Skip to Content
Cheap Eats

Original Pantry Cafe ~ Downtown Los Angeles

11:07 AM PDT on October 10, 2007

8148.jpg

Original Pantry Cafe ~ 877 S. Figueroa St. Downtown L.A., CA 90017 ~ (213) 972-9279

My grandfather is currently 99-years old, with all his mental faculties intact and I guarantee the man never ate raw foods, sushi, or wheat grass in his life. As nice as he is, he'd probably choke you if you tried to take him to Urth Cafe. A grad from New York's Slavic L.E.S., he grew up on kielbasa, pierogi, and blood sausage, and continued on the path of meat n' taters-World War I foods stuff you can still find today at Original Pantry, which has been serving pork chops, sausages, and steaks in Downtown since 1924.

2387.jpg

Said steaks and chops here aren't all frou-frou'd up "American Cuisine" with blueberry reductions and cauliflower foam, but rather kind of look like they've been through a battle with your car tires. In fact, few really come here for the food, so much as for sustenance, ambiance, and a look back to Downtown's olden times.

Every dish is a little tough, and judging from some of our counter-mates, these patrons are what they eat. The hardscrabblest customer here seems a cut above homeless, really just staying at a flophouse, and not yet a true member of the 'Row. They still have like 1980's walkmens and semi-clean haberdashery along with their DTs.

4252.jpg

When you sit at the counter at O.P., you're usually greeted by this cool old waiter with a warm disposition and a serious-hustle that puts our beloved Lakers to shame. First thing you're hit with before you even agree to stay is a mountain of free coleslaw, drowning in mayonnaise, surely considered a healthy vegetable serving back in G-Paw's day. Next comes a great big loaf of bread, perfect for dipping into the slaw slime or buttering up. By this time, I'm usually full and haven't even ordered, but stay anyway.

1803.jpg

Again, things come simple and very-grilled or very roasted here, whether it's sirloin tips , the hamburger loaf, or the rib roast, none of which are that cheap really. Most dishes are from $8-$14.

6189.jpg

I hit the burger on my last visit, which arrived with no fixings, save for onion integrated in the patty. Mediocre burgers often get saved by tons of fixins and there's nothing on this save cheese, so it's pure beef really. A little oily and very thick, it is a meal fit for the true masticator, definitely filling and surely comforting without resorting to tricks, shenanigans, tomfoolery, or damned monkey business. The patty is big, loose, and a little rugged, topped with American cheese on toasted sourdough. Hard to eat, but good. Good, but not spectacular in taste necessarily. It's no 25 Degrees, but it does the trick.

5180.jpg

If KRS is hip-hop, then O.P. is L.A. If you love your city, you gotta hit Original Pantry at least once, who knows when it will become some lame-ass bar that throws the word "dirt chic" around while hosting Brian Austin Green's comeback album release party. Long-live O.P. and long-live Los Angeles history!

7165.jpg
3298.jpg
Already a user?Log in

Thanks for reading!

Register to continue

Become a Member

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Spot Check: Colombian Desgranados In Echo Park, Mexican Wine Festival At Mírate, and Perverted Waffles in DTLA

Plus, a party highlighting pan-African cuisine, a new Taiwanese cookbook by an awarded local from the San Gabriel Valley, and a Little Saigon food festival that starts tonight! Welcome back to Spot Check!

September 22, 2023

This 24-Year-Old Latina Mortician Beautifies the Dead and Influences the Living

Growing up in Arleta with a first-generation family from El Salvador, Berrios admits that her family only embraced her career choice two years ago, after she started to win awards like “Young Funeral Director of the Year.” The 24-year-old works as the licenced funeral director and embalmer at Hollywood Forever cemetery. As a young person born in peak Generation Z, she's documented her deathcare journey on TikTok and has accrued more than 43K followers on the platform. 

September 21, 2023

Meet ‘Carnitas Rogelio,’ The Family-Run Stand With The Best Michoacán-Style Carnitas O.C. Has to Offer

Michoacán-raised Rogelio Gonzalez slices the cuerito (the pig skin) in a checkered pattern to ensure a light crunch in each bite and utilizes every part of the pig, from the feet to the liver and intestines, which he binds together in a braid. 

September 20, 2023

‘The Office’ Star Rainn Wilson Brought Jerk Chicken Tacos to the Picket Lines Outside of Paramount Studios

In three hours, D's Tipsy Tacos and her team passed out “roughly 100 plates” of tacos, burritos, rice, beans, nachos, and quesadillas to striking screenwriters and actors.

September 19, 2023

Five Common Plants to Avoid When Creating Your Green Spaces in L.A.

Almost every time I visit a property with landscaping issues, the problem starts with bad design: the wrong plants in the wrong place. Here's advice from a third-generation L.A. landscaper and noted taco expert.

September 19, 2023
See all posts