Crime, soaring rent to shutter Cole’s French Dip, LA’s oldest restaurant

Los Angeles’ oldest restaurant is dipping out.

Cole’s French Dip — a 117-year-old mainstay of downtown LA that claims to have originated the French dip sandwich — will shutter due to vandalism, sky-high rent and “general crime,” among other challenges.

“The litany of reasons for closing are not unique to Cole’s alone; they are affecting most independent restaurants in Los Angeles,” the eatery said in a press release announcing the closure, set for Aug 3.

Founded in 1908, Cole’s is the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the city.

But unchecked crime and vandalism, rising rents and an impotent city government have withered LA’s thriving downtown — and now even the mighty Cole’s will die on the vine.

Cole’s staff had to scrub feces off the property every other day, Brian Lenzo, a senior vice president for parent company Pouring With Heart, told the LA Times.

The restaurant also listed the pandemic, recent writer and actor strikes, “mounting bureaucracy and legal exposure” among the industry’s blights.

“Many Historical Independent Restaurants are struggling under the weight of these issues and have already closed, while those remaining are fighting to survive,” the restaurant said.

The honor of having originated the French dip — red meat in a baguette dipped in broth — is also claimed by rival eatery Philippe’s, but there’s no denying the century of influence Cole’s has had on LA’s culinary scene.

With its dusky, mahogany interior and stamped-tin ceilings, Cole’s was at once a high-end bistro, local saloon and late-night cocktail lounge.

But its back-room cocktail lounge — called Varnish — closed last year, and Lenzo told the LA Times that “the writing was on the wall” for the restaurant to follow.

Yet not all hope is lost: A farewell message on its website gives contact information for anyone interested in purchasing the restaurant.

So, maybe someone will give this local legend another dip.