Weekend Fun: The Original Pantry Cafe

While members of our families were at tonight's USC-Notre Dame game, I met a good friend visiting from out of state at the Original Pantry Cafe, located a couple miles down Figueroa from the Coliseum.

The Pantry is an historic Los Angeles restaurant, but somehow I'd never managed to visit it before today.

Here's a shot of the exterior sign:


The front door reads "Through a door which has no key, you will enter a cafe that has...NEVER BEEN CLOSED SINCE 1924."


This sign marks the Pantry as a Cultural Heritage Monument. To the right is a photograph of the former Mayor of Los Angeles, Richard Riordan, who has owned the Pantry for many years.


The interior is small and nothing fancy, but has an antique charm, with the menus posted on the walls:


When we left there was quite a line curved around the corner. Here's how it looks after dark:


The Pantry serves down-home American food including breakfast, which is available 24 hours a day. We enjoyed a dinner of pancakes and hash browns while we caught up on some of the news since we last met in Florida earlier this year. We're in regular touch via email, but there's nothing like having uninterrupted time to sit and chat in person!

February 2019 Update: Please visit my post with new photos of the Original Pantry Cafe.