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The Kettle is a restaurant on Highland Avenue in downtown Manhattan Beach, California, opened in 1973 on the site of a former service station. The LA Conservancy describes its sign as a giant kettle hanging from a fireplace crane; Time Out reviewed it in 2025.
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The Kettle
This pin marks the Big Thing itself. If stopping, choose a safe and legal place nearby.
Site-level location · 33.8843° N, 118.4109° W
FIELD GUIDE
The story
The Kettle's sign tells you what the building is: a giant kettle hanging from a fireplace crane, as the Los Angeles Conservancy describes it, over painted flames, with neon lettering spelling the restaurant's name. The Conservancy places the sign in the tradition of programmatic roadside signage, designs that reflected the identity of the business.
According to the Conservancy, the restaurant opened in 1973 on the site of a former Atlantic Richfield service station, and the interior features work by California designer Evelyn Ackerman. The Conservancy says it has been owned and operated by three generations of one family since 1976; Time Out, in a review dated 9 May 2025, says the family has run it since 1973. PBS SoCal described it in 2015 as the cornerstone of the family's restaurant empire.
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PRACTICAL
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WHAT TO EXPECT
A working restaurant in downtown Manhattan Beach with a sign showing a giant kettle on a fireplace crane over painted flames, per the LA Conservancy. Time Out's May 2025 review lists hours that differ by day.
ACCESS
On Highland Avenue in downtown Manhattan Beach, California. It is a private business open to customers; the sign can be seen from the street.
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TRANSPARENCY
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