rickycourtney
Conductor
I want to share some good news about a topic that's near and dear to my heart... the space in Los Angeles Union Station that once housed the Harvey House Restaurant may soon have a new tenant.
If you've never seen the space before, you're missing out. Like many Harvey Houses of the era was designed by famed southwestern architect Mary Colter. Perhaps the most striking part of the design is the inlaid floor patterns patterned after a Navajo rug.
It's an architectural gem and it's remarkably well preserved, because when the restaurant closed in 1967, instead of being "improved" and reopened it was largely forgotten. As a matter of fact, aside from a few movie shoots and special events, the space has sat vacant for the past 47 years.
Now, the new owners of the station, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), appear to have worked out a deal with a pair of local restauranteurs (Cedd Moses and Eric Needleman) to move into the space. The Harvey House will now play host to a restaurant described as a American brew pub with a hometown menu, or in hipster terms, a "gastropub". The restauranteurs own 213 Nightlife, a group of popular bars and restaurants in Downtown LA. Perhaps most important, they have a good track record of working within architecturally significant spaces.
The Metro Board will consider the lease on October 2nd. If approved, it should take 12-14 months for the restaurant to build a new kitchen and prepare the space for customers.
Here's more information from LA Metro's blog (including more pictures of the space).
Oh an that's not the only restaurant news for Los Angeles Union Station. The old Union Bagel space has been leased out to Cafe Crepe. Over in the East Portal Metro is building a kiosk that will serve bento boxes and another that will sell coffee.
These new spaces are in addition to the existing Traxx Restaurant and Traxx Bar, Relay Station News Stand, Famima!! convenience store, See's Candies, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Subway, Wetzel's Pretzels and (of course) Starbucks.
It's a far cry from just a few years ago when Metro bought Union Station and there was just Traxx, Union Bagel and the news stand.
If you've never seen the space before, you're missing out. Like many Harvey Houses of the era was designed by famed southwestern architect Mary Colter. Perhaps the most striking part of the design is the inlaid floor patterns patterned after a Navajo rug.
It's an architectural gem and it's remarkably well preserved, because when the restaurant closed in 1967, instead of being "improved" and reopened it was largely forgotten. As a matter of fact, aside from a few movie shoots and special events, the space has sat vacant for the past 47 years.
Now, the new owners of the station, the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), appear to have worked out a deal with a pair of local restauranteurs (Cedd Moses and Eric Needleman) to move into the space. The Harvey House will now play host to a restaurant described as a American brew pub with a hometown menu, or in hipster terms, a "gastropub". The restauranteurs own 213 Nightlife, a group of popular bars and restaurants in Downtown LA. Perhaps most important, they have a good track record of working within architecturally significant spaces.
The Metro Board will consider the lease on October 2nd. If approved, it should take 12-14 months for the restaurant to build a new kitchen and prepare the space for customers.
Here's more information from LA Metro's blog (including more pictures of the space).
Oh an that's not the only restaurant news for Los Angeles Union Station. The old Union Bagel space has been leased out to Cafe Crepe. Over in the East Portal Metro is building a kiosk that will serve bento boxes and another that will sell coffee.
These new spaces are in addition to the existing Traxx Restaurant and Traxx Bar, Relay Station News Stand, Famima!! convenience store, See's Candies, Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, Subway, Wetzel's Pretzels and (of course) Starbucks.
It's a far cry from just a few years ago when Metro bought Union Station and there was just Traxx, Union Bagel and the news stand.