The Famous West Hollywood Chinese Restaurant With A Secret Mobster Safe In The Floor

During Hollywood's classic era, movie stars flocked to Los Angeles restaurants and clubs. A few of those iconic mid-20th-century places are still around, including a Chinese restaurant with a safe in its floor that once belonged to infamous mobster Bugsy Siegel. Today, patrons can peek into the once-secret cache at West Hollywood's Formosa Cafe.

The restaurant opened in 1939 opposite a movie studio, making it convenient for actors working there to come in. It eventually became a favorite gathering spot for movie stars, including some of the biggest names of the day, like Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, John Wayne, Elvis Presley, and Frank Sinatra (who also loved Golden Steer steakhouse). At the same time, its patrons also included gangsters, among them Siegel, who ran some of his illegal operations there and hid the safe under his favorite booth.

The Formosa's owners were affiliated with Siegel, who had bookies set up in a back area taking bets, with gamblers depositing money directly into the safe, historian Max Shapovalov told SFGate. (It had a slot where people could surreptitiously drop the money they owed him.) After he was killed in 1947, it was sealed shut and wasn't rediscovered until decades later. Live TV captured the scene when the safe was drilled open in 2000, but nothing of value was found inside. Today, there's a clear protective plate over it, and it's lit up with a wad of cash inside and a sign that reads: "American Mobster Bugsy Siegel's Personal Safe Installed 1940."

Following its movie-star glory days, the Formosa Cafe attracted rock musicians in the '70s and '80s, and buzzy young Hollywood in the '90s. The restaurant eventually faded and closed its doors in 2016. It was bought soon after by hospitality company 1933 Group and reopened in 2019 after a major renovation intended to reflect its glamorous heyday.

The restored restaurant, now an officially designated West Hollywood Cultural Resource, features sumptuous red-and-gold wallpaper, curved red booths, and Asian-themed decor, with black-and-white classic celebrity photos along the top of the walls. Photos of Asian-American actors in film history are displayed in a new back room, which also has an exhibit on how Chinese people have been portrayed in U.S. movies. A 1902 red Pacific Electric trolley car with seating inside, part of the original design when Formosa first opened, was also restored.

The menu was designed with updated versions of some of the restaurant's dishes from its history, as well as new items. Some of them include Formosa Chow Fun, Kung Pao Chicken, Walnut Shrimp, Sticky Shortrib Sesame Noodles, General Tso's Cauliflower, and Crab Rangoon Dip, as well as desserts like Apple Cinnamon Wonton and Fried Sesame Balls & Taro Ice Cream. Among the beverages are sake, house cocktails with names like John Wayne's Hat, Mae West, and White Lotus, and tiki drinks, including classics like the Singapore Sling. One Yelp reviewer who highlighted Bugsy Siegel's safe and the steamed shrimp dumplings summed up their visit thusly: "I really felt like I was experiencing a part of the Old Glam Hollywood era in its heyday."