If you moved to Los Angeles from London or New York, one thing is for sure: You are very familiar with cafe chain Pret a Manger—and maybe were wondering why the company hadn’t opened an outpost here just yet.
Well, good news: The first-ever stand-alone L.A. Pret has just debuted in Westwood Village at 10906 Le Conte Avenue, with more locations opening in California soon enough.
“We are extremely excited about bringing the Pret brand to the Southern California market,” said Shane Thakrar, president and CEO of Dallas Holdings, the franchisee behind the effort, in an interview with Nation’s Restaurant News a while back. “We feel California is a great new market for Pret, with many strong initial locations across Los Angeles and Orange County planned for our launch.”
Pret also announced that it’ll be opening a location soon in Studio City—specifically, according to some online reports, along Ventura Boulevard just west of Laurel Canyon Boulevard where Breadblok used to be.
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Although the chain already operates an outpost inside LAX, these mark the first stand-alone brick-and-mortar destinations of their kind in L.A., and the first U.S. locations outside of New York or Chicago for the London-based company.
For the uninitiated, Pret sells freshly made food daily, from sandwiches (the hummus and veg is always delicious) to soups, salads and a bunch of different snacks.
We’ll be very honest: We’re not particularly into the coffee drinks on deck (they tend to be burnt-tasting) but Pret certainly makes up for that when it comes to ease of service and the taste of the food. Everything is pretty okay and consistent at all locations, for better or worse.
If the plans announced by Pret and Dallas Holdings last October still hold true, this is just the beginning of a pretty substantial expansion: The company hopes to operate 300 stores across the United States by 2028.