Los Angeles has seen several notable restaurant closures in the past few weeks. Hart House, the vegan fast food chain owned by comedian Kevin Hart, closed all four locations . Pink Taco, located on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, abruptly shuttered its doors after 12 years .
Otoño, a well-reviewed Spanish-inspired restaurant in Highland Park is now closed. Acclaimed Gorilla Pies in Valley Village has gone on hiatus to “reimagine how we can better serve you.” Eater L.
A has kept a running total of this year’s closures, and it’s 75 so far. Compared to last year’s 65 eateries that closed over the entire year — it’s clear that it’s grim out there. To get a better picture of the current situation, we reached out to three business owners: Nicole Rucker, owner of Fat & Flour in DTLA and Culver City; Chef Teresa Montaño of the now-shuttered Otoño ; and Alex Koons, of Hot Tongue Pizza in Silver Lake, who made the decision last year to add meat to his vegan pizzeria menu with hopes of attracting a larger customer base.
All three have been vocal regarding the hardships they’ve faced recently. (Note: these conversations have been edited for clarity and length). Nicole Rucker: “This summer, we experienced a drop in our business that started on June 1st, which came after we had recorded high sales in 2023.
The beginning of the year, it's normally a little bit slower, and then we look to summer for when tourism comes to L.A. [But] this summer, it took a sharp dr.
