The Original Pantry Cafe set to reopen as soon as New Year’s Eve

The doors will remain closed for just a little while longer but after suddenly closing in March, one of the city’s oldest restaurants will bring back its long-time employees and begin serving pancakes, fried potatoes and country-fried steak and eggs again, possibly by the end of the year.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony that included longtime employees, city and union leaders and the new eatery owner was held Thursday morning, Sept. 11 in downtown Los Angeles to celebrate the reopening of The Original Pantry Cafe, a 101-year-old beloved Los Angeles restaurant.

“This is an icon of L.A., and it’s reopening at a time that L.A. needs it,”  said Leo Pustilnikov, a real estate entrepreneur and new owner of the old school diner.

Originally opened in 1924, the Pantry was previously owned by the late Richard Riordan, a former Los Angeles mayor who purchased it in 1981. While it operated 24 hours a day seven days a week for most of its run, the restaurant closed on March 2 after a disagreement between the Richard J. Riordan Trust and workers who wanted to keep their jobs under the new trust ownership.

But after purchasing the restaurant, Pustilnikov, along with officials from Unite Here Local 11, a union that represents hospitality workers in Los Angeles and Arizona, worked on an agreement to reopen the iconic diner and bring back about 20 of the original employees, some of whom have been there for decades.

“They’re what makes the Pantry special. I never considered opening without them,” Pustilnikov said, referring to the restaurant employees.

Pustilnikov said he hopes to reopen as early as New Year’s Eve and possibly return the restaurant to its 24 hours a day schedule. He said that so far plans call for adding alcohol to the menu but otherwise the restaurant will remain as it’s been for more than a century.

“We’ll maybe spruce it up a little bit but keep it mostly the same,” he said.

He also purchased Riordan’s Tavern, which is located next door to the diner and there are plans to reopen the tavern too.

“It’s going to be a bar restaurant but the concept is to be determined,” Pustilnikov said.

The Original Pantry was a staple of the city, known for classic diner dishes like the hefty country-fried steak and eggs, biscuits and gravy, fried potatoes, coleslaw and its popular pancakes. It was also an important cultural landmark that appealed to families, early morning workers and late-night partiers who would crowd its tables and front counter.

Several of the Pantry’s longtime employees attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony including Jesus Moran, a server who has worked at the diner for 48 years. Moran said he was devastated when the Pantry closed and felt like he lost not just a job but also family, which for him included fellow staff members and customers.

“This place is so iconic. We never closed for 100 years and when it closed we were all just so sad. Now we’re so happy it’s reopening and we want it to go on for 100 more years. This is like my second home and I’m hoping to work here for another 48 years,” he said in Spanish with a laugh.

Fausto Perez, who has been working as a cook at the Pantry for 24 years, said he’s happy  to reunite with his co-workers and customers.

“This place is so important. For us our clients were like family, and the reopening is a miracle,” he said in Spanish.