My Favorite Things: Dr. Z

You know Dr. Z as the orangutan elder statesman in Planet of the Apes, but these days, you can find him on his celebrity talk show, hanging with Doctor Z, produced for YouTube by his alter ego, comedian Dana Gould.

Favorite tiki bar?
The Tonga Hut in North Hollywood. Jack Palance turned me on to it, and that guy was Mr. Mai Tai!

Favorite gay bar?
I love them all. I’m not here to judge. Akbar. I’ve been going there since it was called Stanwyck’s.

Best neighbor­hood for barhopping?
Hollywood is my lady. I start at the Formosa Café and have 30 to 40 drinks, then wander up to the Frolic Room and have a dozen more. I walk outside, spin around five times, and start walking. God willing, I wind up home in 72 hours.

Margarita place?
If I’m buying, El Coyote. If my agent is, the Ivy.

Best place for a dinner date?
Dick Dawson’s old booth at Musso & Frank’s, aka the Deal Closer.

Best weekday breakfast?
Cindy’s in Eagle Rock, where Southern hospitality is just east of West North Hollywood.

Best cheap meal?
Astro Burger. You can bag up a meal for the price of a Dragnet residual.

Best Thai food?
Jitlada. Ask for the crab curry and tell ’em Dr. Z sent you.

Favorite amusement park?
Universal Studios. But the real shark there is named Lew Wasserman.

Favorite sports team?
I bleed Dodger blue. I also like the New York Knicks, but that’s not really a sports team.

In-city escape?
Window shopping on Magnolia Boulevard in Burbank. At the Mystic Museum, you can buy fortune-telling equipment, a monkey skeleton, and a T-shirt with Bruce Campbell on it. I’m proud to say I own all three.

Best swim?
The pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel. They keep it at a perfect 7.4 pH. When you’ve got this dye job, you’ve got to be careful.

Favorite beach?
Point Dume, minus Emil Kosa’s painting of Lady Liberty, of course.

Favorite hike?
Fryman Canyon. Just down from Roddy’s old place, with killer views of Studio City, aka God’s country.

Favorite bookstore?
Dark Delicacies in Burbank. Ask for Del!

Favorite coffee shop?
Republic of Pie. It was called Empire of Pie, but that was before the rebellion.

Favorite comedy club?
The Improv on Melrose. Budd Friedman, RIP.

Favorite concert venue?
The Wiltern. One night in 1976, Christine McVie and I . . . Oh, nothing.

Favorite independent movie theater?
The Vista, if Quentin ever reopens it. Meow! Call me, Q.T. I’m still at BRiarcliff 5-2168.

L.A.-based movie?
It’s not even close. Ed Wood. Filmed in Hollywood, USA.

Favorite Friday night activity?
Fish-and-chips at the Tam O’Shanter, then I head downtown to the Last Bookstore and stagger about in a tartar sauce coma.

Favorite department store?
The Container Store. Why, yes, I am a Virgo.

Flea market?
The Rose Bowl. Like Raymond Burr, it’s sprawling, rambunctious, and stuffed with magic.

Beauty shop?
I have my own glam squad on retainer, natch. For you? Nigel Beauty Emporium.

Favorite barber?
Sweeney Todd’s, where I took the Bay City Rollers for their first shag.

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