Back in January I told you that signs on the construction site of the new Arclight Cinemas, being constructed out of thin air atop Bloomingdale’s, indicated that the new theater would feature a café and full bar. Well, now the wait for a boozy movie is over. Arclight Cinemas opens today (November 20th) in Santa Monica Place and the posters declare that you can take your drink into the theater with you. Cheers!
Did that take a long time or what? Last Winter, I told you about the signs in the window announcing that a branch of Lemonade was taking over the old Rockenwagner space at 311 Arizona Ave. in Santa Monica. Originally, the optimistic purveyor of “seasonal California comfort food”, innocent to the workings of the City of Santa Monica, had planned for a Spring opening. That obviously didn’t happen. But all that’s behind us now. Lemonade threw open its doors yesterday, November 17. Incidentally, the bright and cheery expanding brand appears poised to move into the Bay Area, according to their website.
Back in early August, I noticed that the new Elevon complex in El Segundo was getting a branch of superfood chain Bowl of Heaven. At the time, I also pointed out that their website indicated that Santa Monica was to land a branch as well. And now we know where… Papers are up in the window of the space at 725 Broadway announcing the upcoming arrival. They’re still in the construction phase so I don’t know when they intend on opening, but until then, you can check out Bowl of Heaven’s menu of acai bowls, smoothies, and juices here.
Beverly Hill’s preeminent purveyor of all things tea has closed down for a major redo. American Tea Room at 401 N. Canon Drive is covered with plywood and large banners indicating that the facelift will be complete sometime in 2016. Until then, check out their new Downtown LA location or follow the progress of their upcoming Newport Beach location here.
A great many of you have been following with rapt attention the extraordinarily slow progress of the still unopened Honey Boba on Santa Monica Blvd., just to the west of the 405. (They appear to be quite close to opening.) With locations already in Gardena, Lomita, Rosemead, and Arcadia, the boba chain continues its tortoiselike march toward the beach with a new location arriving soon to the Glen Court shopping center at 5267 Rosecrans Ave. in Hawthorne. Until that fateful day, read more about “the best boba alive” and check out their menu here.
It looks like the busy aerospace industry can look forward to yet another lunchtime choice soon… After having sat vacant for quite a while, the free-standing building that used to house a Qdoba at 5221 Rosecrans Ave. in Hawthorne (just to the west of the 405) is about to get a new tenant. Signs are up indicating that a branch of “fast fire’d” build-your-own pizza restaurant Blaze Pizza is moving in. Looks like they’re planning on an opening sometime next year, but until then, check out the menu of the rapidly expanding national chain here.
Back in December of last year, I told you about the impending arrival of a new ice cream shop to the space at 219 Arizona (Third St. Promenade) in Santa Monica that used to house Frey Wille. Well, it took about a year, but Creams & Dreams is now open. Using liquid nitrogen in the churning, they offer a wide selection of all-natural ice cream in clever flavors such as maiz con queso, fresh avocado, and orange honey. Check out their entire menu of ice cream as well as pastries, coffee, and tea here.
Well it can’t be said it was for lack of trying… Having previously occupied a space on 3rd Street, it was a new and hopeful day when coffee and sandwich shop Infuzion Café opened in their bright and shiny buildout at 1241 5th St. in Santa Monica almost exactly two years ago. Sadly, it appears that they weren’t able to make a go of it. A somber note pasted to the front window informs us that they have permanently closed as of last week.
Right next door to the recently revamped and highly popular Koala Tapioca, a new icy treat shop is coming to the space at 10967 Weyburn Ave. in Westwood. Frostalicious is promising the World’s first self-serve Taiwanese shaved ice machines that will deliver the revolutionary “light as a snowflake, fluffy as a cloud” frozen delights in a myriad of flavors including; strawberry buttermilk, cucumber mint, and creamy mango. And you can add to this an astonishing array of toppings such as; almond tofu, red velvet bites, aloe vera with honey, and flavored condensed milk. Now word on an opening date and the construction is fast and furious, but until then read more here.
Stop the presses, this just in… While we’re on the subject of new buzz-worthy Japanese restaurants on the Westside, a great deal of you were extremely excited by the news I told you back in May that Yazawa Meat was going into the old BierBeisl space at 9669 Santa Monica Blvd. in Beverly Hills. Well, you’ll be ecstatic to learn that straight from Japan, our own local branch of the ultra-exclusive chain Yazawa Meat soft opened last night (October 29th) after a brief run of invite only, with an expected grand opening of December 1st. What took so long? According to a spokesperson, permits from LA County held them up. But all that’s behind us now. Expect the absolute end-all of routinely flown in Japanese wagu expertly cut (the name Yazawa refers to a legendary Japanese butcher) (and yes, I’m assured there are vegetarian options). But with all this attention, good luck getting a seat in the dark, intimate, diminutive dining room. In the mean time, check out their website and explore the menus at one of their other glitzy outposts in Milan, Tokyo, and Singapore here.
