once the Sunset location goes, the last Hamlets here will be in Sherman Oaks and Pasadena. The Lewises sold in 1987 and opened Kate Mantilini at Wilshire and Doheny Drive in Beverly Hills. In 2000 Ten Speed Press published her book, "Marilyn, Are You Sure You Can Cook?''