the nickel diner joins downtown august 27th
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Main Street’s newest arrival, the Nickel Diner, is gearing up for a soft opening on Wednesday, August 27th, according to co-owners Monica May and Kristen Trattner. UPDATE: The Nickel Diner is now open.
The stylish, retro diner is taking on the comfort food niche, with breakfast and lunch to start out (dinner coming this fall) and a large selection of house-made pastries.
Egg dishes are given prominent placement on the menu: The “Hangover Helper,” a combination of scrambled eggs with bacon, Italian sausage, potatoes, pepperjack cheese, avocado and salsa, may be a Saturday morning ritual soon.
No More “Funny Business”
Prior to buildout, the restaurant was clad with walnut-paneled walls painted with “clowns playing grab-ass,” said May — a relic from an earlier tenant of the space, a shooting gallery.
Following the systematic clown-removal process, the crew uncovered original painted artwork on the walls (pictured above) that could date back as far as the 1930s. At that time, your typical Main Street diner charged just 19 cents for a hot dog, 25 cents for a hamburger and 20 cents for a large draft beer.
It’s safe to say the Nickel won’t be charging retro prices, but their mid-range fare will be kindly welcomed by Historic Coreans Downtowners of all stripes.
-hot month in the city: august downtown restaurant news (angelenic)
-Blossom Times Two (blogdowntown)
The Nickel Diner
524 S Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Now Open: Wednesday-Sunday, 7:30am - 3:30pm
5cdiner.com
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24 comments
Personally, I can’t wait for this place to open up. I LOVE diner food.
I don’ care what I said on my blog in previous posts. It won’ be a soft opening for me. I intend to go and eat like a pig. I can’ wait. We all can’ wait.
Just the painted menu on the wall is worth the effort to check it out, but I think I will eat both breakfast and lunch as soon as I can (the following Saturday). Yum.
20 cents for a beer? No, that would be quite pricey for the 1930’s. I’m going to say that wall dates from the early-to mid 1950’s. I know because I collect old menus.
FANTABULOUS!
This could be a real gem, I really appreciate the simplicity of these types of restaurants. In comparison to a few similar places in Eagle Rock, Pasadena, Los Feliz and Silverlake, I think this shop will stake a well needed claim in Downtown.
That’s really interesting, Scott. Thanks for letting me know. Because I started searching for old menus, I found out that the LA Public Library has a menu archive (!) searchable by year, name, type, etc.
Here’s a menu from the Pig ‘n Whistle in 1939. http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/menus/fullsize/a/Pig%27nWhistle5-6_inside1.jpg
They’re selling a hamburger with fries and country gravy for 35 cents, as opposed to the Nickel Diner’s historic menu, which is proclaiming a 25-cent hamburger.
Then there’s the tamale for 35 cents, compared to the old diner’s 24-cent tamale (10 cents extra for chili!). Of course, that doesn’t take into account varying levels of service, tablecloths, the War, etc.
Thanks for opening up this part of the street Monica and Kris! I’ll be there to start things off. :)
While the original painted artwork looks great, something about “clowns playing grab-ass” also speaks to me.
…annnndddddd.. it’s gonna get reviewed!
This place sounds great.
Any idea if they’ll be serving alcohol? Also, let’s hope they don’t price things too high to be unaffordable to the people who live immediately around this location. It’d be nice to dine with the tenants of the Leonide. They’re such a jubilant bunch, with their stereos and bongo drums lined up along Main St.
Can’t wait…dangerously close to home!
Provide a little organic choices and bada bing bada boom…
No alcohol at the Nickel. Maybe sometime in the future. The prices there will be very reasonable. This is the affordable neighborhood diner that everyone has been waiting for. Give them some time to get up to speed and we may eventually see them open at all hours.
Full disclosure: I am an investor in the Nickel, albeit a very small share :-)
i sampled the breakfast menu during their invitation-only dry run. in a word, awesome. in three words: cameron’s puppy pile - order it for breakfast and you won’t be disappointed. the nickel is exactly what the neighborhood needs. i’ll definitely be there for lunch when they open next week.
Anyone who can guess why the dish is named “Cameron’s Puppy Pile” gets a very big prize.
I’m hoping it’s a pile of hush puppies, smothered with succulent goodies (eggs, bacon, onions) and not anything even remotely related to puppies or their piles. Really looking forward to the soft opening on Wednesday. We work only 1/2 a block way and have been searching for a great breakfast spot (scrumptious breakfast burritos, fantastic coffee) since the Main Street Grill closed it’s doors.
it’s a stack of buttermilk pancakes with chicken-apple sausages in between each cake, then a fried egg on top.
Having been around in the 1950s, I agree with Scott Mercer that, for a Main Street hamburger joint, those are 1950s prices, and no earlier. The style of that painted sign is characteristic of the 1950s, too, or maybe even the 1960s.