Every once in a while, a story surprises me by how much interest it garners. It was back in mid-August that I told you about papers in the window of the old Top N One Ramen Ex space at 1049 Gayley Ave. in Westwood announcing that a new Japanese noodle shop, Musashiya Udon Noodle was moving in. And since then, the buzz on this place has been, well, crazy. So to all those people who have been following this story with cult-like rapt attention comes this exciting news: Musashiya opens today (October 28th) at 11:00am according to the paper in the window. Check out their website and read more about what they’re billing as the “Best Udon In America” here.
Create your own exclusive spa experience at home… Voted Travel + Leisure’s #1 destination spa for 2015, Golden Door has long been the choice for celebs and those in the know to get a bit of Zen back in their lives. You may not be able to visit this famous Shrine of Hygeia in Escondido, but now you don’t have to go that far… at least to try some of their proprietary packaged foods, spices, and condiments. A new kiosk has opened in the currently-ravaged Westfield Century City Shopping Center that offers an array of foods from the iconic spa, as well as skin products and other items that you can check out here.
With all the focus on the flashy new lineup of restaurants further up the road in the new Runway Playa Vista, less attention is paid to the slightly older area of the colossal development closer to Lincoln Blvd. Signs recently went up announcing that a new restaurant is coming to the space at 13020 W. Pacific Promenade #7 that used to house a hair salon. The mysterious banner announces only that “Great Food” will be coming soon. I’ve no idea if Great Food is the name of the new restaurant, or merely a description of what to expect so we’ll simply have to wait and see…
Signs have recently gone up in the upper deck space that used to house Mosto Enoteca at 517 Washington Blvd. announcing that a brand new entity, Azabu Sushi Bar & Grill is taking over. While the windows are papered over so I can’t get a glimpse of the progress, the red banner hanging outside informs us that they will be opening soon. I can’t seem to locate too much information on this new restaurant, but I’ll keep looking…
With locations peppered across Southern California, popular office lunch spot Trimana is expanding into Santa Monica. You may recall that earlier this month I told you about the departure of Japanese convenience store Famima!! from the space at 1348 3rd St Promenade. Wasting no time whatsoever, Trimana Fresh Food Market has posted notices in the window announcing their impending arrival. No word on when they’ll open, but until they do, check out their menu and read more here.
Back in February, I told you about a second location of Melrose’s glamourous purveyor of meringues and cakes, Bo Nuage, that was under construction in the old Shoe Wiz space at 9523 Santa Monica Blvd (near Rodeo) in Beverly Hills. Bo Nuage is now open and set to charm your knickers off with its adorable French pâtisserie themed décor and delightfully darling desserts on display. Pop by for a sample of their lighter than air confections and read more about this little slice of heaven here.
You could be forgiven for not noticing that The Beach’s preeminent shopping complex, Santa Monica Place did not have a branch of a large chain coffee shop. There has always been an outpost of the Italianesque mini-chain Ugo Café, and a now departed Groundwork made a valiant effort, but the big name ubiquitous coffee joints have been kept out… until now. Construction is underway on a free-standing brand spanking new Starbucks on the ground floor, near CB2, directly beneath the upcoming Arclight Cinemas.
Well that didn’t take long… It was only back in mid-August that I first noticed that the LA area was about to get its first branch of Santa Barbara’s popular ice cream shop Rori’s Artisanal Creamery. And now, only about two months later (a miracle in Santa Monica), they appear ready to throw open their doors at 910 Montana Ave. in Santa Monica. Rori’s Artisanal Creamery will have its grand opening this Saturday, October 17th at 11:00am according to their Facebook page and the flyers that have blanketed the city.
With all eyes on swankier developments lately (I’m looking at you, The Point), other more plebeian developments are off the radar… except here. One giant multi-use development going into a less glamorous part of El Segundo is the massive Elevon, complete with retail, dining, offices, and hotels. And the area around appears to be benefitting as well. Right next door is another, smaller complex, The Edge, located on the corner of N. Douglas St. and E. Maple Dr. With a couple of outlets across The Valley and one in Downtown LA, it appears that The Hummus Republic is expanding into The Edge complex, right next to Elevon. Read more about their “Where Healthy Meets Tasty” Mediterranean menu and find out more here.
With all the new eateries pouring into Playa Vista, here’s one that I apparently overlooked: Sol Mexican Cocina. Even though the Playa Vista blog, What’s Up Playa Vista reported its impending arrival late last year, and the restaurant’s website still states that they had hoped for a Spring 2015 opening, there have been no signs of it. But as you can see, the posters have remained up and job postings only just recently went up on Craiglist so I think it’s safe to assume that they’re still planning on opening. We’ll have to wait and see what develops, but until then check out the chain’s Baja-inspired menu here.
Toddrickallen 