SINCE 1941
1441 Highland Ave
National City, California 91950
(619) 474-3222
The first location was at 9039 Sunset Blvd. Hollywood, CA. The Hollywood location was a movie- star hangout, where Marcel was well-connected with the movie-star crowd. Marcel was known to be a good friend of Jimmy Durante and loved to play poker with the Marx Brothers. Subsequently, Marcel would receive many requests from a large number of his influential friends to scout a second location near the Mexican border.
At the time, Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico was the playground for the Hollywood crowd ever since prohibition. Marcel recommended this current location, which was built in 1940, as a stop along the way and a last chance to gamble at the restaurants hidden gambling room located above the restaurant. The new Café La Maze, National City's grand opening attracted a "who's who" of legendary actors, such as Bing Crosby, Clark Gable, Errol Flynn, and Johnny Weissmuller, celebrating their new hang out. Café La Maze's atmosphere mirrors the "golden era of Hollywood" as portrayed in many of the old classic films of the 1940's and 1950's.