The Apple Pan Has Been Sold — Hold On To Your Buns

Beloved hamburger hut the Apple Pan, which opened in April of 1947, has new owners. Sunny Sherman confirmed to LAist that the West L.A. restaurant, which has been owned by her family for three generations, was quietly sold to entertainment mogul Irving Azoff and his wife, Shelli.

"It's hard to hand that over," says Sherman, granddaughter of Apple Pan founders Ellen and Alan Baker. "You've been doing that for so many years. You have your ways of doing things and you have a real interest in something like that and maintaining something that your grandparents started."

Sherman says she is looking forward to spending more time with her nearly 90-year-old mother, Martha Gamble, who helped run the restaurant for many years.

"We liked our little business but family comes first," Sherman says.

The Azoffs plan to keep the restaurant as is, a crucial selling point for Sherman.

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Over the years, many potential buyers have expressed interest in the Apple Pan, especially as homes, stores and a shopping mall sprung up around the little white shack on Pico Blvd. (With Google moving into the zombie Westside Pavillion, get ready for a wave of gentrification along the Pico/Westwood corridor.) But until recently, neither Sherman nor her parents had any interest in selling it.

What made the Azoffs' offer different? They were longtime customers.

Sherman says Shelli Azoff grew up eating at the Apple Pan and introduced it to Irving, after he moved to Los Angeles from Illinois.

"I have certain criteria," Sherman says. "I wanted people that hopefully were longtime customers, which I found. People that knew how to run a business and were successful at doing that, I found. People that wanted to keep our employees, that I found. People that didn't have to make this a big business to survive, to get their money back right away. And people who don't want to change it. And I got all that. All those points I was able to find in one group of people."

When it comes to preserving aging culinary landmarks, this isn't the Azoffs' first rodeo. They're part of the team working to save Nate 'n Al, an old school Jewish deli occupying prime Beverly Hills real estate.

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Whatever happens, Sherman confirms that the Apple Pan will remain the small, neighborhood diner it has been for more than seven decades.

The longtime cooks and waiters, many of whom have worked there for decades, are staying. You'll still have to hover awkwardly around the U-shaped counter to grab a seat. Once you do, one waiter will work each side of the counter. The hickory sauce will taste the same. The custard in the banana cream pie will still jiggle when it's set it down in front of you.

Although Sherman will be be dialing back her oversight of daily operations, she plans to stay involved and advise the new owners.

According to Sherman, the Azoffs have vowed not to change the Apple Pan. Even if they wanted to, Sherman says she still owns the land it sits on. She only sold the contents of the restaurants and its recipes.

Will the Apple Pan expand? Possibly. But if it does, the growth will be slow and contained. As for keeping it in the family, both of Sherman's two adult sons have their own careers and she's fine with that.

"It takes a lot out of your life," Sherman says, "and quite honestly, I don't want that for them."

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