Sadly, it appears that quotidian sandwich shop Capriotti’s has quietly slipped out of their Golden Triangle location at 9683 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Signs have come down and the space is gutted. I’ll keep watching to see what might move in.
Sadly, “contemporary macrobiotic” food source The Market at M Café has quietly closed down its location at 11678 San Vicente Blvd. in competitive Brentwood. But all is not lost: The notice on the door lets us know that they have a new location at 1800 Highland in addition to their other two locations and are looking to expand further. I’ll keep my eye on the space to see what develops…
Neighborhood hangout spot N.Y.&C. Pizzeria & Bar appears to have closed at 1120 Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica. Paper covers the windows and the signs are coming down, though here does seem to be a lot of activity behind the paper. I’ll keep watching to see what develops…
It looks like change is afoot at sushi bar Tkyo House at 2901 Ocean Park Blvd. in Santa Monica. A goodbye letter posted on the door states that they have closed as of yesterday. But the notice also promises that a restaurant with new management will reopen later in the week. And the bill of fare? Apparently ramen. I’ll keep watching…
This is a bit surprising… Even though you’d think that they had a captive audience from the Best Western Hotel, the International House of Pancakes, or IHOP, has flipped its last pancake on the corner of 20th and Santa Monica Blvd. in Santa Monica. No word on what may replace it, but I’ll keep watching.
The dramatic renovation of the Manhattan Village on the corner of Rosecrans and Sepulveda in Manhattan Beach has a new casualty. Self described “true mediterranean” restaurant Sesame Moe’s has pulled up stakes. Not sure what happened, but you can read their goodbye message here.
The mystery continues… Back in June of 2015 renovation began on the shabby old food court The Gallery at 1315 Third St. Promenade in Santa Monica. Excitement heightened when it reopened and restaurants started trickling in. And then something went wrong. The restaurants that had opened moved out and The Gallery sat empty. Then, last week, the windows were papered over and a required construction sign has appeared in the window. If anyone has any information, let me know as this story has been keenly followed by a great number of you…
A Real Treat Candy Boutique caused a sensation when it first opened as a pop-up in 2013, and later landed in Santa Monica. Offering “better” candy options that were free from artificial junk, they were lauded by LA Weekly in 2016. Sadly, it appears that things have gone sour, as a large for lease sign is now tacked to the front of their brick and mortar at 2724 Main St. I’ll keep my eye on the space to see what moves in…
The little strip mall on the corner of Montana and San Vicente in Brentwood seems to have run into a spot of trouble… A while ago, diminutive coffee shop Brew-N-Beans gave up the ghost. More recently, one of the Westside’s last few remaining carb palaces, Noah’s Bagels, quit their location there. And now, it appears that smoothie experts Jamba Juice has closed down. That leaves only scrappy Souplantation in the increasingly vacant mall.
I didn’t see this coming… As evidenced by the note attached to the front door and the removal of signs, it appears that Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar has thrown in the towel at its location at 252 N. Beverly Dr. in Beverly Hills. No word on a replacement, but I’ll keep watching.
It appears that wine and gift shop Venokado has given up the ghost in The Market at Santa Monica Place. And The Curious Palate will be jumping ship from its Market space to across the way, just to the right of the ArcLight. That means that soon, the only soldier left standing will be La Gourmandise School. But we’ve been promised that something new will be coming…
After an extensive renovation, the formerly dusty Gallery Food Hall, at 1315 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica, reopened with a fresh new design and look back in Spring of 2016. Subway was open, and previous occupant McDonald’s moved back in, and expectations rose… then began to sink. McDonald’s soon pulled up stakes. And recently, on a tip from a reader, I dropped by to discover that the last remaining eatery, Subway, had indeed vacated its second floor location. The Gallery now sits completely empty, without a single tenant or notice of a future occupant. I’m not quite sure what troubling events are going on here, but I’ll keep watching…
As you know, I’ve been carefully watching the developments during the renovation of the Westfield Century City Shopping Center. As we get closer to the unveiling of the glitzy new dining and shopping destination, here are the latest developments. While much of this has already been reported, this is what you can actually see:
What’s Now Closed:
Coral Tree Express finally closed in the mostly boarded up food court.
Tenacious Breadbar vacated its first floor location.
The Hillstone Restaurant Group’s Gulfstream is now gone.
What’s Coming:
California Pizza Kitchen has an ABC license posted on the second floor.
Manhattan Beach’s Petros Benekos will be bringing his Greek/Californian cooking north with an outpost of Petros Speakeasy on the second floor.
Signs have gone up confirming that Orange County’s wildly popular Mexican restaurant Javier’s is indeed moving into the old Season’s 52 space.
And if you look carefully at the Gulfstream photo above, you’ll see mentioned that Taiwanese noodle and dumpling experts Din Tai Fung is coming along with the wildly-anticipated and oft reported Eataly.
What’s now open:
LA’s latest branch of New York’s popular Shake Shack opened last week to long lines.
Chicago coffee experts Bow Truss vied for the attention of fickle LA coffee drinkers back in 2015. Things may not have worked out as they had hoped… Two notices have been taped to the front door of their tiny boite at 340 N Camden Dr. One handwritten notice indicates that they are now “closed until further notice”. The other explains perhaps why: It is an official three day notice to pay rent or quit. I’m not sure if the closure is permanent, but things don’t look good. I’ll keep watching…
I only just recently noticed that artisanal coffee experts Caffe Luxxe has boarded up its location at 11975 San Vicente Blvd. in Brentwood. I think the closure wasn’t unexpected as the entire shopping complex that this branch anchored has also boarded up in anticipation of an upcoming project. But if you count yourself among the legions of devoted fans of the popular purveyor of caffeinated drinks, don’t worry that you’ll have to drive to Santa Monica to get your fix: According to their website, they are planning on moving just a little east to a new location at 11640 San Vicente. I’ll keep watching to see what develops.
I didn’t see this coming… It appears that Beverly Hills’ long-standing purveyor of Southeast Asian food has pulled up stakes. A for lease has gone up on the front of cleverly named 9021Pho indicating that they are vacating their location at 490 N. Beverly Dr. Yelp confirms that they are indeed closed. No word on what happened or what may be taking their place, but I’ll keep watching…
Local institution J & T Gourmet Deli has apparently vacated their 1128 Wilshire Blvd. space. Long a favorite among the Polish and Eastern European communities, I had been hearing whispers that the quality had changed somewhat after a recent ownership change. Not sure what will replace the deli, but I’ll keep watching…
One of the last holdouts in the rapidly developing Westfield Century City Shopping Center, Vanilla Bake Shop has finally closed. Apparently, they may not be returning to the glitzy new mall once it opens sometime later this year. The website states that the upcoming Pasadena location is where they are relocating.
Culinary wonderland Penzeys Spices appears to have vacated their Santa Monica digs at 1347 4th St. Not sure what happened or what may be taking its place. I’m certain that home cooks across the Westside mourn the loss…
The shop that replaced Santa Monica’s dubious branch of Joan’s on Third appears to have closed at 1705 Ocean Ave. While there are no obvious signs, the shelves have been stripped and there is no activity at H B Daisy, and I when I called their phone number, I received a message that the number is unassigned. Please let me know if you have any further information, but until then I’ll keep my eye on the troubled corner space at Ocean and Olympic…
Toddrickallen 