That the Pig ‘n’ Whistle was charging even higher prices in the 1930s, as shown on the menu linked by Rich Alossi, is not surprising. Pig ‘n’ Whistle was a very upscale establishment. The deluxe dinners on this page of their 1939 menu include such things as Crab Legs a la Newburg with Melba Toast. Cheap hash houses didn’t have such menu items. Even in the 1960s- the only period in which I ever went to a Pig ‘n’ Whistle- the place was way more expensive than run-of-the-mill coffee shops.
More comparable to a Main Street diner of the 1930s, though still undoubtedly pricier than such a place would have been, was the Merry Go Round on Hill Street, where in 1938 a hamburger was fifteen cents, and no sandwich was more than twenty cents. They didn’t list beer or soft drinks, but coffee, tea, and milk were only five cents.
On Main Street in the 1930s, even then decidedly less swanky than Hill Street, prices would have been lower. A diner there probably couldn’t have sold draft beer for anything over a dime and remained in business for long. Ten cents became pretty much the standard price for soft drinks only in the 1950s, at most soda fountains and coffee shops. As late as the end of the 1940s you could still get a Coke for a nickle at most drug store or dime store fountains. I remember my mom complaining about how expensive they’d become when they went up to a dime.
The food is amazing! The decor, the staff, and music make the entire experience wonderful.
Walked down the block and went there for lunch with co-workers. Food (especially the breakfast) is really good! Owners were as nice as can be and employees were great. Thumbs up from this group. :-)
How early are they open?? I want to try this place out before work tomorrow..
Kevin and I had breakfast there on Saturday and all we could talk about on the walk home was how freakin’ good the food is and at a fair price! None of this price-gouging fru-fru food but good, solid diner food! I had two eggs, poached with potatos and chicken sausage and Kevin had the Hangover Helper. Kristen brought us some delicious donut samples to try (who would have thought bacon on a donut would be delicious??) and she showed us the dessert tray. They really lucked out in getting Ms. Fong to work the pastries! Monica was behind the counter, “slinging hash” and the wait staff were friendly and helpful. I can’t wait to go back to try the lunch menu!! For those crybabies out there who are only throwing negative vibes, or trying sooooo unsuccessfully to link drug references to this establishment, perhaps you need to do your homework. Good Job Monica and Kristen!!
The food is fantastic! Decor is classic & unique at the same time. The lighting fixtures are one-of-a-kind designs. Elvis & rockabilly music to raise the spirits. Great staff, and reasonable prices. JUST GO. I love the Nickel Diner.
Today I ordered the grilled vegetable sandwich on rye w/cole slaw. Roasted red peppers, onions, zucchini, eggplant perfectly sauteed & layered high on warm, extra thick toasted rye bread [Normally it’s sourdough-I substituted]. Tangy, crunchy, soft, and impossible to stop eating after the first bite. My dining partner who never eats sandwiches devoured almost half of my sandwich. One bite, and she could not stop. Addictive food served here.
The cole slaw was perfect. Not too much mayo, not full of sugar. Fresh, crisp & refreshing.
My beverage choice was housemade fresh V8 served with a slice of lime. A bit o’ spice, and a perfect Sunday AM pick-me-up. I also had regular brewed coffee which was excellent, strong & fresh. Perfect temperature, and the staff was spot on with top offs and refills.
The dessert tray is a work of art so chock full of amazing things like “Berry White” which is a layered creation with creamy filling, berries, & white chocolate, homemade Oreos, vegan chocolate cake, cobbler and other things with meringue and all gorgeously done at the hands of a classically trained pastry chef, it’s hard to choose one dessert!
I tried the vegan tapioca pudding which has a touch of coconut and almost no sugar. It’s rich, creamy with strawberry garnish, and if you like tapioca, it’s to die for.
My friend had baked eggs with spinach and polenta - excellent.
All in all, I was astounded at the quality of the food. I’ve sampled Monica’s food at her other restaurants and clubs which is consistently wonderful. But something about the Nickel really clicked for me. Maybe it’s the comfortable booths, the big windows on a sunny Sunday morning. It’s wonderful. My only fear is it will get too popular on the weekends, because once people sample this food, there will be lines around the block.
A little history-The original name was Bigg`s circus, established in the mid 50`s. It was the second restaurant on Main st after Jack`s Bar B Q. To save money, the wall`s were painted as to surround the customer with a Circus feeling. The original counter was rectangular, about 20ft. by 30ft. long. In the center was a large refrigerator with sliding glass doors on both sides to show off the pies (25cts a slice) we bought the whole pie for 75cents.With no cooking on the premises, only two steam tables to hold, prep and serve the food. The entire front of the restaurant was open, (Just like Nathan`s in NY.) We made our own soda`s and served a baked hamburger for 25cts. Made from the finest meat and cut with crakermeal and spices. There was absolutly no cooking on the premises, which saved us big time money. There was a secret trap door to an old speakeasy in the basement with mirror walls and plush booths. If want to know more E-mail
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