The coziest restaurant in downtown LA- THE PACIFIC DINING CAR

The Pacific Dining Car has been serving fine food and cocktails in an elegant and intimate setting since 1921.  89 years later the food, service, drinks and setting are still up to snuff.  The ambiance and genteel nature of the place feel like a throwback to an earlier and more polite era.  Before the LA Kings hockey game last Saturday night (they lost to the Chicago Blackhawks which was very impolite), we took our father there for dinner.  We sat in the Wine Room which was nice, but the room to ask to sit in is the first room you walk into, the Dining Car room, preferably in one of the leather booths.  The food, although pricey was mostly delicious.  Our favorite items from the menu that we indulged in were the crab cakes, steak (with truffle butter), braised short ribs, creamed spinach and mac n cheese.  The service is friendly, professional and efficient.

A great added bonus is that they offer a free shuttle service to the Staples Center from the restaurant!  We were thrilled to be able to avoid weaving around Downtown in the rain, paying the exorbitant Staples Center parking prices and then wandering around to find the right entrance.  Joe, the shuttle driver, zipped us right over and was at our assigned meeting spot after the game.  We'll certainly return to the Pacific Dining Car for dinners before-- or after, they are open 24 hours-- games and concerts.  And if you happen to find yourself downtown in the next few weeks, it is absolutely perfect for a winter holiday dinner- the garlands and lights are up!