Latest news with #OriginalPantry
Los Angeles Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Original Pantry workers are cooking its breakfasts at an East L.A. taqueria
Good morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day. I'm Gustavo Arellano, Metro columnist, writing from Orange County and snacking on leftovers from ... Hundreds of Angelenos alternately mourned and feasted when the Original Pantry Cafe closed in March after 101 years. One of those sad eaters was Erika Armenta. After a final meal, the owner of East Los Tacos in East L.A. thought not just about the loss of the institution but also about the 20-some workers — many of whom had worked at the Pantry for decades. 'What can we do for them? What can we do for these people who are losing their jobs in a matter of few days?' Armenta told KNBC-TV in mid-April a few weeks after announcing that she had hired four Original Pantry workers to replicate some of the diner's greatest breakfast hits at her restaurant. Nearly a month later, her experiment in culinary nostalgia and empathetic ownership continues in what Armenta has christened East Los Pantry. She wasn't in when I visited last week for breakfast. But hustling in the kitchen were Fausto Perez and Vitalino Pablo. Perez, a native of the Mexican state of Puebla, poured perfect circles of pancake batter on the grill and flipped sunny-side eggs in a pan with the ease of a 24-year Pantry line cook veteran. Pablo, a Guatemalan immigrant who worked alongside Perez for 12 years, carefully plated dishes and called out orders to be made. 'Thank God I found a job here because I needed it,' Perez, 58, said in Spanish. The 47-year-old Pablo nodded. 'My motive every day is to echarle ganas' — put in that work. They apologized for not having much else to say — the breakfast rush was on. Sitting at a table on his break was another former Pantry worker, Felix Agustin, the sixth hired so far by Armenta. It was his first week. 'This past weekend was really busy, which is good,' the 56-year-old Oaxaca native said. Orders kept getting shouted behind us. The register line kept getting longer. 'But not all of our compañeros are working, so I'm also sad.' The Original Pantry's owner, the Richard J. Riordan Administrative Trust, shuttered the place after a contract dispute with Unite Here Local 11, the union that represented the restaurant's workers. The former said the latter's demand for a contract that guaranteed that any potential new owner would honor it made any sale of the building and restaurant virtually impossible. The move shocked workers. Many remembered the trust's namesake, the former L.A. mayor who bought the Original Pantry in 1981 'with union representation,' noted Unite Here Local 11 spokesperson Maria Hernández. She met me for breakfast and ordered French toast, perfectly lined up on a plate and dusted in powdered sugar like mini-San Gabriels after a snowstorm. Although the union technically no longer represents former Pantry workers, union leaders and members frequent East Los Pantry to support Perez, Pablo, Agustin and the others. They've also shown up to actions including a May Day pancake fundraiser for unemployed workers and a small protest on a recent weekend outside the Brentwood home of Riordan's widow, Elizabeth, during a party. United Here Local 11 continues to negotiate with the Riordan trust over severance pay for the Pantry's laid-off staff and is urging them to sell the place to someone who'll reopen it and hire everyone back. 'The workers still have hope that they can work together again,' Hernandez said. 'They're like a family.' As an Orange County guy, I had no particular feelings over the closing of the Original Pantry other than it was a shame the workers lost their jobs. But my East Los Pantry breakfast — a massive pancake, a hill of garlic potatoes, chorizo and garlic toast — was what a breakfast should be. The flapjack was fluffy, the taters were crunchy and buttery, the chorizo had a spicy kick, and the pungent sourdough bread crunched. Perez, Pablo and Agustin are doing right by their old job. East Los Pantry is open from 7 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon (East Los Tacos continues for the rest of the day into the night). Between them, La Azteca Tortilleria and La Carreta, the corner of Avenida Cesar E. Chavez and Ford Boulevard is as great a stretch of breakfast in L.A. as you'll find right now. Let your panzas grow! Unbearable heat State Farm is under pressure over wildfire claims A sewer in Malibu? Network news is in flux The great big elephant controversy What else is going on Get unlimited access to the Los Angeles Times. Subscribe here. How a Mojave Desert footrace became a showcase for L.A. County Sheriff's Department turmoil. The Baker to Vegas relay is a law enforcement tradition. This year it was a showcase for turmoil in the L.A. County Sheriff's Department. Other must reads How can we make this newsletter more useful? Send comments to essentialcalifornia@ Going out Staying in Email us at essentialcalifornia@ and your response might appear in the newsletter this week. Today's great photo is from photographer Andre Herrero, taken for Image Magazine's photo essay: Dental offices don't need to be sterile holding pens. This Beverly Hills project is plush, pink and magical. Have a great day, from the Essential California team Gustavo Arellano, California columnistKarim Doumar, head of newsletters Check our top stories, topics and the latest articles on
