Historic Pacific Dining Car Restaurant Damaged In Early Morning Fire

One of the oldest restaurants in Los Angeles, once frequented by stars like Mae West, prominent politicians, and the city’s powerbrokers, was severely damaged by fire during the early morning hours Saturday.

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The Pacific Dining Car restaurant, a century-old a building on the outskirts of downtown Los Angeles, was a replica of a railway train car. In its heyday, it was a fixture of fine dining in L.A. and appeared in television shows and movies, including 1974’s Chinatown starring Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway, and the 2001 film Training Day , with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke.

The restaurant was shuttered during the pandemic, but the family vowed to bring it back, even after auctioning off items from it. Last year, the vacant building officially became a historic cultural monument in the city of Los Angeles.

Firefighters responded to the site around 1 a.m. Saturday, and found a blaze that had engulfed the more than 100-year-old, 5,500-square foot building, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. The extent of the damage remains unclear.

The restaurant’s original location was inside a replica train car at 1310 West 6th Street, in the Westlake district neighboring downtown LA.

Wes Idol III, great-grandson of the original owners, told Los Angeles Magazine in September 2020 that he was committed to keeping its doors open.

“I have zero interest in having my family’s legacy go away,” Idol told the magazine. “There’s something very productive in a pause.”

The declining health of Wes Idol III’s father was one reason why the family trust, including the restaurant group, was left to his second wife, Toby Idol, according to the restaurant’s website.

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She was stopped from demolishing the remaining building when it became an official LA city monument in May 2023, according to the website.

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