The Pacific Dining Car, a legacy steakhouse dating to 1921, was badly damaged by fire early this morning.
Formerly open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, PDC had been closed since 2020, with everything from the marquee sign to the light fixtures auctioned off. The family that founded and still owns the business intends to reopen someday, and supported a landmarking nomination (which the property owner opposed).
The city approved the landmark nomination (for the original dining car and kitchen, anyway), but landmarking provides relatively little protection in Los Angeles, and it certainly can't protect a building from fire.
The fire began outside. Street View pictures taken after the restaurant's closure show a varying number of tents outside the building, and it's certainly possible the fire may have come from a nearby encampment.
There were two cases of unspecified "pro-active code enforcement" in April. However, this could very well have been related to some plumbing work done in March.
LAFD is investigating, but whatever their findings are, it won't undo the damage done.
Updated to add: the historic rail car building (aka the landmarked portion) is intact, with minor, repairable damage. Still, it's at risk of another fire. Hopefully that doesn't happen.
About C.C. de Vere
C.C. is a fourth-generation Angeleno and is horrified at what greed and hubris are doing to Los Angeles.
This website was built by her preservation pals at Esotouric.
