The Depot served its last meal on September 30. Chef Michael Shafer ran the kitchen at 1250 Cabrillo Avenue for nearly 35 years and is now retiring. The building he cooked in is the 1912 Pacific Electric Railway depot designed by Irving Gill. The city's own historic survey calls it the most significant structure in the Olmsted Tract. It does not appear on Torrance's list of designated historic landmarks or on the National Register of Historic Places.
So the building at the center of Old Torrance is empty, and no historic designation covers it. As of mid-October, nobody has publicly named a next tenant.
How the restaurant said goodbye
Shafer announced the closing himself, in a farewell note on the restaurant's website signed "Chef and staff":
As we reach the middle of my 35th year at the Depot, I must tell you how much your friendship and loyalty have meant to me and my family... We watched my kids and yours grow up at the Depot. We enjoyed birthdays, anniversaries, births, and memorials as a family and community.
In the same note he says he is 70, "entering my Golden Years," and that it is time to "hang up my knives and spatula." He also announced a parking-lot sale of memorabilia. The City of Torrance posted a video on September 27 that marked his retirement after 35 years.
In his October 7 A La Carte column for Easy Reader, Richard Foss called it the end of "an era of fine dining in Old Town Torrance." He wrote that Shafer "knew an astonishing number of his patrons by name" and that "nobody else could fill in for that big personality." Neither the farewell note nor the column says what will happen to the space.
A restaurant that opened before Old Torrance filled in
People who arrived in the last decade or two may not know how unlikely The Depot looked in 1991. Easy Reader's 2015 anniversary review described the neighborhood back then as "sleepy, conservative, and mostly vacant, the last place most people would consider for an upscale new restaurant." The menu mixed Japanese, Chinese, German and American ideas. Shafer did much of the interior design himself, which explains the Roman pillars that stop partway to the ceiling.
A few dishes stayed on the menu from opening day on, including the crispy "Thai Dyed" chicken and the rock shrimp sausages. According to the same review, Shafer created the sausages for a culinary Olympics in Germany, where he won a gold medal. The review also said "the rest of the area has caught up with the innovations here, at least partially." Red Car Brewery opened down the block at 1266 Sartori Avenue in August 2000 and says it was Torrance's first brewery. That was almost nine years after The Depot opened.
The restaurant also rescued the building. A 2010 Daily Breeze history column explains that the depot lost its purpose when the South Bay's Red Car lines began shutting down in the 1940s, and that it had fallen into disrepair by the late 1980s. Southern Pacific turned down several bidders before selling to developers Capellino and Associates in 1986. Capellino brought in the Chez Melange restaurateurs Robert Bell and Michael Franks, and The Depot opened in October 1991 with Shafer as chef.
The station Torrance was planned around
Gill's station was part of the deal that created Torrance as a city. In 1911 Torrance agreed to give Pacific Electric 125 acres for its railcar maintenance facilities. In return, the railway agreed to build a Red Car line into town. The depot was finished in 1912 to serve the Torrance spur off the larger Gardena line. The city survey also gives 1912 as the year it was built. The city's March 2026 draft preservation plan dates the depot to 1913, so city documents don't agree on the year.
The city's historic resource survey, last revised in September 2025, explains why that matters. It calls the building "the defining element of the Olmsted Brother's approach of making public transportation the center piece of their urban plan for Torrance." The city's March 2026 draft preservation plan calls the depot the focal point of downtown's historic "Y" intersection.
The survey also records what has changed. The exterior is intact except that the arched wing walls on both sides of the Cabrillo facade have been removed. The survey notes an added canopy that "is reversible." Its rating for the building is "Altered-contributor," and it lists the condition as "Good." A survey rating is not a designation.
What the city's register actually lists
The city's Historic Landmark and District Register has ten entries. The first was designated October 20, 2022, and the most recent June 18, 2026. Seven of the ten were added in 2025 or 2026. They sit on Acacia, Andreo, Arlington, Sonoma, Post, Gramercy and El Prado. 1250 Cabrillo is not one of them.
Here is how the Gill works mentioned in city sources compare:
| Gill-designed structure | Location | Status in city sources |
|---|---|---|
| Pacific Electric depot, former home of The Depot | 1250 Cabrillo Ave. | Altered contributor in city survey; not a local landmark or on the National Register |
| Pacific Electric Railway–El Prado Bridge | Torrance Blvd. | Listed on the National Register of Historic Places |
| Brighton Hotel and Colonial Hotel | Cabrillo Ave. | Described in the 2026 draft plan as extant but altered |
| Gill commercial buildings | 1607 and 1639 Cabrillo Ave. | Identified in the city survey |
Gill also tried an experiment in worker housing on the 1800 and 1900 blocks of Gramercy. The Daily Breeze reported that three of those houses were still standing in 2014.
The city's process explains why the depot isn't on the list. Any person or group, including the city, can start a landmark designation by filing an application with the Community Development Department for review by the Historic Preservation Commission. The application must include the property owner's written consent. A district designation is also not on the horizon. The March 2026 draft plan says Downtown Torrance does not appear to have enough intact buildings to be a good candidate for a local historic district. Downtown is a planning and use district, which is a different thing from a historic district.
The city is still working on downtown policy. The update to the Torrance Historic Preservation Plan is meant to extend the plan to Downtown Torrance commercial properties. The draft says City Council asked in 2025 for more information and guidance on commercial properties, including their development history and approaches to storefronts. The document is still a public-review draft, and it does not designate anything.
The blocks around the depot are still busy
The Downtown Torrance Association, a volunteer-run nonprofit of local business owners, held its 10th annual Scaredown on October 3. It ran from 4 to 9 p.m., three days after The Depot's last service, with games, live music, a DJ, Trunk-or-Treat and a marketplace. Businesses that took part included:
- Torrance Bakery at 1341 El Prado
- Red Car Brewery at 1266 Sartori
- Local Kitchen at 1321 Sartori
- Keegan's Pub & Grill at 1434 Marcelina
The Old Torrance Neighborhood Association's directory lists more spots within a short walk of Cabrillo. It includes Chado Tea Room on El Prado, Sartori Thai and La Capilla on Sartori, Madre at 1261 Cabrillo, and Marsatta Chocolate on Post. The directory has no date, so it's worth checking hours before you go.
As of October 12, nothing published says who will move into 1250 Cabrillo next.
Old commercial buildings in the Torrance Tract are hard to value because their historic standing, their alterations and their condition all affect price, and you won't find any of that on a standard comp sheet. If you own a Torrance property with a history behind it and want to know how those details affect its value, Theresa Bruno has been following these buildings since well before The Depot opened. Get Your Free Home Valuation and start with an informal conversation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
