The original pantry, the iconic restaurant in the center of Los Angeles that closed earlier this year, will return.
The restaurant, which had been serving hot coffee, hamburgers and breakfast dishes for more than 100 years, was acquired this week by the real estate developer Leo Pustilnikov.
Pustilnikov bought the building of almost 8,000 square feet of the original pantry at James M. Wood Boulevard with the blessing of the Unita Hospitality Union here Local 11. The union, which represents the workers of the pantry, signed an agreement with Pustilnikov ensuring that the diner maintains the representation of the Union and brings back to the 25 workers who lost their jobs when they lost their jobs.
Pustilnikov has an electoral set of real estate interests, which has accumulated high -end properties from Beverly Hills to Redondo Beach along with a series of support housing units in Skid Row. Plan to reopen the restaurant on the eve of the New Year, if you can acquire the necessary permits and licenses on time.
“I wanted to buy the pantry because it is a piece of history of Los Angeles,” Pustilnikov told Times. “Some of those employees have worked there for almost 50 years, I would like them to finish their careers in a place they love and succeed. I never considered buying it without them.”
The former restaurant owner, Richard J. Riordan Trust, abruptly closed the restaurant in March after a work dispute. Pustilnikov acquired the restaurant building and a parking lot for customers across the street for a total of $ 5.5 million in a sale that closed on Thursday, he said.
People attend the reopening ceremony of the original pantry in the center of Los Angeles on Thursday. The restaurant cannot be ready until December 31.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
On Thursday morning, the closed restaurant was adorned with holidays red, white and black balloons. A cake decorated to look like a stack of pancakes that drip with Arce syrup rested on a nearby folding table. The workers and their families, as well as the trade union organizers, the labor leaders and the members of the Council of the City of Los Angeles, Ysabel Jurado and Curren Price, gathered outside for a ceremony to reduce tape.
“Now we can breathe,” said Diana García, who has worked on The Dining for 17 years. “We are all excited to return.”
Kurt Petersen, co -president of Unite Here Local 11, accredited workers for organizing protests and fund collectors to keep the diner open.
“The dishwasher, chefs and servers of the pantry, with more than 300 years of service among them, never surrendered,” Petersen said in a statement.
The original pantry opened in 1924 and built its Los Angeles legacy in its 24 -hour service, becoming a family den for night owls. The restaurant changed its location in the 1950s, when the construction of a highway out of ramp forced him to move. Then, former mayor Richard Riordan took over the restaurant in 1981 as part of a larger land agreement.
The tensions between the property and the workers initiated in April 2023, when the workers of the pantry filed a demand claiming unpaid wages for extra hours, breaks and food breaks. Two weeks later, Riordan died. The property of the diner was transferred to Riordan's Trust, who sought to sell the business.
Earlier this year, Unite Here Local 11 tried to negotiate terms that would require any new owner to honor the existing union contract of workers. But after a tumultuous round trip, the property closed the restaurant and fired its workers. The property was listed for sale two months later.
On Thursday, a pile of pancakes was offered at the reopening ceremony of the original pantry in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Some of the other advances of Pustilnikov in the center of Los Angeles have been controversial. In 2011, he and two rich investors sought to buy half a dozen aging buildings with a value of more than $ 100 million. But less than a year later, the agreements failed amid accusations of fraud.
Since then, Pustilnikov has accumulated its wallet and made movements last year to buy 1,500 Skid Row apartments. His efforts to execute one of the largest collections of support housing units in Los Angeles have faced some difficulties. But he said that, with the project, he hopes to satisfy the overwhelming need for housing in Skid Row filling hundreds of vacancies in the units.
Times staff writers, Paige St. John and Liam Dillon contributed to this report.
