Cole's French Dip is a restaurant located on East 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles. Its proprietors has just announced they're goin' outta business and a lot of Angelenos who probably haven't set foot in the place in decades — if ever — are lamenting its demise. It is commonly referred to as "the Oldest Restaurant in Los Angeles" — and it may well be that, just as it may be (as is also claimed) the place where the French Dip sandwich was invented.
Inventing the French Dip — which some treat as a scientific breakthrough the equal of penicillin or flight — is also claimed by Philippe The Original, another very old restaurant that's 1.3 miles from Cole's. I won't take sides on which one originated that sacred sandwich. I'll just say that on my visits to those establishments, I found the French Dips at Philippe to be delicious and wonderful, and I found the ones at Cole's to be like biting into a very old wallet.
I think I tried Cole's twice, the second time because given the place's longevity and rep, I couldn't believe the alleged sandwich I was served was typical. And there were two other reasons I never went back: It's in a pretty sketchy neighborhood and there ain't no convenient place to park. I just read a couple of online articles about its pending closure and none of them mentioned that. They talked about changing times and the impact of COVID and the rising costs of labor and rent.
But none of 'em said a word about the food or the parking, which I suspect are the two major reasons any restaurant closes. And fear of getting mugged is probably high on the list.
There's a kneejerk reaction in my town and probably everywhere to the news that a famous anything is going away. It's part of our history or our childhoods or some aspect of our world and its disappearance should not be allowed even though it's no longer viable financially or even practical. I've been guilty of some of that jerking of the knee and thinking, "No, no…I don't want my world changing like that!" Years ago, I briefly felt that way about the old Hanna-Barbera building on Cahuenga Boulevard — the place that made some of my favorite cartoons, the place I worked for several years.
It was about to be repurposed/remodeled into something that would not resemble its old self and a lot of us, including Joe Barbera, felt that shouldn't happen. But then I found myself thinking — though of course not saying this aloud to the man's face — "Then maybe you shouldn't have sold it, Joe!" The company that owned the studio's name and body of work had zillions of dollars but zero interest in spending any of it on the aging structure…why should it be up to the fans passing the hat and protesting? Especially when no one seemed able to say what the building should be except there?
There are renovations and replacements I think shouldn't happen. What was once CBS Television City is now being transformed into something that sounds more like a city — condominiums, restaurants, offices, etc. It will also be a place where television shows are done though that feels like they're just keeping a bit of that around to grease their way past zoning restrictions.
Some local groups protesting the whole plan are questioning the entrepreneurs' sincerity about remaining a television facility for long. Me, I signed some petitions and such against it because I think the streets in that area are woefully insufficient to handle the increased traffic. Those same streets came to screeching standstills whenever James Corden was doing one of his "Crosswalk Musicals" on them. The new configuration could be way worse and it won't be just for an hour or so every six weeks. It'll be all the time.
I love history and tradition and I like seeing L.A. continue to look like the city I've lived in all my life. But when you're talking about commercial enterprises, there has to be some financial justification for keeping them around when they're no longer profitable for someone. And having said that, let me know if you ever hear talk of Philippe The Original closing. I might run down there and chain myself to the door yelling that the bulldozers will have to go through me if they want to demolish that shrine.
Well, no. I probably wouldn't do that. There are other places in town to get a good French Dip that doesn't taste like an old wallet.