In an era of sad Los Angeles restaurant closures and ongoing concern, including at some of the region’s most venerable and historic dining spots, it’s nice to see news of a surprise return every once in a while. And now, quietly, comes just that: Downtown LA’s famous Original Pantry Cafe is ready for a grand new turn.
The Original Pantry Cafe was among the oldest continuously operating restaurants in Los Angeles when it closed in early March 2025, having stood at the same corner on Figueroa Street, just up from what is today the behemoth L.A. Live entertainment complex, for more than a century. For decades, the restaurant touted that it “never closed,” and apocryphal stories held that the owners didn’t even have a key to the place. Why bother, right?
Inside, at all hours, families and tourists and night owls pulled up stools to dine on three-stack pancake plates and griddled eggs or, for others, diner burgers and dense steaks.
Then, in early 2025, the formerly 24-hour, 365-day diner — which had already reduced its hours as a result of the pandemic — ran into trouble. First, the restaurant itself was put up for sale by its owners, a family trust in the name of former owner and onetime LA Mayor Richard Riordan, who died in 2023. Then, workers at the restaurant, who had long ago unionized, began to scrap with management over pay and, in the event of a closure, severance. Eventually, workers even staged a protest in front of the famous place, which had been operating since 1924…