cole s pacific electric buffet sign above the restaurant restaurant information established 1908 food type diner dress code casual street address 118 east 6th street city los angeles county los angeles state california postal code zip 90014 country united states coordinates 34 02 41 n 118 14 58 w 34.04478 n 118.24943 w 34.04478 ; 118.24943 coordinates 34 02 41 n 118 14 58 w 34.04478 n 118.24943 w 34.04478 ; 118.24943 website www.colesfrenchdip.com cole s pacific electric buffet also known as cole s p.e. buffet is a restaurant and bar located at 118 east 6th street in the historic core district of downtown los angeles california . sign in front with claim to being the oldest bar in los angeles cole s had boasted being the oldest restaurant and bar in the city of los angeles continuously operated from the same location inclusive of a shutdown for major remodeling on march 15 2007 . the restaurant s new owner downtown bar restaurant entrepreneur cedd moses was quoted in the los angeles downtown news saying the restaurant would reopen in time for its 100th anniversary in january 2008 ; 1 however the project was delayed 2 and cole s finally reopened in december 2008 . 3 cole s was founded in 1908 by henry cole on the ground floor of the pacific electric building which served as the main terminal for the pacific electric railway . cole s unique table tops were made from the varnished doors of retired red cars of the pacific electric railway . the tables were removed as part of the renovation and were reportedly relocated to the developer s nearby corporate headquarters above clifton s cafeteria . the restaurant claims along with philippe s that the first french dip sandwich was served at cole s in the same year . some have suggested that philippe s is the original as the sandwich was named french dip because of the original proprietor philippe mathieu s french heritage . 4 however according to carvers at cole s henry cole first dipped the french bread in jus at the request of a customer who had had recent dental work . the french bread was too hard and it hurt this customer s teeth so henry dipped the bread in order to soften it . other customers with perfectly good teeth saw henry dip the bread and requested that he do the same for them and thus the french dip was born . other theories exist so debate is likely to continue . henry cole also operated los angeles s first check cashing service from the restaurant . citation needed cole s was designated a los angeles historic cultural monument in 1989 . 5 references edit maese kathryn march 19 2007 . taking the dip at cole s . los angeles downtown news . retrieved april 13 2015 . dead link maese kathryn january 7 2008 . what s on the menu . los angeles downtown news . retrieved april 13 2015 . dead link gelt jessica december 8 2008 . a new owner restores cole s merry old soul . los angeles times . tribune publishing . retrieved april 13 2015 . hauler joe january 16 2004 . a tale of two french dips the sandwich that people love to debate . los angeles downtown news . archived from the original on september 23 2010 . retrieved april 13 2015 . historic cultural monuments hcm listing city declared monuments pdf . los angeles department of city planning . august 14 2008 . retrieved january 19 2009 . external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title cole % 27s pacific electric buffet & oldid 743516633 categories buffet restaurantsrestaurants in los angelesbuildings and structures in downtown los angeleshistory of los angeleslandmarks in los angelesrestaurants established in 19081908 establishments in californiaamerican companies established in 1908hidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from september 2016coordinates on wikidataall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from april 2015 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 00 56 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view