Imperial Western Beer Co.: Before and After Photos of the Impressive Renovation of the Fred Harvey Restaurant

Imperial Western's cavernous main hall

Though I wasn't fortunate enough to get married there like some people I know, I've always loved the Fred Harvey restaurant at Union Station and hoped that someday it would re-open in its former glory. Designed by Mary Colter, the restaurant opened in 1939 and was the last of the Harvey Houses that operated across the U.S. at train stations and tourist attractions. The restaurant closed in 1967, so the re-opening as Imperial Western Beer Company comes 51 years later.

The vintage Powder Room

There were several attempts along the way to re-open the space, but the confusing mix of owners and the economics of running such a large restaurant in a spot that wasn't necessarily conducive to expensive fine dining made it challenging. But nightlife entrepreneur Cedd Moses came up with the smart idea of utilizing the vast and potentially wasted kitchen area as a full-scale brewery and making the atmospheric space into a kind of Grand Central Oyster Bar-meets-craft brewery, with a side of cocktails in the vintage Streamliner lounge.

Restored front booth area                                                          (Credit: Wonho Frank Lee)

All the vintage details like Colter's parrot-patterned cement tiles and Navaho rug-patterned floor are cleaned up and glowing. The aqua glass tiles of the kitchen have been carefully replicated, and loads of character-filled details also remain in the Streamliner Bar, the Powder Room and in the small patio bar that adds outdoor seating to the mix.

Head brewer Devon Randall has a lot of vats to fill

Making the space accessible and affordable, with menu items all under $20, is the right thing to do as transit improvements at Union Station make the area into even more of a hub connecting all parts of the city. The menu is from the Hungry Cat's David Lentz, with dishes like fish tacos, crispy oyster po'boys and house smoked mussels, as well as ribs, fried chicken and a burger for non-seafood fans.

Ready to brew!

Imperial Western is named for one of the great train lines that services Union Station, as are some of the beers like the Super Chief IPA. Moses' 213 Hospitality opened Arts District Brewing three years ago, so they've had some time to work on their brews before opening Imperial Western, which has 18 beer taps, with mostly their house-made beers.

The cooler doors were retained in the patio bar area

The challenge with a room that holds 435 people is getting everyone served and fed efficiently and keeping up the food quality. It's a challenge that was apparently too much for another large, historic venue, Clifton's Cafeteria, which has abandoned the cafeteria idea and turned into a multi-floor amusement park of a bar.

Streamliner Bar                                                                                        (credit: Wonho Frank Lee)

The cozy Streamliner Bar off to the left looks much the same as ever. The Varnish's Eric Alperin designed the Streamliner's menu of cocktails that are served on tap, perfect for rushed travelers, with reasonable prices under $10 per drink.

BEFORE: Abandoned kitchen area

Back in 2012, I took some photos before the restoration at the L.A. Beer Week festival, so it's interesting to see how sensitively it has been brought back to life.

BEFORE: A beer seminar in the main room

BEFORE: Original ceramic tiles at the Streamliner Bar

BEFORE: Powder Room

BEFORE: Kitchen area

BEFORE: Front booths

BEFORE: Streamliner Bar

Why Pok Pok LA Might Need to Make More Changes Than Just the Service Charge

Tamarind whiskey sour

From the start, Pok Pok has been in a tough place in L.A. Owner Andy Ricker kind of confused everyone first with a ticketed reservation policy via Tock that seemed appropriate only for a wildly popular place like Trois Mec. Customers were also confused by the 5% service charge that was one of the first of its kind in Los Angeles, leaving people not sure whether to tip 10%, 15% or what in addition to the 5%. He talked to Playboy today about the service charge issue and what the new minimum wage will mean to restaurants.

larb patties

Though Ricker later said he loves L.A. and meant no disrespect, the headline "Pok Pok's Tipping Experiment Didn't Work and Chef And Ricker Blames L.A." made it seem like L.A. isn't ready to treat its restaurant employees fairly, which is probably true. But if restaurants need to charge more to pay decently, it's probably easiest to just fold the costs into the menu prices. Though Pok Pok has now ditched both the ticketing system and the service charge, here are three other reasons it could still have issues gaining traction in the city with the biggest and most established Thai population in the U.S.

