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Police Academy cafe to reopen this fall — probably
The LAPD Police Academy Cafe.
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Sascha Pohflepp via Flickr Creative Commons
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The gates of the Los Angeles Police Academy on a rainy day.
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Elina Shatkin
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Split pea soup and burgers will be back on the menu at the LAPD Academy, probably by the end of the year.
After closing in February 2014 for renovations, the beloved Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club Cafe is slated to reopen in late October or early November, as soon as the final permits are approved and the decorations go back up.
It's part of a major overhaul for the Elysian Park police academy.
The revamped coffee shop will look mostly the same but will feature a new coffee bar, located near the front, serving drinks and pastries — because cadets can’t be running off-campus for their Starbucks fix.
The menu remains under wraps but should retain its old school character — sandwiches, soups, comfort food — with the potential addition of a few new specialty burgers. The cafe once served a Bratton Burger and a Beck Burger, named after the LAPD's former and current police chief, respectively.
The menu could also see some new dishes.
"The Academy Cafe is such a staple within the department and the Academy and even the surrounding neighborhood," Lt. Chris Ramirez tells KPCC. "It's a good place to get a good bite to eat while you're in the settings of the Academy and you get to enjoy all the nostalgia and police history of the LAPD."
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The Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club, which operates the restaurant, is aiming to maintain the vintage vibe, down to details like the hat clips attached to the stools that line the U-shaped counter. The old photographs documenting LAPD history that once lined the walls are also expected to go back up.
Last week, the LAPD Academy held a reopening ceremony after an approximately $16 million renovation. A training facility, projected to cost more than $18 million, is also nearing completion on the grounds.
You can see the arches of the iconic facility in the opening credits for 1970s TV show "Charlie's Angels."
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