Cole's Pacific Electric Buffet, also known as Cole's P.E. Buffet, is a restaurant and

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (un ...

located at 118 East 6th Street in the Historic Core district of downtown

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, the oldest operating in Los Angeles at the same location since its founding. Cole's was founded in 1908 by Henry Cole on the ground floor of the

Pacific Electric Building The historic Pacific Electric Building (also known as the Huntington Building, after the railway’s founder, Henry Huntington, or simply “6th & Main”), opened in 1905 in the core of Los Angeles as the main train station for the Pacific Elec ...

, which served as the main terminal for the

Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

. Cole's unique table tops were made from the varnished doors of retired Red Cars of the

. The tables were removed as part of the renovation and were reportedly relocated to the developer's nearby corporate headquarters above

Clifton's Cafeteria Clifton's Cafeteria, once part of a chain of eight Clifton's restaurants, was the oldest surviving cafeteria-style eatery in Los Angeles and the largest public cafeteria in the world when it closed in 2018. Founded in 1931 by Clifford Clinton, t ...

. The restaurant claims (along with

Philippe's Philippe's, or "Philippe the Original" ( ) is a restaurant located in downtown Los Angeles, California. The restaurant is well known for continuously operating since 1908, making it one of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles. It is also reno ...

) that the first

French dip sandwich A French dip sandwich, also known as a beef dip, is a hot sandwich consisting of thinly sliced roast beef (or, sometimes, other meats) on a "French roll" or baguette. It is usually served plain but a variation is to top with Swiss cheese, oni ...

was served at Cole's in the same year. Some have suggested that Philippe's is the original, as the sandwich was named "French" dip because of the original proprietor Philippe Mathieu's French heritage. However, according to carvers at Cole's, Henry Cole first dipped the French bread in ''jus'' at the request of a customer who had had recent dental work. The French bread was too hard and it hurt this customer's teeth, so Henry dipped the bread in order to soften it. Other customers, with perfectly good teeth, saw Henry dip the bread and requested that he do the same for them - and thus the French dip was born. Other theories exist, so debate is likely to continue. Henry Cole also operated Los Angeles's first check cashing service from the restaurant. Henry Cole was later arrested in 1942 by the

Federal Government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

for fraud. Cole's was designated a

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cult ...

in 1989. The location resembles the bar from ''

Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American Live-action animated film, live-action/animated comedy film, comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall (filmmaker), Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely ad ...

'', complete with reference to “French dip” on menu.

Note on new corporate owner

Cole's had boasted being the oldest restaurant and bar in the city of Los Angeles continuously operated from the same location—until a shutdown for major remodeling on March 15, 2007. The restaurant's new corporate owner, Pouring with Heart’s Cedd Moses, was quoted in the ''

Los Angeles Downtown News The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' is a free weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, California, serving the Downtown Los Angeles area. The newspaper focuses on general news with an emphasis on real estate and business along with coverage of the arts s ...

'', saying the restaurant would reopen in time for its 100th anniversary in January 2008; however, the project was delayed, and Cole's finally reopened in December 2008.

References

External links

*{{official website, http://www.colesfrenchdip.com 1908 establishments in California American companies established in 1908 Buildings and structures in Downtown Los Angeles History of Los Angeles Landmarks in Los Angeles Restaurants established in 1908 Restaurants in Los Angeles