I’ve been out of town for a few days and returned home to a stuffed inbox with messages from perplexed and shocked locals lamenting the quick and unceremonious disappearance of Santa Monica’s branch of Asian-ish eatery and longtime corner of 4th and Wilshire anchor P.F. Chang’s. All signs have been ripped down, and as you can see, the front is boarded over. Disheartened die-hard fans are seeking answers, so if you have more information, let me know…
A big “coming soon” banner has recently gone up on the front of the former BurgerIM space at 1237 3rd St. Promenade in Santa Monica. And pasted to the front of that is a smaller banner announcing something called Chick It Out and promising hot chicken. Apparently this has been in the works for a while now, and What Now Los Angeles has a lot more on this story which you can read here.
Don’t count out fancy Westside kitchen shops quite yet. The commodious Beverly Hills Williams-Sonoma closed earlier this year (a new Erewhon is replacing it), and Sur La Table has abandonned us. All this has left panicked Westsiders scrambling to find somewhere to buy their Mauviel pans and couscoussiers. Even the Santa Monica location of Williams-Sonoma was rumored to be on the chopping block, but seems to have survived for now. But there’s hope on the horizon. The Original Farmers Market at 3rd and Fairfax is getting its very own Williams-Sonoma so… tragedy narrowly averted.
There’s a new ABC application up on the old Sfixio Ristorante space at 9737 S. Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. The application lists the name of the new business as Velverie Cafe and Tea House. There isn’t a great deal of information out there yet. The website is still under construction, but I’ll keep watching to see what develops.
It appears a new noodle joint is coming to Westchester. There’s window covering on the space at 8601 Lincoln Blvd., formerly home to a branch of SanSai, announcing that something called 1 2 3 Pho (get it?) is moving in. Clever name aside, there’s not much out there on the impending eatery, but the window paper promises pho, banh mi, and “grill“.
With all the smelly troubles El Segundo has been experiencing lately, it’s about time for an icy sweet treat. There is paper up in the windows of the space at 118 W Grand Ave. announcing a new ice cream shop is on the way. Dipped Ice Cream is on a mission to deliver the “finest Soft Serve Ice Cream DIPPED in Belgium Style chocolates”.
There’s a cheery new specialty drinks shop that slipped into a quieter section of Sawtelle Japantown. The Bay Area’s Teaspoon is now in soft opening at 1947 Sawtelle Blvd. Unit E and pouring drinks that “blend together fresh flavors with traditional boba tea culture”. Their Grand Opening will be on August 7th at 12pm, when the first 100 customers will get a free drink in a Teaspoon bamboo bottle.
The space at 3849 Main St, in Downtown Culver City, previously the home of Tentenyu Ramen & Sushi Roll, is getting a new tenant. While there’s no sign up yet and the windows are papered over, there is a small now hiring notice attached to the front, spilling the beans that Monty’s Good Burger will soon be spreading their plant-based love to the Good People of CC. Monty’s has a smattering of locations across LA and one in Riverside as well. They offer a focused menu of plant-based burgers, fries, tater tots, drinks, and merch.
Out of nowhere a new Mediterranean eatery has appeared in Marina Del Rey. With other locations in Westwood and Encino, Naab Cafe is now open at 4020C Lincoln Blvd. Expect a menu of small plates, sandwiches, falafel, and kebob.
You know the old saying; When the Lord closes an ice cream shop, somewhere he opens another. People were devastated by the recent closure of Santa Monica’s longstanding and beloved branch of popular icy treat brand Ben & Jerry’s. But from out of nowhere, a brand new location has opened at 253 S Beverly Dr. (formerly home to Creamistry). You’re welcome.
I’ve known for a little while that this was going down, but I wasn’t at liberty to tell you. Now I can officially announce that the space at 1008 Montana Ave., formerly home to a branch of Maria’s Italian Kitchen, will be the future Westside home to Woodland Hills’ Brothers Sushi. An ABC application appeared this week on the front of the location confirming the news. The Brothers Sushi is the much-lauded and wildly popular “high-end” sushi spot that offers seasonal “Omakase Chefs courses or Ala Carte options”. This is indeed exciting news for the burgeoning SaMo restaurant scene.
