Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Union Station Opens Cafe Crepe, Its First Casual, Sit-Down Eatery
French Toast Stuffed Crepe (Photo by Juliet Bennett Rylah/LAist)
()
Apart from Traxx, which is of the fine dining variety, and its accompanying bar, there hasn't really been a chill place to have a meal while you wait for your train at L.A.'s main transit hub. Breakfast options are equally limited, leaving commuters with only grab-and-go choices, like Subway and Starbucks breakfast sandwiches or a pastry from T&Y. Yesterday, however, Café Crêpe officially opened to the public. It serves coffee, casual French cuisine and, perhaps most importantly, it opens at 7 a.m. and stays opens until 10 p.m.Café Crêpe is based in Vancouver, Canada, opening their first location in 1999. Owners had their eye on the historic Art Deco station for a considerable time before their dream finally came to fruition this week. The shop is located in the Grand Waiting Room, near the information kiosk. It has a window where one can grab a coffee or order something to-go, but guests who snag a seat can have a full-service dining experience at one of the several tables, located both inside on the outdoor patio.
Menu items include crepes, baguette sandwiches, omelettes, soups and salads. Beverage options currently include tea, juice, soda, coffee and espresso drinks, but owners expect to be serving alcohol via a full bar come January.
Crepes come in both the savory and sweet variety. Some savory standouts are the West Coast, which contains smoked salmon, spinach, herb cream cheese and onion, and the Boeuf Fume, with smoked beef, swiss cheese, dijon mustard and mushrooms. They also offer several pizza crepes, filled with mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and various combinations of popular pie toppings. On the sugary side, we'd suggest the stuffed french toast, which balances the sweetness of strawberries and maple syrup with brie and cinnamon. They also have several items featuring Nutella: crepes, hot chocolates, lattes and shakes. Most items range between $8 and $13, and many are quite filling, making it a little more budget-friendly than Traxx's $15 burgers or $24 Scottish salmon.
But what the opening of Café Crêpe really signifies is that Union Station is slowly becoming the kind of place where you might want to hang out a bit. In the last year and a half, upscale coffee spot Barista Society, grab-and-go Japanese eatery Oto Oto and salad shop Green Bowl 2 Go have opened. The Famina flipped into Trimana, and Metro Art has been hosting lots of fun happenings, like live music performances, art installations and film noir screenings. It's only fitting that a station so beautiful should have a reason to linger, other than to post architecture photos to Instagram.
Support for LAist comes from
Union Station is located at 800 N. Alameda St. downtown Los Angeles.
Related:Photos: A Brief History Of L.A.'s Beautiful Union Station
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist