There was a time when LA wasn’t synonymous with salads and juice cleanses. When, like other cities in America, there was an appreciation for no fuss diners serving up a classic burger and pie.

That era might be no more, but places like The Apple Pan still persist, with a loyal local crowd dutifully filing in around the bar night after night. It’s the kind of place that inspires nostalgia, even if that nostalgia isn’t a part of your personal experience. There’s something about gathering around the bar, the servers asking you what you want, like you’re a regular. It’s cash only, and that cash goes into cash registers that give away its age. It’s intimate, friendly, familiar even if it’s your first time there.

If The Apple Pan was in a different city, perhaps a city on the east coast, it might be less remarkable. But to have served generations of Angelenos over seven decades, still run by the same family, serving up the classics where the only “salads” available are tuna or egg? Now that is remarkable.