Before the pandemic, window displays went up on the space at 313 Wilshire Blvd. in Downtown Santa Monica announcing that Hollywood Burger would be moving in… and nothing happened. But that arrangement seems to have changed. There’s a new banner over the troubled location letting us know that Papi Tacos & Churros is on the way. Papi’s has a location on Jefferson Blvd. in LA that appears to be “temporarily closed”. I’m not sure if this is a second location or a total move, but in the mean time you can check out their current menu of “authentic Mexican street food” here.
The C3 Restaurant Platform is having a moment… It was only last week when I told you about the arrival of Umami Burger to Venice. Now it seems Brentwood is getting lucky as well. Umami Burger is currently moving into the old Le Pain Quotidien space at 13050 San Vicente Blvd Ste 114 (corner of 26th), consequently the same shopping center that is the home to the new swanky bento box restaurant Imari. A company spokesperson contacted me to let me know that this location, as well as the new Venice location, will also host a ghost kitchen for Sam’s Crispy Chicken, Krispy Rice, Kumi.
Il looks like things are taking off for The Runway in Playa Vista. After a strong opening a few years back, the retail/restaurant heart of the development began to sputter. Restaurant closures left many spaces unoccupied. The recent opening of Free Market Playa Vista, the mini-mall filled with hip design shops and restaurants, has really brought a resurgence to the now pedestrian only complex. New restaurants appear to have taken notice and are moving in. And pizza is coming back as well… Window covering on the space that used to be the home of 800 Degrees Pizza, at 12751 W Millennium Dr. Ste B135, is announcing the upcoming arrival of Cacio E Pizza.
I recently noticed paper covering the windows at 9632 S Santa Monica Blvd. You may recall that this space was most recently inhabited by a branch of Danish lifestyle brand Joe & The Juice. It looks like Joe has moved on and something called La Ong is moving in. I don’t have any information on La Ong, except that “Thai cuisine” will be on offer.
The space at 235 Main St. in Venice has sat vacant ever since Komodo moved out. But that’s about to change… Window paper is covering the location announcing a new branch of Umami Burger. Umami caused quite a stir when it burst onto the scene at its flagship LA spot in 2009 and has since spread to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, The Bahamas, and Japan. And they are offering “free burger days” when they eventually open, so you may want to keep a look out.
There’s a new ABC application recently posted to the front of the space at 9705/9709 S Santa Monica Blvd (formerly Il Forno Caldo). It names the upcoming restaurant as Demonico’s. I don’t have much information on the upcoming eatery. There is already a Domenico’s that offers Italian products at local farmers’ markets, but I don’t have any confirmation that the two are connected. If you know more, let me know…
I do occasionally get out of The Westside… I recently noticed that the Westfield Fashion Square at 14006 Riverside Dr. in Sherman Oaks, will soon get to sample Yang’s Braised Chicken Rice. Yang’s began in 2011 in Ji Nan, Shandong Province of China, and has since spread to over 6,000 locations in Asia, Australia, and now North America. New branches are also in the works for Fairfax, Valencia, and Arcadia as well. It looks like they’re shooting for a Summer opening.
It look like Sawtelle Japantown is getting a new specialty cafe soon… There’s window paper and a new sign up on the space that used to be the home of gallery Eleven Arts announcing the impending arrival of Sunmerry Bakery Cafe to 2129 Sawtelle. Sunmerry already has a number of locations in SoCal. It was founded in 1986 in Taiwan and specializes in Japanese baking techniques for its many varied cakes, cream puffs, and “boba egg tarts”, as well as offering a selection of boba, taro, and tea drinks.
Long-standing Westside staple Mama Hong’s Vietnamese Kitchen is moving locations. A complany rep gave me the skinny on the new signage up at 12201 Santa Monica Blvd. in LA. This address used to be home to burger joint Quicksand which fell victim to the Pandemic. Mama Hong’s will be closing their Brentwood location in the under-renovation shopping complex at 11819 Wilshire Blvd. in about a week, and opening in the new space “soon”. They also have locations in Burbank and Orange as well.
Toddrickallen 