Cole's French Dip, Shut Since March, Aims to Reopen by Thanksgiving

Jeremy Fall and ex-Mozza executive Sean Maloney still need full liquor-license approval to close escrow on the 1908 downtown landmark.

Jeremy Fall spent part of his childhood living above his family's Angelique Cafe, two blocks from Cole's French Dip in downtown Los Angeles. Now he's trying to bring Cole's back.

Fall, a chef and restaurateur, and Sean Maloney, formerly of Nancy Silverton's Mozza group, plan to reopen Cole's by Thanksgiving, LAist reported Thursday. The restaurant opened in 1908 selling sandwiches to Pacific Electric streetcar riders and closed March 29. Fall summed up the problem for the Los Angeles Times: "People love history, but the reason it was closing is because people weren't going to Cole's."

Thanksgiving is a target, not a date. The Times reported Oct. 20 that the pair are operating on a temporary liquor license and need full approval before escrow can close, and that they're hoping for mid- to late November. Cedd Moses, whose Pouring With Heart group ran Cole's for 18 years, told the paper the sale is still in escrow.

Their fix is to make the bar people were nostalgic about into a restaurant people go out of their way for. Maloney, who was Mozza's chief hospitality officer, told the Times he pictures New York's 4 Charles Prime Rib and Pastis crossed with Musso & Frank Grill, as if they "had a child out of wedlock." The pool tables are gone. White tablecloths, a piano and more seating, including banquettes, are coming in, though LAist reported that the bar stays as it was. Maloney estimates he's opened 11 restaurants, and this is the first one he'll own.

The new dish to forward to your sandwich friend is a pastrami French dip made with thin-sliced pastrami from Langer's Deli on a custom roll from Clark Street Bread. The Times reported that the bakery was still testing the roll and that the original dip returns with dry-brined prime rib and a jus simmered for 24 hours. The new head chef is Daniel Nguyen, formerly of Osteria Mozza. The atomic mustard is back too, with what the owners called a slightly tweaked recipe.

Some things aren't changing. The Times reported that Mickey Cohen's old booth stays put, and so do the plaques over the urinals, including the one crediting Charles Bukowski. Maloney told LAist that many former staffers are coming back. That's where the history ends and the new business plan begins.

History is what saved Cole's last time. In 2007, Moses' group restored the interior for a reported $1.6 million, and the work won a Los Angeles Conservancy Preservation Award in 2009. The Varnish, the speakeasy hidden in the back, helped kick off downtown's cocktail revival. But the Times reported that Pouring With Heart has since closed all of its food-focused operations in L.A., while Moses still runs seven bars downtown. The old Varnish room will host private dining through the end of the year, and the new owners haven't said what comes after that.

Fall and Maloney both say Cole's, not Philippe's the Original in Chinatown, invented the French dip, though they told the Times the rivalry is friendly. Fall said Philippe's posted something kind when Cole's closed. "We'll see if they write one when it reopens," he joked to the Times.

Source: LAist, retrieved October 29, 2026. Other sources: yahoo.com.