Last Call: Bella Haig Has Kept Punks, Hippies, and Movie Stars in Line at Canter’s Deli for 50 Years

Welcome to Last Call , where we visit watering holes around the world to collect life advice from their trusty barkeepers, learning everything from how to get over a broken heart to what drink orders will get you laughed out of their bar.

Bella Haig, from her place at the hostess stations in Canter’s Deli, has seen it all. This will mark her 54th year serving drunks, punks, and superstars at Hollywood’s famous and infamous 24-hour hangout. In that time, she’s seen everyone from hippies to metalheads sit down in her booths. Still, she says the more things change, the more they stay the same. We asked Haig how she deals with difficult stars, how to keep healthy, and how she stays so young even at 84.

MUNCHIES: Hi, Bella. You’ve been here a long time!
I’ve been here 53 years, next month will be 54. I was a waitress for 20 years, and I’ve been a manager for 33 years. I outlasted everybody.

Are you from Los Angeles originally?
I was raised here since I was two. I was born in Detroit. I went to Roosevelt High in Boyle Heights. I graduated with [former Clippers owner] Donald Sterling and [music industry icon] Lou Adler! It was an all-Jewish area then.

How did you start working here?
At the time, I was married. My husband has passed away since, and I had two small children. One was two and the other was nine. My husband worked all day so I wanted to work nights; we couldn’t hire a babysitter. I came in here and they hired me.

But, why this place?
You have to work somewhere. I was raised in Boyle Heights so I always used to go to Canter’s as a kid [the original California location was in Boyle Heights]. My mother used to take me. And I’m Jewish, so I’m very familiar with all the food. I’m very comfortable here. They treat me well.

You’ve seen LA change so much. How have the people who come into the deli changed?
They’ve changed, but they’ve sort of stayed the same. When I’d been here six months, all of a sudden, the whole place filled up with hippies. There were so many hippies there would be a line outside and they used to lean on the windows because they were all on something. We had to get a security guard to keep them in line. A lot of them didn’t have money. They’d just order fries and a Coke, or a shake.

Some of them, the leaders of the group or the music people, they ordered good.

So, the scene started just as you started?
Yeah. And then after that, we had the punks. We had a big group of Hells Angels at one time. We used to try and put them in the back with a partition because they would pick on the customers, mainly the gay guys. They didn’t like the way they looked.

And you’ve served a lot of musicians.
Yeah, punk rockers, and heavy metal.

Looking back through to today: hippies, rockers, Hells Angels, punks… Who were the best customers and who were the most difficult?
[Most difficult…] I don’t want to say the Israelis [laughing]. My mother was Israeli. She was born in Palestine. But they do like to start the fights the most—make sure you put in your paper that I’m joking! (Editor’s note: She’s joking.) But, they did like to fight.

How do you deal with difficult customers?
The only one that gave me a little bit of a hard time was Rodney Dangerfield. He would come in, holding a menu at two o’clock in the morning and I’d see behind the menu he was holding a beer. I’d say, you know, “it’s after two, you can’t have a beer in here,” and he’d say, “Just pretend you don’t see it!” But I’d always take it away.

If anyone gets real bad, I can always call the cops.

And who were your favorite customers?
Probably the gay guys, because they were all so sweet. I started hiring gay guys when I became a manager.

So, this has always been a progressive place?
Oh yeah. When I started it was all women. The gay thing really became big here in the 80s. You probably won’t print this (Editor’s note: We are definitely printing this), but I remember once after a gay march, everyone came in here wearing these long t-shirts with the Statue of Liberty on them holding up the what do you call it, the torch, and she was picking up her robe and there was a big penis. That was fun. That was the 80s!

This is one of the only 24-hour eateries in Los Angeles, so you must get an interesting crowd. Which celebrities have you served?
We get a lot of celebrities. When I was a waitress, I waited on Paul Newman. He was really very pleasant-looking. I mean he was good-looking, but looked like a pleasant person. He was very nice. Didn’t talk much, always said thank you. He would always come in with his wife Joanne Woodward. I’ve served Rock Hudson. He was in with three other men. They were all wearing suits and ties. I thought they were bankers. Muhammad Ali came in with his daughter.

Milton Berle, Red Skelton, Red Buttons, they would come in and sit together at one big table. And Guns n’ Roses started here.

What were they like?
Marc Canter [the owner] and Slash were best friends. They both went to the same school. They met when they were both about eight years old and Slash stole his bike.

He became their manager when they were just starting out, but I guessed he turned them over when they got big.

I hear Axl Rose can be difficult.
I mainly remember Slash coming in with his girlfriend. He has very good handwriting, like a Hallmark card.

Enough about other people—what do you like to eat here?
I always recommend people order the Reuben.

What about you? How do you stay healthy working at a place like this?
In 50 years, I never missed a day but then I got a heart attack. And everything changed with what I’m able to eat. Now I’m not supposed to have salt. I can’t eat soups now. I used to love soup. My favorite now is the lox bagel and cream cheese—our lox is really good. I also like the Reuben and the stuffed cabbage.

I hate to be indelicate, but do you think eating so much deli food might have contributed to your health problems?
I don’t think so. I never ate that much deli. I’m more of a fast food eater. I like burritos and Kentucky Fried Chicken, you know? I mean, I lasted 50 years and I’ve been here another five. My birthday was a couple weeks ago. I just turned 84.

Happy birthday! You look amazing. Any longevity secrets?
I have a sister who was a year and a half younger than me. She was very meticulous with her food. She always cooked her own vegetables while I’d just open up a can of string beans. And she just passed away. That was surprising.

Maybe it’s do what you love? Do you want to keep working here forever?
I’m down to only once a week now, but I like coming in once a week. A lot of customers know me. They’ll always be surprised like, “Hey! You’re still here! Do you remember me when I was six years old?” and I’ll say “Yeah! I remember you.”

You do have a famously good memory.
Yeah, I do. But it’s hard when they were ten years old and now they’re 40. I’ll say, “Didn’t I used to throw you out when you tried to drink here after two?” And they’ll say, “How do you remember?!”

Get ’em. Thanks for speaking with us.

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For more on Canter’s Deli, check out the MUNCHIES Guide to Hollywood.