The best little drive-through Starbucks in Hollywood

At the corner of Highland and Willoughby in Hollywood, this Starbucks is ready for its close-up. Photograph by Douglas Olson

Once upon a time, the historic Gilmore Oil filling station at Highland and Willoughby Avenues in Hollywood looked like something straight out of Double Indemnity or L.A. Confidential—and it actually did appear as a location in such movies as L.A. Story and 48 Hrs (despite the fact that the latter was set in San Francisco).

But the 1935 structure fell upon hard times back in the 1990s and has been boarded up ever since. Until, that is, a Starbucks store designer spotted it, came up with the idea of turning it into a coffee stop, and voilà—a winning example of adaptive reuse, and one more piece of L.A.’s heritage saved. 859 N. Highland.