MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Los Angeles is losing a cultural landmark - the city's oldest continually operating restaurant and bar. Cole's French Dip will be closing August 2 unless a new owner comes to the rescue. NPR's Mandalit del Barco reports on what's so special about the 118-year-old institution.
MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE: Cole's sits below sidewalk level in downtown LA's Skid Row, which means you sometimes have to step over someone laid out on the pavement. Past the sirens, the inside has an old-timey vibe - a big wooden saloon-style bar, penny-tiled mosaic flooring, vintage lamps and red-wine flocked wallpaper. Hanging by the cushioned booths is a sign that warns, ladies, kindly do your soliciting discreetly, and a plaque above a urinal in the men's room is dedicated to the writer Charles Bukowski, who was a Cole's regular.
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DEL BARCO: The bartenders will shake you up in old fashioned.
UNIDENTIFIED SERVER: No. 5, I have your sandwich.
DEL BARCO: On the menu are Cole's specialty au jus sandwiches, including roast beef and cheddar on a small French bread roll, which you dip into a cup of meat juice.
UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOMER #1: Very juicy.
UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOMER #2: That's tasty.
DEL BARCO: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED CUSTOMER #2: I want to try the mustard now.
DEL BARCO: For 118 years, Cole's has attracted Angelinos like Suzanne Goldish, Jeff McClane and Thomas Dolan-Gavitt.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: A lot of people are like, oh, LA has no character. It's - there's no history. And I'm like, I don't know what they're talking about (laughter).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: It feels nostalgic without feeling cheesy or too fake.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I think it embodies a lot of classic Hollywood, classic Los Angeles, you know, the old detective movies. And Cole's is sort of straight out of that era and vibe.
DEL BARCO: With its noir ambience, Cole's has been a popular location for films and TV shows like "The X Files" and "Mad Men." It even stood in for New York in "Forrest Gump's" New Year's Eve party. One episode of the series "Lincoln Lawyer" illustrates the friendly rivalry Cole's has had with another longtime LA eatery, Philippe's. They opened the same year, and both claim to have originated the French dip sandwich.
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YAYA DACOSTA: (As Andrea Freeman) The French dip was created in 1908, when the chef right here at Cole's soaked the bread in beef drippings to accommodate a customer with bad gums.
MANUEL GARCIA-RULFO: (As Mickey Haller) That claim was refuted due to insufficient evidence. The French dip originated in 1918, when a French chef, Philippe, was carving a sandwich for a fireman and the bread accidentally fell into the roasting pan, hence the name French dip.
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DEL BARCO: In 1908, entrepreneur Henry Cole decided to cater to the thousands of streetcar commuters pouring through the Pacific Electric Building. He transformed the downstairs horse valet into a restaurant and bar. During prohibition, Cole's operated a popular speakeasy, and the story goes that the day California lifted its beer ban, the bar served up more than 19,000 gallons of brew. Cole's son also ran a check-cashing business out of the restaurant.
Cole's current owner, Cedd Moses, started coming to the joint in the 1980s. I meet up with him in a booth that was once favored by notorious LA crime boss Mickey Cohen.
CEDD MOSES: He wanted his back against the wall, just in case. He actually ended up taking a bullet, but not here.
DEL BARCO: Moses says he bought Cole's in 2008 to save it from becoming a Subway sandwich franchise. He spent $2 million restoring the restaurant and its secret bar in time for Cole's centennial. But like many independent restaurants, Cole's has been struggling since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down business for months.
MOSES: It's just been a tough environment of rising costs, rising restrictions on our business, and at the same time, flagging demand.
DEL BARCO: Moses says 2025 has been especially difficult for Angelinos, starting in January with the wildfires that wiped out huge swaths of the region. The drop in film and TV production in LA hasn't helped. Now, the raids by immigration agents have scared many people from going out and deterred tourists. Last month, officers clashed with ICE protesters just blocks away.
MOSES: And we were shut down for a whole week with a curfew enforced by the city. So, you know, something we thought was going to be a promising year turned out to be one hit after another. It was just too much for us to bear. Yeah, this old place has survived Great Depression, global pandemics, World Wars and Prohibition as well, but it - this environment is just too tough.
DEL BARCO: Moses says he still holds out hope that someone will buy the business before they close.
MOSES: I'm not going to sell it to somebody that has no respect and integrity for the history of this place.
DEL BARCO: As Cole's winds down, customers like Ryan Lovell have been flocking for one last drink and a dip.
RYAN LOVELL: It's a sad story. We want them to know that we appreciated them while they were here and, you know, wish them the best.
DEL BARCO: Mandalit del Barco, NPR News, Los Angeles. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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