IT'S LAST DANCE AT LEON'S VENERABLE NOHO STEAK HOUSE TO CLOSE DOWN GRILL, SILENCE BIG BANDS JULY 27.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

NORTH HOLLYWOOD - It's 11 a.m., and the smell of steak hangs in the air as the band swings into ``Perfidia.''

A row of gleaming, golden saxophones cannons the standard off the dark brown walls while Bill Davies watches with a stern eye, flicking his fingers left and right, conducting. Though they're playing with the same vigor they did back in his days at the old Coconut Grove on Wilshire Boulevard, they're not in an elegant ballroom. They're wedged into the corner of Leon's Steak House.

But July 27 will be the curtain call for the 58-year-old Leon's, just a few days before the lease expires. When horns die out, they'll be replaced by the sound of machinery as developers raze the building to pave the way for a drug store.

``I can hear the bulldozer coming right now,'' John Conway said bitterly. ``It was upsetting, because we came here all the time since 1950. The food, the drinks, the music - it's always been great. It's very sad to see them go, because this used to be a swingin' place.''

Since the restaurant - equal parts coffee shop, steak house and big-band venue - opened in 1945 on the corner of Victory Boulevard and Vineland Avenue, the San Fernando Valley's seen legions of restaurants come and go, but Leon's occupied an odd niche. Regulars from Lockheed built the bar's cabinets from spare aircraft parts and residents dropped by for special occasions. Held by founder Leon Grown's family for nearly 50 years, the restaurant nearly closed in 1992 when the family decided to sell. A group of employees pooled their money with several other partners, bought the restaurant and kept it alive.

Back in the kitchen, Mateo Medina flips a sizzling chunk of red meat on his grill, just as he has for 36 years. Though he's now a part-owner, he still pulls on his chef's jacket and a worn toque every morning to grill steak and eggs.

``When they were going to close it, we thought we could save it,'' the 61-year-old Medina recalled, clutching a head of iceberg lettuce and packages of mushrooms on his way back from the walk-in refrigerator. ``But someone else has the land, and we're getting kicked out. It's the money, I guess.''

Hanna Corp. acquired the land several years ago, and though property manager Greg Martin says it tried to come to an arrangement so Leon's could stay, none could be made. Construction crews will level the structure in coming months to give way to a CVS Pharmacy. The Los Angeles Conservancy tried to intervene but arrived too late, and now concentrates on trying to save the distinctive Googie-influenced sign.

``Do we need another drug store? Do we not have enough?'' sighed Jean Brown, a Van Nuys retiree who comes in on a weekly breakfast date with Sid, her husband of 49 years. ``This is such a special place. I was so upset when I heard it was closing.''

Medina and partner Javier Morelos, who are now frantically searching for a new spot that can accommodate both a band and a liquor license, share similar stories. Both emigrated from Mexico in the 1960s, got jobs at Leon's as dishwashers and worked their way up the chain. Though Medina's family and Morelos have since bought out their associates to gain full control of the restaurant, they're still at work greeting guests and serving meals each day.

Though the spot finds itself unusually busy for a shopworn steak house - bustling with customers in the mornings, the bar packed solid in the evenings - the pickings weren't always as lush. When Medina and Morelos took over, a dwindling coterie of regulars made up their evening traffic.

Morelos tends bar, a well-practiced smile on his lips as he mixes a vodka tonic and listens to his customers' tales.

``One Monday night, there was nothing going on,'' he said. ``So we decided to do something special.''

Bandleader Clyde Reasinger provided that offbeat touch. The back of the room would fit his big band just fine, the trumpet player figured, so he brought in 16 sidemen to rehearse. The owners cleared out some booths to make way for a small bandstand, and a successful partnership was born.

``They should have made a national monument out of this place, with the way people love it,'' he said, mingling with his friends during a break from the Bill Davies Orchestra's set. ``You can't find a place to dance with a big band anymore.''

Suddenly, Leon's had a draw that worked out for all involved. The band got a free rehearsal spot and a meal, diners got a free show and the restaurant drew customers from as far away as Orange County, lured in by the music of yesteryear. Fans loved it.

``It's what's keeping me alive,'' said Ed Kelley, an 83-year-old retired professor of biology who commutes 50 miles from the Antelope Valley once a week to hear the bands of his youth. ``When you get together with all your friends like this, it keeps you young. You don't think about dying, you think about living.''

Soon after Reasinger started his regular rehearsals, there was music every day, with a collection of big bands alternating in the cramped corner, a piano bar and Latin groups playing cumbia and merengue.

``We used to play down at the musician's union, but that's not the same,'' said Darrell Mettler, an alto sax and clarinet player for both Reasinger and Davies. ``You're in a vacuum there, but here we see people moving, clapping, dancing. It makes a difference.''

Former City Councilman Ernani Bernardi led a 16-piece group for years while longtime pros like Lee Lovett and Art Depew traded floor space, playing ``You Stepped Out of a Dream'' and the appropriately titled ``Things Ain't What They Used to Be.'' They'll find other spots, Mango Tango down the street or at the nearby Woodley Lakes Golf Course, but bandleaders and musicians alike growl about having to abandon their regular spot at the end of the month.

``It's been headaches, heartaches and beautiful times,'' said a nostalgic Davies. ``And the beautiful times are when we're all playing together.''

Brent Hopkins, [phone]

brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com

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6 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 3 -- color) Jean and Sid Brown of Van Nuys, above, have their regular weekly date at Leon's Steak House, which will close July 27 to make way for a drug store. Left, the futuristic Googie-inspired sign tells customers they're in the right spot for breakfast or a steak.

(4 -- color) Javier Morelos, above, tends bar at Leon's Steak House while, below, Mateo Medina empties the dishwasher. The two men are co-owners of the venerable eatery, which has attracted customers from all over Southern California.

(5 -- 6) Dan Zager plays tenor saxophone with the Bill Davies Orchestra, left, at Leon's Steak House during their regular Wednesday gig. Above, a customer leaves the eatery, which will close on July 27.

Charlotte Schmid-Maybach/Staff Photographer