Jake Hook
The Closing of L.A.’s Oldest Restaurant Goes Beyond French Dips
The loss of The Pantry, Hank's Bar, and now this DTLA watering hole in 2025 is devastating for an area already struggling to recover from the pandemic.
July 7, 2025
Opinion: Why Downtown’s 100-Year-Old Original Pantry Cafe Needs to Stay Open
The Pantry is not a struggling business. There are lines out the door every hour it’s open these days. A lifer there, a dishwasher, has worked there for 45 years. The Riordan Trust has the right to do what it wishes with its property. But maybe the law isn’t all that matters in shaping what makes a city and a culture like Los Angeles what it is.
