In the ’60s, Newport Beach fisherman Woody Payne used the property where he stored and repaired boats to open a restaurant and watering hole. Today, Woody’s Wharf remains a local institution. Regulars belly up to the bar, trading tales of the venue’s storied past. Actor Chuck Norris owned it for a time, employing then-unknown action star Jean-Claude Van Damm as a bouncer. John Wayne, Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, and Mickey Mantle were known to frequent Woody’s over the years. “If we have survived 60 years,” says co-owner Jamie Duarte, “we must be doing something right!”
1965 Year Woody’s Wharf opened, on June 1
1988 Year Chuck Norris bought the restaurant (reportedly for his wife)
$8 Price of martinis on Mondays
4 Current number of co-owners, including one who started out as a barback
3 Nights per week (Friday through Sunday) that you can dance at Woody’s Nightclub
The post Woody’s Wharf Celebrates 60 Years: Newport Beach Icon With a Star-Studded Past appeared first on Orange Coast.