US EditionThe Original Pantry Cafe Set to Reopen as Soon as New Year’s Eve
The Original Pantry Cafe will reopen with its original staff after six months, following a labor dispute resolved through a community-led campaign and union agreement.
- The Original Pantry Cafe, a historic 101-year-old diner in downtown Los Angeles, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on September 11, 2025, to celebrate its reopening.
- The restaurant abruptly closed on March 2, 2025, following a labor dispute between the trust managing the late Richard Riordan's estate and Unite Here Local 11, the union representing its staff.
- The reopening followed an agreement between new owner Leo Pustilnikov, a real estate entrepreneur, and Unite Here Local 11, credited to a community-led campaign with protests and fundraisers.
- Leo Pustilnikov described the diner as a Los Angeles landmark, emphasizing its return at a moment when the city greatly benefits from it, while the union referred to the reopening as a sign of optimism amid challenging circumstances for the community.
- The Original Pantry Cafe will return with about 20 original staff members, preserve its classic menu largely unchanged, and possibly add alcohol, signaling a revival of a vital community institution.
10 Articles
10 Articles
Daily Breeze
San Gabriel Valley TribuneThe 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…
San Bernardino Sun
The Original Pantry is set to reopen after 6-month shutdown
After abruptly shutting down six months ago, beloved Los Angeles restaurant The Original Pantry Cafe will reopen its doors again. The reopening was announced by Unite Here Local 11, a union that represents hospitality workers in Los Angeles and Arizona. According to a release, the union worked with the restaurant’s new owner and real estate entrepreneur Leo Pustilnikov to come up with an agreement that would reopen the Pantry with its original s…
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