DINING BEAT : BYE-BYE BEN FRANK.

Byline: Larry Lipson

Another Los Angeles landmark bites the dust.

Ben Frank's, the quintessential 24-hour, '50s-style, show-biz coffee shop on the Sunset Strip, has called it a day after four decades of serving movie, television and rock stars; wanna-bes; insomniacs; graveyard shift workers; and a host of Hollywood characters its freshly ground beef burgers, reuben sandwiches, turkey salad and good soups made from scratch even in the days when convenience foods were common in restaurants.

Frank's, which opened in 1959 at 8585 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, closed June 28 after remaining open night and day through riots, earthquakes, bad weather, holidays and what have you during its 37-year tenure.

In fact, it never had locks on its doors - in order to shutter it permanently, manager Lisa Townsend had to purchase chains and padlocks.

The occasional scene of late night/early morning scuffles and obnoxious acts over the years, it received national tabloid attention recently when it 86'ed actor Andrew Dice Clay.

Over the past few weeks, Townsend, who rose from waitress in 1991 to become its final general manager, sold Ben Frank's memorabilia.

Partners of the eatery were Arthur J. Sims, who founded the Mimi's chain, and Robert Ehrman, owner of Rococo Catering.

Appetizing tidbits 

If you don't know where it all happened, the California Restaurant Association will be happy to tell you.

At an Aug. 18 kickoff media reception for its annual Western Restaurant Show, this year at Moscone Center in San Francisco, the CRA will honor the hot fudge sundae invented by the recently closed C.C. Brown's in Hollywood in 1906; the Irish coffee, which made its appearance at the Buena Vista in San Francisco in 1952; green goddess salad dressing, an invention of the Palace Hotel in San Francisco in 1915; the cheeseburger, first discovered at the Rite Spot in Pasadena in the 1920s; California cuisine, an inspiration of Chez Panisse in Berkeley in 1971; and designer pizza, attributed to Spago of West Hollywood in 1982.