Fresh, healthy lunch joint California Monster Salads has closed its doors at 411 Santa Monica Blvd. But all may not be lost… Their website promises a new site coming soon, so we’ll have to wait and see what develops.
The Commons Ale House has had its share of troubles in the past, but all that is behind them now. A letter, hand-penned in marker and affixed to the front door at 129 Broadway, bids a colorful goodbye to Downtown Santa Monica and a thank you to its erstwhile customers. It appears that they closed down after last weekend, and no reason for the abrupt closure is given. I’ll keep my eye on the space to see what develops.
They’re dropping like flies in Century City… It was only back in December of last year that I noticed that Melrose’s specialty sandwich shop All About The Bread had quietly slipped into the turbulent waters of the food court of the Westfield Century City Shopping Center. Sadly, they have abandoned their space in the rapidly changing mall. That brings the total number of vacancies to three…
Comfy al fresco Venezuelan dining spot Coupa Café appears to have closed its doors at 419 N Canon Dr. in Beverly Hills. And they don’t seem to have a new tenant lined up yet as evidenced by the large for lease signs posted on the front. I’ll keep my eye out for what’s next…
After 10 years of delivering “urban country” food to the good people of El Segundo, local fave Farm Stand closed its doors recently at their 422 Main St. location. Wasting no time whatsoever, an ABC license transfer application posted in the window informs us that a new restaurant, El Gringo Kanteen will be taking over the space. EGK appears to be related to the South Bay chain El Gringo Mexican Restaurant, because the name on the ABC app., William Phillip Graw, makes a showing on their licenses as well. No word on an opening, but I’ll keep watching…
With all of the upcoming changes to the notoriously capricious food scene of the new Westfield Century Shopping Center currently under construction, I’ve been watching the extant restaurants very closely. Even with the promise of the new and glam 2.0 version of the popular shopping and dining destination, expected some time next year, the mall is still bleeding eateries. Recently, Seiki-Shi Sushi bit the dust. And now it looks like longtime food court poultry purveyor The Juicy Bird has vacated their space. I’ll continue to keep watching the changes…
It was about two years ago that I noticed that the corner space at Santa Monica Blvd. and Wilshire in Beverly Hills was about to get a branch of tea purveyor Teavana. Sadly, it appears that they have closed and vacated the space, as evidenced by the large for lease sign affixed to the front. I’ll keep my eye on it and see what will move in…
House of Music & Entertainment has certainly had its share of the blues. I first noticed that H.O.M.E. was taking over the cavernous old Camden House space at 430 N. Camden Dr. in Beverly back in February of 2012. But after a kerfuffle involving their liquor license, the plucky supper club reopened with new owners and management in December of last year. Well it appears that H.O.M.E. is finally gone for good. While there’s no official notice, the place is completely gutted and locksmiths were changing the keys to the doors on Thursday, so I’m calling this one. I’ll keep my eye on the space to see if any other brave soul gives the difficult location a try…
We’ve known for a couple of weeks now that Danny Meyer’s wildly popular N.Y.-based Shake Shack was coming to the Westfield Century City Shopping Center. But apparently, the burger stand will be bigger than originally thought. The first plywood went up over the space on the second deck that housed Solstice Sunglasses. But recently, the plywood has crept closer to Obica, swallowing up the mall’s outlet of smoothie chain Jamba Juice in the process. No word on Shake Shack’s opening date, but I’ll keep watching.
It was only back in 2012 when I first noticed that a new frozen treat shop was going into the space at 11753 San Vicente Blvd, near Whole Foods. Sweet Crush Ice Bar opened that year and has been doling out Asian shaved ice ever since… until recently. Sadly, they have closed, leaving this hopeful message taped to their erstwhile front door promising us that they are not gone for good.
It looks like there’s yet another change in the capricious food scene of the Westfield Century City Shopping Center. Seiki-Shi Sushi has closed up shop and vacated their center food court space. No word on what may be replacing it.
It’s been a week of juice news. I recently noticed that Santa Monica’s branch of healthy drink provider Orchard Flats Cold Pressed Juicery has closed its doors at 705 Montana Ave. And their other locations in Burbank, Studio City, La Canada Flintridge, and on Melrose have closed as well, according to Yelp. So it looks like this is the end of yet another juice shop. Could this be a trend? Hmmm…
The space at 368 N. Camden in Beverly Hills can’t seem to hold on to a tenant. The latest casualty was the US’s promising first branch of Canadian smoothie and juice company Liquid Nutrition, which opened in November of 2014. I’ll keep my eye on the space to see who will be the next to roll the dice…
Recently, I told you about the closure of longtime resident Euro Caffe at 9559 S. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. An ABC application posted on the front door indicates that the replacement restaurant will be a suspiciously similar-named Oro Caffe, about which I can find little information. But as it turns out, there’s more to the story. Euro Caffe isn’t riding off into the sunset. It appears to be relocating to The Courtyard at 427 N. Canon Dr. I’ll keep watching both locations for more news…
Sadly, I’ve yet another closure to report. Purveyor of sugary treats Beverly Hills Brownie Company has iced its last blondie at 315 N. Beverly Dr. in Beverly Hills. The for lease sign in the window indicates that they haven’t lined up a new tenant quite yet.
2016 is turning out to be a rough year for restaurant closures. The latest? While there’s no hard evidence except a disconnected phone line, it appears obvious that one of Santa Monica’s long-standing fixtures, George’s Bistro has unceremoniously closed its doors at 1321 Third Street Promenade. The windows are papered over and the furniture has been removed. There’s no word on a replacement, but I’ll keep watch.
I don’t know what is going on with that particular block of Beverly Hills, but this is the third restaurant closure in recent months. It appears that long-time resident Euro Caffe, at 9559 S. Santa Monica Blvd. has closed its doors. The place is gutted and the windows are papered over. And while there’s no indication anywhere that it actually has closed (not even Yelp users have reported it closed yet), the “for lease” sign in the window is a fairly good indication that it ain’t coming back…
While there’s no notice announcing it and their website is still up and running, it appears that longtime Santa Monica resident Bravo Cucina has abruptly closed down at 1319 Third Street Promenade. A peek inside reveals that the Italian restaurant long known for its hard-working hostesses who stood outside enticing tourists to eat there, has already essentially been gutted and Yelp users confirm the sad closure. There’s no indication of what may take its place, but I’ll keep my eye on it.
It wasn’t that long ago that the French cafe L’Amande quit the space at 9530 S. Santa Monica Blvd in Beverly Hills. And already, it looks like a new tenant has been lined up. Signs are up indicating that long-time Beverly Hills sushi restaurant Yu-N-Mi will be moving out of their current diminutive and dark digs a block away at 9475 Santa Monica Blvd and taking over the bright and cheery new space by late Fall, according to the sign.
Ambitious Taberna Arros Y Vi sprang onto the Santa Monica dining scene back in 2013 with its Spanish tapas theme and dark and moody interior. Lately though, I’ve been hearing rumblings of a closure. Every time I walked by to check (usually before they opened), they had appeared ready for service: The tables were set and the bar was stocked. So yesterday, I dropped by after their opening time of 6pm. Sure enough, the door was locked and there was no activity inside. While there is no official announcement or news anywhere, Yelpers are reporting it closed and Opentable no longer carries its listing. So, I’m calling this one: Taberna Arros Y Vi is now closed. Let me know if you have any other information…
Toddrickallen 