It would be a fun thing to do on a holiday weekend Sunday. Let’s go to downtown Los Angeles and have breakfast at Philippe’s. Philippe’s opened in 1908 and has been at the same corner near Union Station and Olvera Street since 1951. My parents went there for French dip sandwiches in the 1930s when my father had a barber shop on North Broadway. Mom loved the beef dip.

There was a plan. Church at 7:30,   on our way by 8:20 or so, and easily get there by 11 a.m. when they stopped preparing breakfast dishes. Then the adventure began. Hubby had something to deliver to someone and they asked that it be arranged for 9:45 Sunday.  Change to 9 a.m. church, leave after communion, and then be on our way. Dropped the item at 9:55 and headed downtown. Got to Philippe’s at 10:35. Whew, made it! Then we discovered that breakfast stops at 10:30, not ll:00.

Plan B?

What about The Original Pantry Cafe? Ninth and Figueroa. Another famous dining establishment that has been in the same location since 1924 and open 24 hours a day.

This time I check online while hubby sets the GPS. Yes, breakfast until 1 p.m. GPS takes us by freeway 2.5 miles.  We notice downtown is unusually busy for a Sunday as we realize that many, many, more people live downtown now than they did when we worked there. No traffic. Drive down 9^th, and as we are ready to turn into the parking lot we see the line – out the door and down the side of the building to the corner. No, not in a mood to for that. The adventure continues.

Plan C

Hubby remembered seeing a sign for brunch at San Antonio Winery, another local legend, since 1917. They are the Riboli Family that brings you several California wine labels, and the currently popular Stella Rosa from the Piedmont region in Italy. Uncle Frank went to San Antonio with his dad during Prohibition to buy supplies to make wine at home, and my first experience was 50 years ago as a new downtown L.A. worker. Back then they crushed the grapes there and the fragrance was heavenly.  It was an order at the counter and take your food to a table. There was a small store to taste and buy wine, and self-guided tours inside of the winery.

Time To Order

It has been upgraded and enlarged, and it is still the same counter area as 1973. They show the dishes wrapped in cellophane and you order. Only five specific breakfast dishes, and plenty of other things to order. Hubby had steak and eggs, and I had a sausage and veggie omelet.  We paid, were given a number, found a table, and a waiter said he would be back to fill the coffee cups. It is now 11:30. We did quite a bit of adventuring in an hour.


The rest of the story is bland. The food was great. There was a saxophone player for music. Service was attentive. A stroll through the fun gift shop on the way out, where we followed a fellow who looked very familiar and two store employees with 5 cases of wine. 

So that’s it. An adventure on a Sunday. Hope you weren’t waiting for the big crescendo!

Every Day Is A Good Day. VJ 

Take a peek at our adventure locations.
Home

Home

https://sanantoniowinery.com