In a rare win for L.A.’s struggling restaurant and bar scene, Downtown L.A.’s iconic Original Pantry Cafe will once again reopen its doors this Thursday after shutting down a little over six months ago, per a report from LAist. The 101-year-old diner, which for most of its original run was open 24 hours a day, has fed generations of Angelenos affordable cups of coffee alongside plates of pancakes, spaghetti with garlic bread and other hearty American fare. How did this come about? Unite Here Local 11, the union representing the restaurant’s staff, was able to reach a deal with Leo Pustilnikov, the prolific local real estate developer who purchased the building earlier this year.
The Figueroa Street greasy spoon originally closed its doors on March 2. Shortly thereafter, former employees revived its menu at East Los Tacos in nearby East L.A., according to Boyle Heights Beat, through a breakfast pop-up known as East Los Pantry.
Why did the Original Pantry Cafe close in the first place?
In short: a post-pandemic lull, an ownership transition and a labor dispute. As the Los Angeles Times reported last spring, former L.A. mayor Richard Riordan became the landmark dining destination’s owner in 1981. After his death in 2023, ownership transferred over to the Richard J. Riordan Administrative Trust. The trustees, who otherwise largely focus on academic charity initiatives, decided last summer that they would seek to close the restaurant and sell the property to fund the trust’s foundation work.
Through Unite Here Local 11, the Pantry’s unionized restaurant employees sought to strike a deal that would require any new ownership to honor their existing contract. That never materialized, and the union filed a case with the National Labor Relations Board, which was dismissed in February. In the midst of that, the trustees announced their intentions to close the restaurant on March 2.
The trust didn’t directly attribute its closure plans to the pandemic—instead citing a need to maximize financial resources—but it’s impossible to overstate the lingering impacts of COVID-19 on Downtown’s Historic Core, as well as the more recent ICE-related protests, curfews and the calling in of the National Guard. Since the start of the year, the neighborhood has seen closures of countless food and drink businesses, including Tokyo Fried Chicken, Guerrilla Tacos, Cabra at the Hoxton and Verve Coffee.
Suehiro DTLA’s stand-alone drink concept, Bar Suehiro, which Time Out named the Best New Bar of 2024, also ceased operations. More recently, Cole’s French Dip announced plans to close in early August, though a last-minute crush of longtime fans led to the 117-year-old restaurant extending operations through mid-September.
In truth, the Original Pantry Cafe never truly recovered in the wake of COVID-19. Before March 2020, the Downtown staple was open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, but it curtailed its hours once L.A. allowed restaurants to reopen to 7am to 3pm or 5pm. (Naturally, this also reduced the restaurant’s staffing levels.) Here’s to hoping this second chance will revitalize the restaurant, allowing Angelenos to appreciate this local institution for years to come.