What Others Say About Us

“What can I say? The steaks are fab­u­lous. The meal is un­for­get­table. But, then, the Pa­cific Din­ing Car has been per­fect­ing the steak din­ner for decades.”
– Gourmet Mag­a­zine

“Beef like you’ve never seen it be­fore. Giant, juicy steaks are served every which way in this old timer in down­town LA that has been sat­is­fy­ing car­ni­vores since it first opened in 1921.”
– Con­de­Nast/Con­deNet (www.​epicurious.​com)

“Pa­cific Din­ing Car is one of a hand­ful of Los An­ge­les restau­rants with a full-time som­me­lier, who, like the other servers, dis­plays old-fash­ioned def­er­ence and com­pe­tence un­usual for this city.”
– Wine Spec­ta­tor

“When au­thor James Ell­roy closed the final chap­ter of his novel L.A. Con­fi­den­tial, he swore he’d left the sor­did, smog-shrouded nether­world of ’50s Los An­ge­les be­hind for good. Then film di­rec­tor and fel­low L.A. lifer Cur­tis Han­son dragged him back. On the eve of the re­lease of L.A. Con­fi­den­tial the movie, Ell­roy re­counts the story:

‘I had din­ner with Han­son that night. We met at our mu­tual fa­vorite restau­rant. The Pa­cific Din­ing Car is a swanky steak pit on the edge of down­town L.A. It’s been there since 1921. It’s dark and wood pan­eled. It’s a self-con­tained time warp in a city of time warps and dark con­tin­u­ums.

‘Han­son’s Uncle Jack brought him to the Car for steak din­ners that his fa­ther couldn’t af­ford. My fa­ther brought me to the Car on my tenth birth­day, in 1958. I met my wife at the Car. A min­is­ter mar­ried us a few yards from my fa­vorite booth.

‘I sat down in the booth and stretched my legs. I was ex­hausted. Han­son showed up a few min­utes later. A waiter brought us our drinks au­to­mat­i­cally.’

– GQ/Gen­tle­men’s Quar­terly by James Ell­roy
James Ell­roy’s most re­cent book is My Dark Places (Vin­tage)

“Some of the restau­rant’s most en­thu­si­as­tic cus­tomers are vis­it­ing Japan­ese, who feel that a steak din­ner here with a bot­tle of wine is an au­then­tic Amer­i­can ex­pe­ri­ence (quite true).” – Gourmet Mag­a­zine

“Din­ing alone doesn’t have to be lonely. Solo-friendly din­ing at Pa­cific Din­ing Car.”
– Los An­ge­les Times

“The T-bone steak (one side a New York Strip, the other, a filet mignon), red and juicy, ten­der but still sat­is­fy­ingly chewy, and per­fectly grilled over mesquite, epit­o­mized what a great steak is all about… The prime dou­ble-cut loin lamb chops (what a dif­fer­ence the thick cut makes in fla­vor and tex­ture!) were also ex­tra­or­di­nary. A steak lover who also likes lamb faces a dif­fi­cult choice here.”
– Gourmet Mag­a­zine

“The big lob­by­ists and politi­cians gather for break­fast here.”
– Los An­ge­les Times “Power Sta­tions: The Top 20”

“For a civ­i­lized break­fast served by gra­cious pro­fes­sion­als in sooth­ing sur­round­ings, noth­ing equals the his­toric PA­CIFIC DIN­ING CAR, whether at the orig­i­nal down­town lo­ca­tion (es­tab­lished in 1921, it never closes) or the newer one in Santa Mon­ica (opened in 1990). The kitchen gets roast beef ex­actly right, and the fluffy pan­cakes are peer­less. The restau­rant cel­e­brated for its prime steaks (you can order one for break­fast, too) also makes its own mar­malade, straw­berry pre­serves and apple but­ter.”
– Gourmet Mag­a­zine

“Pa­cific Din­ing Car… The wood-pan­eled in­te­rior hums with muted busi­ness con­ver­sa­tions. The break­fast menu is a car­ni­vore’s dream: red meat ac­com­pa­nies a wide array of eggs and omelettes. Be­cause this is Los An­ge­les, how­ever, the health- and calo­rie-con­scious can re­quest that egg dishes be made with only the whites.”
– Travel & Leisure Mag­a­zine

“Where to eat at this un­godly hour (4 am)? Wild horses couldn’t get me to one of those 24-hour delis. Def­i­nitely nowhere too bright or bustling. Ah, but the orig­i­nal Pa­cific Din­ing Car is open 24 hours and it’s quiet. That’s where early-ris­ing stock­bro­kers start their day.”
– Los An­ge­les Times

“Best Late-Night Meals… Los An­ge­les area: Pa­cific Din­ing Car.”
– For­tune Mag­a­zine

“If the steers guard­ing Los An­ge­les’ old-line eat­ing spot — the Pa­cific Din­ing Car — ever mag­i­cally got the gift of gab, even the most cyn­i­cal South­lander would be cowed by the suc­cu­lent de­tails of leg­isla­tive leg­erde­main and busi­ness bravado they could tell.

‘Those steers could tell you more about gov­ern­ment and up­com­ing merg­ers than some of our finest in­ves­tiga­tive re­porters,’ says po­lit­i­cal guru Joe Cer­rell.’

– Los An­ge­les Busi­ness Jour­nal

“The beef is dry-aged Mid­west­ern corn-fed U.S. prime and tastes like it. The kitchen does a com­mend­able job of broil­ing steaks, get­ting a nice crust with­out over­do­ing it… For se­ri­ous eaters it’s worth the trip.”
– Wine Spec­ta­tor

“This may be L.A.’s best break­fast spot. It’s cer­tainly the most re­li­able: You can al­ways count on its quiet el­e­gance, gra­cious ser­vice and plen­ti­ful por­tions of well-pre­pared food…

Most An­ge­leans know the Din­ing Car only for its noc­tur­nal rep­u­ta­tion as one of the best steak-and-chop houses in town… But break­fast reg­u­lars are a won­der­ful mix of bankers, lawyers, con­struc­tion work­ers, young peo­ple and doc­tors, and the place feels like a real “city ex­pe­ri­ence.” The staff lets you linger as long as you wish; you can watch the city slowly get ready for the busi­ness of the day.”
– Los An­ge­les Mag­a­zine

“In Los An­ge­les, where any place 20 years old qual­i­fies as an in­sti­tu­tion, Pa­cific Din­ing Car, open since 1921, is a leg­end…. Ser­vice is top-notch. And it’s re­ally the only local steak­house with a truly super wine list.”
– Los An­ge­les Mag­a­zine

“It’s the com­bi­na­tion of down-home com­fort and lack of pre­ten­sion, along with the great cel­lar and top-qual­ity beef, that keeps the Din­ing Car full and happy.”
– Wine Spec­ta­tor