1) The size: It's still not clear how it's going to consistently fill the vast upstairs and downstairs space. Pok Pok is not only bigger than any other Thai restaurant in town, it's as big as the Chinese banquet and dim sum places that survive on weddings and family gatherings, not couples and small groups of friends. It's big enough to house the crowds that line up in Portland and Manhattan, but in a part of L.A. that's maybe not quite yet ready to be a happening nighttime restaurant destination.

2) The menu: Like Night + Market, Pok Pok's specialty is Northern  and Northeastern Thai cooking. After the Pok Pok's Phat Thai noodle shop opened in Chinatown with middling to positive reviews, I was excited to see what Andy Ricker could bring to L.A. that we didn't already have.

The verdict? After just one dinner, I'm not qualified to do a full review yet, but with so many great Thai restaurants in L.A., I'm just not dying to rush back. The signature roasted chicken was indeed nicely grilled and caramelized and used a much better bird than the average joint, and the fried larb patties had a good, complex flavor. But the server didn't seem concerned that we didn't finish the blah Jaw Phak Kad mustard greens and pork ribs, which seem to have now left the menu.

Why not offer the Phat Thai noodle menu too, so customers can have a wider choice of dishes like their excellent Phat Sii Ew?

3) The bar: That tamarind whiskey sour is as tart and refreshing as it was in Portland the first time I tried it, but I'm not sure I want it while I'm eating dinner at long banquet tables in the dining room. Beer seems like the best match for a spicy meal, but I might stop by if there was a dedicated cocktail space.

Why not turn part of the upstairs into a more intimate, funky cocktail lounge with the drinking snacks menu, and encourage people to come even if it's just for drinks? 

L.A. loves Thai food, but it also loves value and lack of pretensions. And noodles. If Pok Pok can strike the right balance, the city will welcome it with even wider arms.

Chego Opens in Chinatown: Delivery to Downtown and Echo Park Planned

It's located inside Far East Plaza on Broadway (feelin' artsy with the color tools)

If you've walked or biked around Chinatown lately, you know that except for a few art galleries, almost everything looks about the same as it did when your parents first took you for dim sum in the '70s, '80s or '90s. It's nostalgic, but it could also use a little freshening up. Fortunately, Kogi BBQ truck mogul Roy Choi, who clustered his other restaurants around Palms in West L.A., has moved his most casual spot Chego to Chinatown's Far East Plaza. Although I mourn the tiny Mandarin Deli branch in that same plaza (it was the only one in the mini-chain to offer fish dumplings), Chego is a worthy replacement -- and one that stays open until 11 pm at night and offers curbside pickup with even DELIVERY coming soon.

Chego occupies a bright little corner spot, and there's also picnic tables outside

For the uninitiated, Chego's food is sort of like Asian fusion food that went to the beach, donned some flip flops, and then got shitfaced and fell in a bowl of sriracha. It's freakin' delicious, even if the saucing tends to the extreme side. And unlike the belly bomb kimchi quesadillas of the Kogi truck, Chego offers a seasonal veggie plate, a "$12 salad" for $8 and loads plenty of greens onto the various bowls.
Chego's signature dish, and the one that most befitting of an inebriated state, is Ooey Gooey Fries: a $6 boat packed with beer-battered potato wedges and topped with sour cream sambal, monterey jack and cheddar cheese, cotija, chilies, cilantro and pickled garlic.

Sour cream hen house: chicken, rice and then some

More modest eaters will be plenty satisfied with one of the "Big Kid Meals" -- $8-$9 rice bowls that include a vegetarian Kung Pau Noodle Bowl, Kimchi Spam Bowl, The Leafy T: Fried chili garlic tofu rice with fried egg and Chinese broccoli, Chubby pork belly, The Beefy T: diced prime rib rice and pictured above, Sour Cream Hen House, a devilish mixture of grilled chicken, fried egg, Chinese broccoli topped with sour cream sambal, Thai basil, sesame and red jalapeno. If you're not feeling rice-y, there's also a prime rib sandwich and half pound Chego burger.
Needless to say, you'll want to take young guys with you if possible, so you can justify ordering the Ooey Gooey Fries as a side.
Chego
727 N. Broadway #117 (in the Far East Plaza)
Chinatown
2 hours free parking in the lot next door
Open 11-11 Tuesday through Sunday
323-380-8680