More than 75 big-deal L.A. restaurants closed so far this year. So why are chefs still optimistic?

In July, after more than a year of delays prepping her first bricks-and-mortar restaurant — and a long stretch earlier searching for the right spot — chef Rashida Holmes opened Bridgetown Roti with high hopes. Its previous incarnations as a pop-up and Arts District takeout operation earned her the 29th spot on the 2022 L.A.

Times 101 Best Restaurants list plus a 2023 James Beard emerging chef nomination. The opening is welcome relief not only for Holmes’ customers, who during Bridgetown’s hiatus missed her paratha-style roti and other Caribbean American specialties (Times critic Bill Addison is already extolling the new place’s macaroni and cheese pie ), but for those L.A.

restaurant-goers dismayed in recent months over too many closures of beloved and high-profile places. Could the opening of Bridgetown Roti after such a long gestation, plus a wave of other restaurant debuts, be a sign of recovery? At the end of 2023, Times reporter Stephanie Breijo made note of more than 65 restaurants that went out of business during the year, a heartbreaking account of loss. For whenever a restaurant closes, it not only harms the livelihoods of its workers and owners, it affects a vast network of suppliers who need a steady flow of business and, of course, its customers for whom a favorite gathering spot instills a sense of neighborhood belonging and loyalty to a city.

Since the start of 2024, the losses have continued. Inflation, a sluggish return to office work following COVID.