The more than 100-year-old diner on Figueroa Street is expected to open in May or June in collaboration with the North Hills-based organization that provides meals, shelter and services to people experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n
When The Pantry first announced its closure last March<\/a>, thousands of Angelenos from its loyal multi-generational customer base flocked to the restaurant for one last meal.<\/p>\n But now, the greasy spoon will start serving customers again under a new model. All profits will go toward supporting the unhoused community, according to Ken Craft, founder and CEO.<\/p>\n Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n \u201cThis creates an opportunity for people to know ‘I’m going to go enjoy an incredible meal at an iconic location in Los Angeles, and it’s going to be doing good for the city of Los Angeles,’\u201d Craft told LAist.<\/p>\n What\u2019s new<\/p>\n Hope the Mission isn\u2019t a total stranger to food service.<\/p>\n The organization provides nearly 9,000 meals each day and operates 33 shelters and interim housing sites in the region, including five shelters within a few miles of The Pantry.<\/p>\n One of its mottos is that everybody and everything gets a second chance \u2014 the historic diner included.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very symbolic of the work that we do where oftentimes lives get beat down, they get worn out and they feel like their usefulness is done,\u201d Craft said. \u201cAnd so I look at The Pantry and I say, \u2018No, your best years are yet to come.\u2019”<\/p>\n The tagline of The Pantry when it reopens under the new partnership will be \u201ca second serving\u201d, as a nod to that second chance.<\/p>\n But the nostalgic draw of the diner is not lost on Craft.<\/p>\n The Original Pantry Cafe in 1979.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n William Reagh<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n \nLos Angeles Photographers Photo Collection<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n The Original Pantry Cafe, on the northwest corner of Figueroa and 9th streets, in 1978.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Security Pacific National Bank Photo Collection<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n Courtesy L.A. Public Library<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n He said Hope the Mission is going to honor the history and legacy of the space (logo and several layers of flooring included) while giving it a new lease on life.<\/p>\n The organization\u2019s chefs have been working on an updated menu. Craft said it\u2019ll include some of the classic food customers came to love, including pancakes and hash browns, along with a new dessert line and some healthier options.<\/p>\n The overall goal is to replicate the feeling people had when they ate at The Pantry decades ago, with the same style and much of the same staff, while the diner evolves into the next philanthropic chapter. Craft said he wants to make sure The Original Pantry Cafe gets back on the map.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only will you get an amazing meal and a wonderful experience, you’re going to be actually investing back into the community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \n The counter was full on The Pantry’s last day open in March 2025.\n <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Da\u00f1iel Martinez<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n LAist<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n \n The scene on the last day of The Pantry’s operation in March 2025.\n <\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Da\u00f1iel Martinez<\/p>\n \/<\/p>\n LAist<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n Officials are working to reopen The Pantry between May 1 and June 1, Craft said. All the business\u2019 profits will go toward supporting people experiencing homelessness through Hope the Mission\u2019s shelters, services and meal programs.<\/p>\n What\u2019s old<\/p>\n Kurt Petersen, the co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11, the union representing the restaurant\u2019s workers, told LAist they\u2019ve come to an agreement with Hope the Mission so that all the staff who lost their jobs when The Pantry closed will be able to return to their previous positions.<\/p>\n Petersen said the union also reached an agreement that will provide free family health insurance, legal services and training funds for those workers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe folks who’ve been there 10, 20, 30, 40 years \u2014 they’re really listening to them about what this needs to be in order to be a beloved institution going forward for Angelenos, \u201c he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the same time, they have some thoughts about how it should be run and hopefully the marriage of those two concepts will bring The Pantry forward so that it’ll be open another 100 years,\u201d Petersen continued.<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Moran, who worked at The Pantry for more than 45 years, told LAist he\u2019s excited to start serving Angelenos again.<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Moran said he’s “very happy” to be going back to work at The Pantry.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Courtesy UNITE HERE Local 11<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n \u201cI feel great, I feel very happy,\u201d Moran said. \u201cI never thought I was going to work again there.\u201d<\/p>\n Moran described the restaurant staff as a \u201cfamily\u201d \u2014 both figuratively and literally. His brother, Jesus, also worked at The Pantry a little longer than Jos\u00e9.<\/p>\n Moran said he\u2019s been missing his brother since they stopped seeing each other every day when the diner closed. But now, they\u2019re both looking forward to coming back to the greasy spoon.<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 and Jesus Moran were both servers at The Pantry for more than 45 years. Jos\u00e9 Moran said they’re both looking forward to returning for the reopening.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Courtesy UNITE HERE Local 11<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n How we got here<\/p>\n The diner shut its doors last year after more than a century of serving breakfast staples.<\/p>\n The owner at the time, the Richard J. Riordan Administrative Trust, told LAist\u2019s media partner CBS LA<\/a> that the restaurant was never profitable and that selling the property would help keep the foundation\u2019s charitable mission. The trust took over ownership after former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, who bought the restaurant in 1981, died a few years ago.<\/p>\n But UNITE HERE Local 11 said the trust abruptly closed the diner after staff insisted that any new owners must protect their jobs and honor the union.<\/p>\n Kurt Petersen, the co-president of UNITE HERE Local 11, said the staff who lost their jobs when The Pantry closed will be able to return to their previous positions.<\/p>\n (<\/p>\n Courtesy UNITE HERE Local 11<\/p>\n )<\/p>\n \u201cI saw some of the guys crying, and because, you know, we all got families and we have to support them,\u201d Moran said. \u201cI know how they were feeling, because I was feeling too the same. At the beginning, that was very sad.\u201d<\/p>\n Last September<\/a>, the union announced a \u201clandmark agreement\u201d with the new owner<\/a>, Leo Pustilnikov, who\u2019s also a real estate developer.<\/p>\n Petersen said because the staff fought for their jobs with the support of residents and city officials<\/a>, they are now going back to work with an operator and owner who share the mission that The Pantry needs to be one of the great restaurants in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n \u201cSo this is all good news,\u201d Petersen said. \u201cand God knows we need good news right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Pustilnikov told the Los Angeles Times<\/a> last fall that he planned to reopen The Pantry on New Year\u2019s Eve, pending the necessary permits and licenses. Petersen said there were some delays when a car crashed into the building<\/a> shorty after.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772873538_828_.jpeg\")
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