Food & Drink

LA’s most historic neighborhood gets a makeover

Downtown LA is an urban chimera. Part newly minted hipster haven, part birthplace of Hollywood and part established Latino community, this storied district is currently undergoing an incredible transformation.

In the past decade, the area’s population has quadrupled to over 40,000; the trickle that began after residential zoning changes in the late ’90s has become a powerful wave, attracting a whole new generation of urban professionals. Indeed, faster that you can say gentrification, entire blocks of downtown are changing.

Along Broadway, the old Rialto theater has become an Urban Outfitters and the ground floor of the historic Eastern building is now home to an ACNE boutique; across the street a new Umami Burger — complete with private dining room — occupies an Art Deco building that was once a deli frequented by garment industry folk. Opposite the just-opened Ace Hotel, a joint called Las Palmas — advertising hostess dancing — still stands proud. But only a few hundred feet away, Alma, named “America’s best new restaurant” by Bon Appetit, has replaced a former drug den.

The iconic 1921 State Theater.Hadani Ditmars

Some fixtures have stood the test of time. The Grand Central Market — a cornucopia of multicultural fare and fresh produce that’s been going strong since 1927— has been rediscovered by a new generation of foodies. Biddy Mason Park — dedicated to the pioneering former slave turned midwife, real estate magnate and philanthropist — remains a historically rich exemplar of how to do urban greenery right. Then there’s the iconic 1921 State Theater which has been converted from a theater to a Latino church.

To the Northwest, Seventh Street — a dodgy area just a year or so ago — has become LA’s new restaurant row. Mo-chica offers modern Peruvian cuisine, while across the street a high-end omakase called Q starts at $165 per person. The always-packed, and reasonably priced, Bottega Louie occupies a huge space in a former Beaux Arts bank, spinning Mediterranean-inspired American comfort food into culinary gold.

TWO SWUMS UP: Taking in a movie from The Standard’s rooftop pool.The Standard
Taco-time near the Ace Hotel Downtown.Hadani Ditmars

A few blocks southwest are two of the better-known hotels, The Standard, and the Moroccan-themed  Figueroa Hotel, which offers North African bohemian chic and a café that does couscous and merguez on special occasions. Down the street, the Original Pantry Café stands its ground against the backdrop of downtown office towers and the sprawling LA Live, a $2.5 billion project with theaters, bars, restaurants, JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels and the Grammy Museum.

Farther east on Spring Street, between Fifth and Seventh Streets, there has been a recent spurt of loft conversions that make for a lively street scene — augmented by nearby eateries like Josef Centeno’s Baco Mercat ( and galleries like  CB1. A Parisian-inspired artisanal food and wine bar named Mignon has opened next door to famed Bukowski hang-out Cole’s (118 E. Sixth St).

While the Downtown Art Walk (downtownartwalk.org) is always fun and a visit to MOCA — reinvigorated by a new director and a generous endowment — is a must, the actual artists who once enjoyed cheap rent in these parts are getting pushed deeper into the industrial area to the east, where Night Gallery is worth a visit.

The Original Pantry Cafe.Hadani Ditmars

But one innovative gallery has fused the residential with the aesthetic: On South Main Street, 2A Gallery is a 300-square-foot space in a turn-of-the-century Renaissance Revival loft conversion building (2agallery.com). Its curator, Calvin Phelps, who lives with his partner, Clay Russell, in the building, offer monthly art-world-oriented dinners — where guests can dine, meet local artists and visit the gallery.

So what will downtown LA be like in 10 years? Can the grit survive the hipster invasion?

Perhaps some answers lie in Clifton’s Cafeteria, the classic Broadway eatery currently undergoing a reno by nightclub operator Andrew Meieran. The home of the original theme park, this is the place where Walt Disney and Charles Bukowski both ate lunch amidst its alpine- and jungle-inspired décor. It’s hard to say which way LA will go — Disney or Bukowski — but now is the time to experience the thrill of transformation.