Legendary Los Angeles Restaurant the Original Pantry Cafe Suddenly Closes After 101 Years

In 1981, former LA mayor Richard Riordan purchased the Original Pantry Cafe after a server told him that he was eating too slowly while reading a book. “I fell in love with right then,” Riordan told the Los Angeles Times in 2008. Riordan operated the Pantry Cafe for decades, opening Riordan’s Tavern next door and feeding generations of Angelenos. The Pantry Cafe was famous for its lack of door locks, and only closed a few times in its hallowed history: It remained open during the 1992 Los Angeles uprising but was forced to temporarily close during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. After pandemic restrictions lifted, the restaurant reopened with limited service from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and until 5 p.m. on weekends instead of its usual around-the-clock operation.

When Riordan passed away in 2023, his family’s trust assumed ownership and planned to sell the restaurant to fund its philanthropic operations. Even after its closure yesterday, union workers protested in front of the restaurant past 6 p.m. Unite Here, which represents the workers, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on February 7 with allegations that the closure violates federal labor law. On February 25, the NLRB dismissed the charge due to “lack of cooperation from the Charging Party.” The union can still appeal the decision. Back in April 2023, a few weeks before Riordan died, a class-action lawsuit alleging unpaid overtime, rest, and meal breaks was filed on behalf of workers; the case remained in settlement talks as of February 2025.

Matthew Kang

Matthew Kang

Though the Richard J. Riordan trust is attempting to sell the business, the union still wants to ensure that new owners will honor the existing labor contract. “It’s still open from their perspective,” union spokesperson Kurt Peterson told the Times.

The restaurant’s often bustling vibes could be attributed to families, business types, night owls, and college kids, its tables separated by wood-paneled dividers. A long open kitchen and front counter offered a view of busy short order cooks rattling their spatulas over a steel-top grill. It was, without question, one of the most iconic restaurants in Los Angeles history. The abrupt closure comes in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires in January 2025 and the COVID-19 pandemic that greatly diminished foot traffic, in-person office workers, and residents in Downtown Los Angeles. In recent years, Downtown locals were betting on a return to its pre-pandemic business and housing levels, and most nights of the year, the area around L.A. Live and Crypto.com Arena continues to draw thousands of visitors.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.