Margie Christoffersen operates El Coyote with her husband, Wayne. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

Margie Christoffersen loves Mexican food. She loves it so much she could eat it every day.  In fact, she does.

Every day around 5 p.m., Margie and her husband Wayne sit down for dinner at El Coyote, one of L.A.’s oldest Mexican restaurants. The Christoffersens have been married 62 years. They love the restaurant for its kitschy, nostalgic Mexican decor and, of course, its hearty comfort food. Stuffed enchiladas, crunchy buffalo tacos, fresh chips and salsa at every table. Green corn tamales, sizzling fajitas, nachos supreme. Margie doesn’t drink, but she hears the margaritas are fantastic.

They also love the sense of community, the decades of stories preserved in every red leather booth. Kids have grown up here, vows have been renewed, movies have been filmed, stars have dined. People have laughed, cried, mourned, smiled, celebrated. The Christoffersens have seen it all, and they know every regular by name. If they don’t know you, they probably will soon. They’ll come to your table, ask about your day, why they haven’t seen you in a while. And how’s your family? By the way, how are the enchiladas? Need a refill?

You’d think they run the place.

In fact, they do.

El Coyote Café opened in 1931 on the corner of First and La Brea. Run by Blanche March and her husband George – Margie’s aunt and uncle – the pair initially struggled to make ends meet amid the Great Depression.

“It was 12 years before they ever made a penny. Now I don’t know if anybody would stick to anything that long anymore,” Margie said. “My aunt was the front house, and my uncle was the cook. They struggled, dedicated, loved the culture, loved the food, loved the people.”

The husband-and-wife duo poured their heart and soul into the quaint Mexican restaurant, Margie said, with George concocting new recipes and Blanche hand-crafting artwork to adorn every inch of the dining room. Today, remnants of that original mom-and-pop restaurant on First and La Brea can still be seen throughout El Coyote. Margie pointed out several seashell-framed mirrors throughout the restaurant created by Blanche in the early years of El Coyote, each one a window looking nearly 100 years into the past.

Though Blanche and George initially struggled, they found success in the 1940s with the help of Hollywood’s leading frontiersman, John Wayne.

“The Duke” loved El Coyote, and it’s easy to picture the rough-riding cowboy bursting through the double doors, tossing his Winchester and 10-gallon hat to the valet and sinking into a glass of tequila. In some ways, he never left. Look closely at the wall of autographed celebrity photos today, and you’ll still find him.

Margie said John Wayne introduced the restaurant to his friends in showbusiness, establishing a celebrity clientele during the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Margie remembers growing up around the restaurant as a young girl, recalling a sense of community that it still carries.

“It’s magical. It’s historical. It’s a caring place,” she said. “That was my aunt’s mission statement, which is ours – caring for you and our employees, and making it the best we can be, and carrying on.”

In the early 1950s, just as the restaurant was finding its stride, it was forced to relocate after losing its lease. Thankfully, Blanche and George found a new home just around the corner at 7312 Beverly Blvd., where it has remained to this day.

“Who knew how wonderful Beverly Boulevard would turn out to be?” Margie said.

Less than a year after opening the new location, tragedy struck when George died of a sudden heart attack. But instead of giving up on the restaurant, Blanche kept moving ahead.

“My auntie carried on, and this is her life, her child, her everything,” Margie said.

Blanche ran the restaurant for nearly half a century until she passed away in 1991, leaving El Coyote to Margie’s parents.

“It all came to my dad, who’d been in the restaurant business all of his life. He loved it. Loved this place with a passion. Was so proud of what his sister had created here,” Margie said.

Margie’s father had planned a large-scale remodeling project to update the aging restaurant. But life, as it is often said, had other plans.

“Two weeks after that, my dad had a massive stroke,” Margie said.

With her father unable to oversee the renovations, Margie and her husband stepped in to lead El Coyote. The restaurant closed for a seven-week remodeling before planning a last-minute reopening as soon as construction finished, unsure of how many people would show up.

“We had a two-hour waiting line,” Margie said. “Don’t ask me – carrier pigeons, radar. I have no idea. It was amazing. People were shaking at the bit to come back to El Coyote. That’s the kind of patronage we have here. Devoted, loyal people.”

Loyal might even be an understatement. In the past 95 years, El Coyote has cultivated a downright obsessed fan base.

“I knew if the picture was in the wrong place, we’d hear about it. They’d say, ‘Where’s the picture?’ And they do that, and they feel ownership. It’s adorable. I love it,” Margie said. “Everything’s changing all the time around us. That’s kind of how it is now. But we try to keep it the way people remember.”

The restaurant is chock-full of details worth preserving – year-round Christmas lights, vintage neon signs, wine-bottle windows, family memorabilia, plasterwork murals, piñatas, pulp novel posters. Most of the waiters wear red polo shirts, except for Casanova. He wears a bow tie and a vest. He’s been doing it so long, he’s grandfathered in. Many of the employees have been working here for decades. It feels like one big family, especially for the longtime customers.

“We have generations of customers still coming back. We’re still giving them what they remember, what they want,” Margie said. “And we’re big on hugs and loves, and we love you. We have memorials, birthdays. We had five birthdays here last night. Lots of special occasions, anniversaries, engagements, rehearsal dinners.”

The restaurant has seen first dates, last dates, power lunches, after-work drinks, movie star gatherings, last-minute dinners and long-planned family reunions.

El Coyote serves traditional Mexican food with rice and beans, and lots of cheese. (photo by Tabor Brewster)

Though a legend in its own right, El Coyote has become entwined in a darker Hollywood legend by pure coincidence. On Aug. 8, 1969, it became the site of an infamous last meal. Actress Sharon Tate, along with friends Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger and Wojciech Frykowski, dined in a booth shortly before they were murdered by the Manson Family. The fateful scene was recreated in the actual restaurant by another one of El Coyote’s longtime fans, Quentin Tarantino, in his 2019 film, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

Tarantino meticulously reconstructed the restaurant’s 1969 appearance for the film, which Margie praised.

“He did a good job of replicating that period,” Margie said. “He has a very good eye for detail … There was an El Coyote matchbook in the trailer. There were little things like that.”

People love El Coyote so much that sometimes it gets a bit unusual.

“A woman is in here. Her husband is a surgeon. He’s in the middle of a kidney transplant, and she calls him during the surgery. What does he want to eat from El Coyote?” Margie said. “There’s a darling couple that comes in here. They had incorporated within their wedding vows –if one said, ‘I want to go to El Coyote tonight,’ they guarantee they will go to El Coyote.”

For many loyal customers, El Coyote is simply a home away from home.

“People come here to be consoled when they’ve lost a loved one. People come here to be comfortable. They tell me that. It’s wonderful to be able to do all those things. That’s why I’m so committed,” Margie said. “We are here to soothe their soul.”

At a time when longtime Los Angeles restaurants are facing increased costs and an uncertain future, Margie expressed deep gratitude for El Coyote’s customers, who she sees as being a vital part of the restaurant’s foundation.

“We’re not here without them. I never feel like we talk about ownership,” Margie said. “We’re all making this happen. We all claim ownership. It’s a part of all of us.”

In a rapidly changing Los Angeles, Margie sees places like El Coyote as more needed than ever before.

“I think there’ll always be a need for that comfort food, tradition, memories,” Margie said. “That’s the space that we will always fill.”

Now celebrating 95 years, El Coyote continues to give generations of customers exactly what they’re expecting, without any big changes planned. Because these days, as Margie said, “there’s not much that stays the same.”