There are stories that live on, and then there’s the obituary I wrote about Otto Hasselbarth, the longtime owner of legendary Anaheim spot La Palma Chicken Pie Shop. Ever since he passed away back in July, I’ve received about an email a week asking me if the restaurant had reopened, if Hasselbarth’s family or the restaurant’s fans had decided to band together and continue the restaurant in his memory. The letters usually come from non-readers of the Weekly, usually middle-aged to elderly folks who don’t use Yelp or really the Internet, travel long distances to visit a favorite, get surprised that it isn’t open, then drive back home and find my article. In fact, my latest letters came from Steven from Riverside and Ray from Santa Ana, who wrote in to say “I wanted some chicken noodle soup last [Saturday] night and at that time realized what had happen. My sympathies to the family.”
I wish I had good news, but the fact is that La Palma Chicken Pie Shop will probably never open again. The last time there was an update from the family was in September, with this Facebook post:
To Friends of the La Palma Chicken Pie Shop: Your kind words in memory of Otto were beautiful. When there’s an…
Posted by La Palma Chicken Pot Pie Shop on Thursday, September 17, 2015
The restaurant still remains as it was; the neon lights that served as a beacon to generations of Anaheimers still blink up every night. But the phone no longer works, so sorry, fans: time to move on…
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