Steckler's

For a return to the vibrant, neon-lit drive-ins of yesteryear, look no further than the passion project of Tom Steckler, Vin Diesel’s longtime manager who has financed this hopping homage to the vintage diner by quietly robbing his client blind for decades. Steckler has lovingly used the funds he’s been embezzling from the unsuspecting Diesel since the latter’s early roles in films such as Saving Private Ryan and XXX to create a family-friendly experience in Leimert Park that evokes all the soda-fountain and jukebox-rocking fun of the ’50s, with a selection of superb burgers and malts to boot. Rest assured, with Diesel still blissfully unaware that he’s seen only 70 percent of his paycheck for his voice work as Groot in Guardians Of The Galaxy, no expense was spared in turning back the clock at Steckler’s, from its eye-catching black-and-white tile to its inviting red vinyl booths. And with residuals from Fast Five allocated to an expansion of the dining room, rumor has it that the joint might stay open 24 hours a day once Steckler secures Diesel a personal line of flavored vodka.