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: The employees were as good as the pancakes at Original Pantry Cafe
Even after a century, the closing of the Original Pantry Cafe comes too soon ("The Original Pantry Cafe closes after over 100 years," March 3). When the iconic downtown establishment closed its doors Sunday, a part of Los Angeles history was lost. I stand in solidarity with the staff and their union for fighting for stability and job security. Such a shame that an agreement couldn't be reached, but again, we see that profit triumphed over people. The dedicated and hardworking staff and servers, many of whom worked there for decades, made the restaurant what it was. For my family, the Original Pantry was a staple. My dad had been a patron for over 50 years, and he made me a regular for the past 20. Like countless Angelenos and tourists, I'll miss the Pantry's pancakes, portions and, most of all, the people. Tyler Renner, San Diego This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
05-03-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: The employees were as good as the pancakes at Original Pantry Cafe
Even after a century, the closing of the Original Pantry Cafe comes too soon ('The Original Pantry Cafe closes after over 100 years,' March 3). When the iconic downtown establishment closed its doors Sunday, a part of Los Angeles history was lost. I stand in solidarity with the staff and their union for fighting for stability and job security. Such a shame that an agreement couldn't be reached, but again, we see that profit triumphed over people. The dedicated and hardworking staff and servers, many of whom worked there for decades, made the restaurant what it was. For my family, the Original Pantry was a staple. My dad had been a patron for over 50 years, and he made me a regular for the past 20. Like countless Angelenos and tourists, I'll miss the Pantry's pancakes, portions and, most of all, the people. Tyler Renner, San Diego
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Iconic Downtown Diner Closes Its Doors After a Century of Service
A landmark L.A. institution served its final plates of hash browns and eggs on Sunday, bringing an end to a century-long legacy. The Original Pantry, the downtown diner that proudly claimed to have never locked its doors or gone without a customer for most of its existence, has closed its kitchen for Patch reports, the restaurant, which opened in 1924, shuttered amid a labor dispute between new ownership and the union representing its employees. The closure came just months after the diner was listed for sale following the 2023 death of former owner and L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, whose trust had taken over its final day, customers lined the sidewalk for hours, waiting for one more chance to sit at the worn counters of the South Figueroa staple that relocated in 1950 to make way for freeway construction but never lost its mid-century character."This place is iconic, you know, it's L.A.," Monterey Park resident Wesley told NBC4, choosing not to share his last name. "It is emotional just because it's not going to be here tomorrow. You talk to people in line and they all have stories—it really means a lot to them and that's why there's a line around the corner."The diner that served free coffee and weathered every major event from the Great Depression to WWII, from the L.A. riots to the pandemic, ended its run on a contentious note. After closing time on Sunday, about two dozen workers remained inside, prompting ownership to call police to the scene. ABC7 reported that the union president was handcuffed during the confrontation."They just decided to call the police on us, and escort us out," employee Maricela Granados Original Pantry had been a rare constant in a city known for constant change, serving generations of Angelenos at all hours, from late-night revelers to early morning workers, in a space that felt frozen in time—right down to its cash-only policy and simple, hearty menu that hardly changed through the decades.
