In the early 1920s, Marcus Lowe, the founder of the Lowe's Theatre Chain, initiated a series

of movie studio acquisitions.

First Metro Pictures, then Goldwind Pictures, then finally Louis B. Mayer Pictures, consolidating

the trio of companies and putting Mayer in charge.

MGM Studios would go on to dominate the film industry in the first half of the 20th century.

In the 1950s, the MGM Commissary was headed by Arthur J. Sims, who, prior to serving

lunching movie studio employees, had served his country as an airman in World War II.

Sims had been stationed in France during the war and developed a love for its food, which

later led to him and his three sons opening a French bistro in Anaheim, California in 1978.

The restaurant's Disneyland adjacent home base was reflected in the cartoonish rendering

of French culture in its menu and structural design.

Over the next three decades, Sims' neighborhood bistro expanded into a chain spread across

the American West, thriving into the 2000s, at which point its valuation dipped by $100

million over the course of a decade as individual locations saw consistent negative quarterly

growth.

But it still endures, and with 145 corporate own locations in 24 US states, it stands

as an icon of America's ongoing conflicted relationship with France, a suspiciousness

of its people and politics, but an unabashed love of its cuisine and culture.

This week on Doe Boys, Mimi's Cafe.

Welcome to Doe Boys, the podcast about chain restaurants.

I'm Nick Weiger alongside my co-host Mike Mitchell, the spoon man.

How you doing spoon man?

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