[6] The restaurant sat on pilings,[7] and was designed by Norman Foote Marsh and Clarence H. Russell to be an approximation of the San Salvador,[8] Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's "Spanish galleon".

[9] As a tourist guide put it, "It was his thought to moor by the sea-wall this white caravel, to fit it with anchor lamps and nautical furnishings and to place on the deck musicians in 16th-century capes and the hats of the Spanish minstrel.

[13] According to a 1916 article in Photoplay, "The Ship with its light-dotted masts towering high above the crowds on the Windward Avenue pier is one of the landmarks of California's Great White Way.

[21] When the Great Depression hit California, the Ship Cafe suffered along with the rest of the amusement and recreation business, and according to one account, "the carpeting...was worn, and no music was played on its bandstand".

[9] Described in one history as "the glamor spot of the Los Angeles area, a stamping ground of Hollywood stars and directors when they were relaxing,"[23] the Ship Cafe was also famous as a nightclub hosting musical acts and dancing girls.

[27] Other notable patrons included actors Fatty Arbuckle, Charlie Chaplin, Doug Fairbanks, and Nat Goodwin, and boxers Jack Dempsey and Jim Jeffries.

[28] The Ship Cafe was owned and operated by series of restauranteurs and businessmen over its 40-plus year history including Marchetti, Tom McFadden and Jim Morjey, Baron Long, Tommy Jacobs, and Carleton Kinney, a son of the founder.