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A historic Los Angeles restaurant that served customers for more than a century is preparing to reopen after closing last year, with a new nonprofit business model that will direct all of its profits toward homelessness programs.
The Original Pantry Cafe, which opened in 1924, is scheduled to reopen on Nov. 19, according to SFGATE. The downtown Los Angeles restaurant closed in March 2025 after more than 100 years in business.
Under its new operating model, the restaurant will serve as a social enterprise for Hope the Mission, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that provides meals, shelter, housing and other services to people experiencing homelessness.
The nonprofit says 100 percent of the restaurant’s profits will go toward funding its homeless programs and projects, and the restaurant could generate nearly $50,000 per month to help fund these services.
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The Original Pantry Cafe on August 4, 2020, in Los Angeles, California. (AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)
To support the reopening, the nonprofit also launched an $800,000 fundraising campaign to cover renovations, kitchen equipment, initial staffing and food inventory.
The reopening is also expected to bring longtime union employees back to work, following an agreement between new owner and real estate developer Leo Pustilnikov and UNITE HERE Local 11.
The Original Pantry Cafe is seen the day after it closed on March 3, 2025, in Los Angeles. The historic restaurant closed after 101 years of service due to labor disagreements between union workers and the owner, the Richard J. Riordan Family Trust. (Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Some employees had worked at the restaurant for more than four decades before it closed, according to the union. The deal was announced in September 2025, months after the restaurant closed due to a labor dispute involving the previous owner.
The restaurant was previously controlled by a trust associated with former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, who died in 2023.
The Original Pantry Cafe plans to maintain its familiar dining experience, including original recipes and the return of longtime employees. (Juliana Yamada/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
While the ownership and operating model changes, the restaurant plans to maintain its familiar dining experience, including its original recipes and the return of longtime employees.
“Come in to eat. Leave having done something good,” the restaurant says on its website.
The restaurant’s new mission builds on Hope the Mission’s existing operations. The nonprofit says it prepares and serves nearly 9,000 meals a day and operates 35 shelters and transitional housing sites.
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The restaurant is located at 877 South Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles.
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