Original Pantry Café to reopen in downtown LA, 6 months after closure prompted by labor dispute

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- The Original Pantry Café will reopen with members of its previous staff, the union representing its employees announced, six months after it closed because of a labor dispute.

The downtown diner's new owner, real estate entrepreneur Leo Pustilnikov, and officials with Unite Here Local 11, which represents its employees, will provide details of the agreement that will allow the restaurant that opened in 1924 to reopen at a news conference Thursday.

The union called the restaurant's reopening, "A ray of hope in a dark time for our city."



The restaurant closed March 2 after the union and the Richard J. Riordan Administrative Trust, which owned the restaurant following the 2023 death of former Mayor Richard Riordan, who had owned it since 1981, were unable to reach an agreement to keep on the employees and their union representation under new ownership.



The union credits the restaurant's reopening to "a community-led campaign, including protests, pancake fundraisers, and public pressure."