One Of LA's Oldest Restaurants To Close After 117 Years: Reports

LOS ANGELES, CA — One of the city's oldest restaurants — Cole's, which claims to have invented the French dip sandwich — is set to close next month after over a century in business, according to reports.

“The litany of reasons for closing are not unique to Cole’s alone; they are affecting most independent restaurants in Los Angeles,” owner Cedd Moses said in a statement announcing the restaurant’s closure. “The global pandemic, the actors and writers strikes, overall crime, as well as the consistently rising costs of labor and goods, unsustainably high rents and mounting bureaucracy and legal exposure have all led to this unfortunate outcome.”

The restaurant's last day in business will be Aug. 2, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Cole's is one of two long-running Los Angeles restaurants that claim they are the true inventor of the French dip sandwich.

Founded in 1908, Cole’s French Dip opened as Cole’s Pacific Electric Buffet. Legend has it that the sandwich was created when a customer with sore gums asked for his sandwich to be lowered into the jus because the bread was too crunchy, the Times reported.

Philippe the Original opened in LA the same year and also claims to have invented the sandwich.

Both restaurants are among the very oldest in the city; Cole's claims to be LA's oldest restaurant and saloon.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.