ethereal:
Well, the Spanish Kitchen was a place I sought out the first time I went looking for old L.A. in the '70s after discovering Reyner Banham. I don't have my copy of
Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies at hand to check, but maybe that's where I first read about it--anyway, it's the book that started my L.A. obsession, allowing me to understand the city beyond old movies. The Spanish Kitchen was iconic. (The book still is.)
As for the Chinese place you remember--across from El Coyote was once something called the Chinese Kitchen. No pictures of it after a quick search, but looking at city directories on the LAPL's website, you can see that it's listed at 7313 Beverly from at least 1956 (the next oldest book is 1942, and it's not listed in that one). It lasted at least until 1987 at that address (1987 being the latest directory on the library's site). Something called the Angelini Osteria is there now--the building is either heavily remodeled, or new.
Speaking of El Coyote, here's a shot of its former location at 105 N. La Brea:
LAPL
Love that Buick. The LAPL identifies this shot as "El Coyote, 7312 Beverly Blvd."--in spite of the "105" on the awning.
(They're going to hate me on W. 5th St. if I send them another email....) The blade sign is very similar to the Spanish
Kitchen's.
That building is gone with the Spanish wind:
Google Street View