From the Vaults of Pasadena Museum of History: Panchito’s Mexican Restaurant in San Gabriel

Owner Frank Ramirez (second from the right) with his chef (far right) at Panchito’s Mexican Restaurant, San Gabriel, California, July 12, 1960 (Photo – J. Allen Hawkins Collection, JAH-19576n1)

Frank Ramirez was a World War II veteran and a mason, as his father was before him. In 1956, he decided to enter the restaurant business.

By Jeannette Bovard

Frank opened Panchito’s Mexican Restaurant in the location once occupied by San Gabriel’s first city hall. He famously participated in laying the bricks for the building. This very popular restaurant was in business for over 35 years until it closed in 1993. Ramirez died in 2010 at the age of 88.

A highlight of the Pasadena Museum of History Archives’ photographic holdings, The J. Allen Hawkins Collection is the lifework of Pasadena-based commercial photographer J. Allen Hawkins (1915-1986). This nationally significant collection of 300,000 images is invaluable for local and national historians, researchers, and scholars. The collection is robust in documenting the 20th century’s rapid scientific and technological advancements, including early product shots and factory views of locally based high-tech companies.

The collection also documents many small and large businesses, organizations, clubs, people, places, and events in the Pasadena area. You can view additional images from the Hawkins Collection online in the virtual exhibition, “Frozen Frames,” on the PMH website.

Panchito’s Mexican Restaurant (Photo – Vintage postcard)