A Delite-ful Corner Spot for Kids of Another Era

Back in the early 1960s, there was a huge surge in popularity in Southern California of the Orange Julius franchises. They were opening up all over Los Angeles, many near car washes. Most were hugely successful because of a flavorful drink made from real orange juice, egg (if you wanted it added) and, of course, the "secret Orange Julius added mixture" whose recipe was a mystery, although many assumed it was sugar added to water.

Sherman Oaks had two Orange Julius stands. One was on Woodman Avenue by the Fashion Center Car Wash, just south of Riverside Drive. I always thought it was appropriate that, for many years, the Sunkist Corp. was headquartered in a building nearby on Riverside.

The other hugely popular local Orange Julius stand was at the corner of Woodman Avenue and Ventura Boulevard, which is still there as the current . If you've lived in Sherman Oaks a while, you may recall that Orange Delite (I'm coming to that) was in the spot that Vitello's has occupied for about 25 years. 

When Orange Julius started closing a lot of its franchises as leases expired, individual tenants took them over and often did not affiliate with the Orange Julius corporation. Such was the case with Orange Delite in Sherman Oaks. Using the same number of letters that are in "Julius," the new owners simply changed the second part of the name and used the same sign, keeping the yellow-and-orange color scheme of the 1970s Orange Julius stands and altering the graphics slightly.

In the 1960s, the Orange Julius logo used a white background with a red devil character that was very similar to what you would see on the Red Devil fireworks boxes that were sold (only in places like Culver City) for the Fourth of July. The Orange Julius logo was changed in the mid-1970s to a more cartoonish devil character and yellow was added, a popular color in the Brady Bunch era. (I have included photos of both of these logos here.)

Orange Delite had it made for a long time as the local high schools—Notre Dame, Buckley School and Harvard School—all became drawing pools for the after-school orange drink and hot dog crowd.

I attended Harvard School (It hadn't merged yet with Westlake School, much to my dismay at the time) and ran on the cross-country team. We would run many miles all over Studio City and Sherman Oaks to train. Every day after practice we would meet at Orange Delite for one of those deletable, foamy orange juice beverages they served. A real refreshing treat that somehow felt healthier than drinking, let's say, Cactus Cooler soda on a scorching-hot Valley afternoon.

Eventually, Orange Delite (which had changed owners a couple of times) was sold to an Israeli family that converted it into a very popular Glatt Kosher restaurant using the same name, Orange Delite, and offering veggie burgers and many items that might have easily filled the red plastic baskets at Orange Julius back in the day. But as Orange Delite (the new version) grew in popularity, it needed a bigger space. 

So now the current is located at 13628 Ventura Blvd., just a half-block east of the original location. It's a fitting tribute that the name was kept for the new version of the restaurant, as many people in the area were fond of the place they used to go to in the '60s all the way to the '90s. Incidentally, it was next to a place called Stop 'N Go Market, where you would drive up and have your selected groceries brought right to your car without your having to get out. 

I still have an occasional Orange Julius drink, often in the form of an Orange Bang, and I have to say, it still tastes like I remember it as a kid. The difference is, I have to run three miles now to burn one off, so I space them out a lot more.

(If you like my articles on places and businesses in Sherman Oaks that are no longer around, please see my similar articles on Encino Patch.)