The 117-year-old home of the ‘original’ French Dip announced it would close. Then business boomed

Nothing boosts business like going out of business. Or so it seems for Cole’s French Dip, L.A.’s oldest restaurant. Its popularity has skyrocketed since its owner announced in early June that he would close for good.

So many customers have shown up at the 117-year-old eatery that, in fact, he’s staying, for at least a little while longer.

Proprietor Cedd Moses announced Tuesday that he had reached a deal with his landlord to remain open through mid-September.

It appears that ever-evolving, frequently faddish Los Angeles harbors a nostalgic streak, after all.

Reflected in the restaurant windows, locals flock to Cole’s French Dip iconic landmark restaurant in Los Angeles.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

‘Little bits and pieces are being torn out of the city’

Many waiting Tuesday in a line that stretched down 6th Street said they had come for one last taste. Some pined for the pickles. Others the zingy mustard. Still others wanted a slice of the signature cherry pie. A few said they had never been before, but wanted a taste of a signature L.A. dish, before Cole’s became an artifact of the past. They heralded the reprieve.

“With all this progress, little bits and pieces are being torn out of the city,” said Douglas Medran, a middle-aged engineer who has been coming to Cole’s since he grew up in Silver Lake. “It’s sad to see places like this go, to see part of the folklore of the city go away. I hope they can save it.” Medran was standing on 6th Street, having just powered down a meal that patrons at Cole’s have enjoyed since William Howard Taft was in the White House — a French Dip sandwich of USDA prime beef, garnished with a side of au jus, for dipping, and an Atomic pickle. “It’s simplistic, yet beautiful.”

Cole’s got its start in 1908 as Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet, named for the Pacific Electric Building in which it’s housed. The restaurant claims its chef invented the French Dip when a customer with sore gums asked that his crusty French roll be softened with jus.

For most of the intervening century-plus, Cole’s and Phillipe the Original, near Union Station, have both claimed they created the beloved dish.

Locals are flocking to Cole’s French Dip landmark restaurant to taste their signature dish for the last time.

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Nostalgia in a city that’s always moving on

Longtime downtown resident John Lopez noted how the city had already this year lost the beloved Greek market and eatery, Papa Cristos, and the century-old, 24-7 diner, the Original Pantry.

“We’re seeing like a domino effect; all these gems closing,” said Lopez, who first came to Cole’s in the 1990s for drinks and rock music and returned Tuesday for what might be a last meal. “So it was like, God, I better get over there before everything’s gone.”

In recent decades, Cole’s patch of downtown L.A. has struggled.

Manager Princeton Afeez, brought in to try to bolster business, said Cole’s strained to find customers, given the challenges of the neighborhood, the downturn in entertainment industry production and a prolonged lull that began with the COVID-19 pandemic.

But those cares all seemed to fade into the background after the restaurant announced it was closing. No matter what hour the restaurant has opened over the past month — varying from noon to 2 p.m. — Afeez said a line has formed outside the front door.

And the queue has remained long into the evening.

“People are showing a lot of love, a lot of love right now,” said Afeez, a restaurant industry veteran. But Moses, the owner, told The Times: “We understand people are coming in now to say goodbye, and we can’t count on that business being sustainable.”

Today’s top stories

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

Utilitie companies and fire-prone old powerlines

• Knowing that old transmission lines could set off wildfires, state regulators proposed a rule in 2001 to forcede electric companies like Edison to remove abandoned lines.
• But amid opposition from utilities, a revised rule allowed companies to keep abandoned lines in place for longer.
• One such line was out of service since 1971, and is suspected of igniting the Eaton fire on Jan. 7.

More on the fires

• Gov. Newsom seeks to raise $18 billion to shore up state wildfire fund.
• There’s bear trouble in Sierra Madre. After the Eaton fire, home invasions rose sharply.
• First the fires and now tsunami? There’s a new push to force L.A. to finally analyze its evacuation routes

Where does Kamala Harris go next?

• Run for president? Start a podcast? Tackle AI? Kamala Harris’ options are wide open.
• The former Vice President told Colbert, in her first interview out of office, that the U.S. system is ‘broken’
• Harris is hinting at a 2028 re-run. Columnist Anita Chabria says there’s one question we need to ask.

What’s with the spike in high-profile home burglaries?

• In the latest break-in at the home of a celebrity or professional athlete, Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto was targeted in an attempted burglary while he was away with the team.
• After the ‘American Idol’ executive killing and other recent break-ins, Encino residents are also demanding LAPD action.
• LAPD has responded to the uptick in violence by increasing patrols and adding measures such as officers on horseback.

What else is going on

• Trump froze $200 million in UCLA science and medical research funding, citing antisemitism.
• A Navy F-35 jet crashed outside California air base after the pilot safely ejected.
• More than 1,000 National Guard troops are leaving L.A. Newsom says Trump’s ‘political theater backfired.’
• One homeowner faced $500 in daily HOA fines for an unapproved door in her office. This new state law saved her.
• Intel used to be the most valuable U.S. chipmaker. Then it fell far behind Nvidia.

Commentary and opinions

• A climate-saving lithium mine could doom an endangered desert flower. Climate columnist Sammy Roth tells us how.
• She left college to conquer tennis. At 81, Billie Jean King is back, writes columnist Steve Lopez.
• Dying babies. Starving adults. News and culture critic Lorraine Ali reminds us that even Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling it a “genocide.”
• The left should stop harping on men, writes contributor Matt K. Lewis. That drives them to Trump.

This morning’s must reads

California

For Subscribers

Inside Wallis Annenberg’s final days: Opioid stupor, abuse claims and a bitter family feud

The dispute drew in some of the city’s top lawyers, triggered calls to police, and led the Annenberg children to march into Los Angeles County Superior Court in a frantic effort to dislodge Vikki Levine from overseeing their mother’s medical care.

July 31, 2025

Other must reads

• Hollywood, Tomorrow: Who wins, who loses and what’s at stake in the age of AI?
• Spotify boycott: Artists are leaving the ‘garbage hole’ platform after its CEO invested in AI weapons.

For your downtime

(Los Angeles Times)

Going out

• Dining: Here are the best places to eat and drink this month, according to our food writers.
• Exploring: Feeling adventurous? Here’s how to find bighorn sheep near L.A.

Staying in

• Books: Here are 10 books for your August reading list.
• Television: ‘Chief of War,’ led by Jason Momoa, centers Hawaiian history and a warrior’s story.
• 🥗 Take advantage of peak tomato season with a recipe for pasta with confit and ricotta.
• ✏️ Get our free daily crossword puzzle, sudoku, word search and arcade games.

And finally ... your photo of the day

(Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)

Today’s great photo is from Gina Ferazzi. It depicts protesters with zip ties on their wrists are loaded onto an LAPD bus after being arrested during demonstrations against immigration raids in Los Angeles.

Have a great day, from the Essential California team

Jim Rainey, staff writer
Diamy Wang, homepage intern
Izzy Nunes, audience intern
Kevinisha Walker, multiplatform editor
Andrew Campa, Sunday writer
Karim Doumar, head of newsletters

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