Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset closes Monday

The playing out of the clock ends Monday at the Hamburger Hamlet on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Its closure, which we reported was coming back in October, will leave one remaining Hamlet in the city of Los Angeles (in Sherman Oaks) and one on Lake Avenue in Pasadena, plus two in the Washington, D.C. area. The restaurant chain started on Sunset Strip in 1950 was a breakthrough place in its day, in part for hiring African Americans in visible positions when many Los Angeles restaurants serving mostly white patrons didn't. Alas, most of the blog reports I've seen have called this the original Hamlet location, but it's not — that spot was four blocks east by the Whiskey-a-Go-Go and much smaller. KPCC's "Off-Ramp" did a nice segment on the Hamlet's closing on Saturday's show.

Also on "Off-Ramp:" Photographer Ted Soqui said he was honored that Shepard Fairey and Time magazine used his picture of an Occupy demonstrator to symbolize The Protester. Many media and blog reports get her wrong too, though. Sarah Mason, the subject of Soqui's photo, says she is from Highland, California (that's out near San Bernardino), not from Highland Park.