Dan Tana obituary

Dan Tana, founder of the famed Dan Tana's restaurant on Santa Monica Boulevard, has died in Belgrade at age 90.

Dan Tana dies at 90 West Hollywood icon and celebrity hangout founder

Dan Tana has died at the age of 90 in Belgrade, Serbia, according to the Los Angeles Times. The longtime restaurateur built the Dan Tana’s on Santa Monica Boulevard and helped shape a late night dining culture that drew Hollywood stars for decades. The cause of death has not been disclosed. Alison Martino, a Los Angeles historian who maintains the restaurant’s social feeds, shared the news in a tribute that praised the place as magical and enduring.

Born in Yugoslavia, Tana started as a soccer player in Canada and later moved to the United States to pursue acting and hospitality work. He worked his way from washing dishes at Villa Capri to becoming maître d’ at La Scala in Beverly Hills before opening his own West Hollywood restaurant in 1964. The spot became a favorite haunt for celebrities such as Richard Burton, George Clooney, and Jerry Buss, and it spurred a tradition of menu items named after famous patrons. Now run by longtime friend Sonja Perencevic, Dan Tana’s stands as a relic of a gentler Hollywood dining era that still attracts both old and new stars.

Highlights

A neighborhood ritual endures even when the man who started it is gone.