I’ve been watching the space that used to house now-defunct sports bar South at 3001 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica for a while now.  First, it was reported that a new farm-to-table restaurant was to take over.  Then, late last year we learned of legal problems with the previous tenants and so it has sat empty for a long time.  Now a new branch of popular SoCal restaurant chain Maria’s Italian Kitchen has quietly slipped into the space and opened last week.  However the website states that this is only a temporary pop-up to service the needs of the poor people of Brentwood while the Maria’s location there is closed for remodeling because heaven knows there is no other place to eat Italian in Brentwood…