The LA Restaurant Where Marilyn Monroe And Joe DiMaggio Had Their First Date

Judging by Marilyn Monroe's favorite California restaurants and her overall legendary glamour, it's clear that anywhere she dined is a place worthy of getting to know and even trying to visit. From casual delis to high-end destinations, a silver-screen icon like Monroe frequented places with good food, good atmosphere, and good crowds. One restaurant in particular must have had an extra-appealing atmosphere, because it helped turn a potentially awkward first date into a marriage between two icons. 

Already retired New York Yankees player Joe DiMaggio had expressed an interest in meeting Monroe after seeing her picture, and the two were subsequently set up on a blind date of sorts. The venue was Villa Nova, an Italian restaurant on West Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard. From the 1930s through the 1960s, the eatery saw more than its fair share of A-list match-ups, as it was a go-to for stars like Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, John Wayne, and Bing Crosby. Monroe and DiMaggio had their first meeting on March 8, 1952, and would go on to have dinner together every night for the next couple weeks, eventually marrying in 1954. While Monroe's marriage to DiMaggio was short-lived — the pair divorced within a year — Villa Nova went on to become the Rainbow Bar & Grill, and remains a popular destination to this day.

Villa Nova became the Rainbow in 1972 under Mario Maglieri, the manager of the Whisky a Go Go, a nearby rock-and-roll venue that also still thrives today. The Whisky crowd and all of Los Angeles's rock-and-rollers soon flooded the bar and grill, transforming it into one of the world's most famous heavy metal hangouts — which is about as far from the image of an old Hollywood Italian restaurant where Monroe and DiMaggio dated as you can get. However, you can still sit at Monroe and DiMaggio's booth in the back of the restaurant, where they dined on spaghetti. In fact, the Rainbow's menu still includes a lot of Italian dishes, from fettucine alfredo with chicken to eggplant parmesan.

What makes the Rainbow a must-visit LA spot is the way it blends its old Hollywood history and interior with its second life as a rock-and-roll gathering place, as is evidenced by the signed photos and memorabilia adorning every wall. You can sit where Motörhead lead Lemmy Kilmister liked to hang out playing video poker, now next to a statue of the singer and bassist. And if you're lucky and happen in on a night it's not booked by VIPs, you can pop up to a treehouse-like hangout upstairs where "the Hollywood vampires" hung out, a crew including Alice Cooper, Keith Moon, Ringo Starr, and John Lennon. From Monroe to metal, the Rainbow is where to drink in Hollywood history. To learn more, be sure to read about other old Hollywood stars and their favorite foods.