Philippe's The Original Now Taking Credit Cards

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Fans of Philippe's French dip sandwiches will no longer have to make a pit stop for cash now that the restaurant takes credit cards.

For the first time in the restaurant's 107-year history, the family that owns the landmark eatery just north of downtown Los Angeles took down the "Cash Only" sign Friday, and began accepting credit cards.

"One of the main reasons we never took credit cards was that it took too long to process the transaction," said Richard Binder, a member of the family that owns Philippe's. "Because we have long lines, fast, courteous customer service was always a priority. Now that it's much faster to process credit cards with the use of new technology, we do not have to sacrifice speed.

"We have been testing accepting credit cards here for a few weeks and perfecting the process," he said. "We're now ready to make credit card transactions available to all of our loyal customers."

Philippe The Original, 1001 N. Alameda St., opened its doors in 1908.

Credit cards will be accepted not only for food, but also at the eatery's counter store, which sells newspapers, candy, Philippe's hot mustard and chili peppers and other merchandise.

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