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Republique Has Heard You, Mere Mortals, and Added a Takeout Window

The impossibly busy La Brea restaurant is hoping to make things just a bit less hectic

The original pastry counter at Republique, with window to the right
Elizabeth Daniels
Farley Elliott is the Senior Editor at Eater LA and the author of Los Angeles Street Food: A History From Tamaleros to Taco Trucks. He covers restaurants in every form, from breaking news to the culture, people, and history that surrounds LA's dining landscape.

The near-endless line for weekend brunch at Republique could be getting a little easier these days, as the La Brea mainstay has decided to smarten up and open a takeaway window right out on the sidewalk.

Drive by Republique any Saturday or Sunday morning, and you’ll find a line snaking out the front door and down the block. There’s a very good reason for the hold up (the savory food is delicious, and Margarita Manzke’s pastries could be even better), but still: it’s a tough ask to have people standing around for an hour before they even get to sit down and enjoy their meal.

As always, the Manzkes have long been aware of the bottleneck at their impossibly busy all-day stunner of a restaurant, and so as a way to clear up some of the clutter they’ve blown out one of the front windows right next to the valet stand. It now opens right on to the sidewalk along La Brea, and allows guests (at least on weekends so far) to grab and go from a tightly curated collection of goodies. That means brewed coffee, including cold brew, plus a couple of juices and an assortment of pastries. You can even buy a loaf of bread to go if you’d like, just know that there’s no hanging around — this is for off-site enjoyment only.

A shot of the takeout window in action from Republique’s Instagram
Instagram

The card-only window (as in, no cash allowed) first popped up last weekend as a tryout, and will begin running every Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. If all goes well, Republique could start staffing the window on the daily too, which — combined with a larger pre-made menu — might help even further to ease the long lines at one of LA’s most beloved restaurants.

Republique

624 South La Brea Avenue, , CA 90036 (310) 362-6115 Visit Website