The Unexpected Last Meal Of Famous Mobster Bugsy Siegel

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel sat down to dinner at a Santa Monica seafood restaurant on the night of June 20, 1947. Jack's at the Beach, located at the northern end of the Ocean Park pier, an amusement park at the beach, was favored by Hollywood denizens. While Siegel had many film industry friends, he was not an actor, director, or producer. He was a stone cold killer, a mobster, and the man who helped transform Las Vegas into Sin City when he built the Flamingo resort and casino (which eventually gave rise to Las Vegas' famed buffets). The restaurant he chose that night bragged on one of its menus: "Fact! ... Fish caught in the morning served the same day."

Siegel was with an underworld friend, Allen Smiley; Chick Hill, the younger brother of Siegel's girlfriend, Virginia Hill; and Chick's girlfriend, Jerri Mason. Siegel ordered the trout. The group ate and chatted for about an hour and a half. Siegel was in a good mood even though he'd heard rumors that a hit had been put out on him. He picked up the tab along with a complimentary copy of an early edition of the next day's Los Angeles Times. Across the top it was stamped with the words "Good night. Sleep Well with compliments of Jack's" (page 200). A little more than two hours later Siegel would die in a hail of gunfire as he sat reading the newspaper on the couch of the rented Beverly Hills mansion of his girlfriend, Virginia.

While it's believed Bugsy Siegel's mob pals back East murdered him for mismanaging the building of the Flamingo, no one was ever brought to justice for the killing. Similarly, there's some mystery surrounding Siegel's final repast. While we know Siegel's pal, the crooner Frank Sinatra, had a grilled cheese sandwich for his last meal, we know only vague tidbits about what type of seafood Siegel dined on at his last meal. The LA Times, and other sources, including a biography of Siegel, only mention the type of fish he chose that night. But a blog called "Dining with the Don" alleges Siegel had grilled trout for his last meal.

Grilled trout is a classic dish since this firm-bodied fish stands up well to cooking over a direct flame. Another possible choice can be found in a Jack's at the Beach menu from the 1940s. Jack Compselides first opened Jack's as a seafood shack in 1917. In the summer of 1947, Compselides relocated and opened a fancier version at Ocean Park. When Siegel ate his last meal there, the restaurant had just opened its doors two days earlier. The menu includes a house specialty, sautéed speckled Colorado mountain trout amandine, another potential choice for Siegel's final meal. The YouTube channel "The Last Supper" claims it wasn't trout at all, but fried shrimp and French fries Siegel ate that night, but the site doesn't give any backing evidence. Perhaps, like the mysteries surrounding his murder, we'll never truly know.