After more than six months of a temporary closure and extensive damage caused by both the Palisades Fire and subsequent mudslides, Duke’s Malibu is poised for a comeback.

The beloved Malibu eatery recently announced it will be reopening this summer, with plans to welcome guests back on a limited basis at the end of the month — targeting an early-August total resumption of service.

“It’s going to be really exciting,” said Jimmy Chavez, Duke’s general manager who has overseen operations of the beachfront restaurant since 2016. “This is our 29th year here, so we’re already planning a big 30th anniversary party for next year and to have a pretty much brand-new restaurant is really cool.”

But Chavez’s enthusiasm does not come without major grief. In January, the Palisades Fire swept through, damaging 234 businesses and destroying 99, in and around Malibu, according to an April report by Beacon Economics and Pepperdine University’s School of Public Policy. Even among the businesses that survived, many faced significant challenges due to ensuing road closures and decreased rates of tourism, leading to overall plunges in revenue.

“Malibu, particularly, is really an island on its own,” said Devin Klein, a vice president and retail leasing agent at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. “The only way to get to Malibu is via Pacific Coast Highway or the (101) freeway and then through the canyon. PCH has been closed until a month ago, and really the only way in was via the freeway and then the canyon which, of course, really brought business to a screeching halt because people found it extremely inconvenient to go that route.”

Initial damage

Duke’s Malibu, which is owned and operated by Solana Beach-based TS Restaurants, first closed its doors on Jan. 7 — the same day the Palisades fire began and eventually destroyed nearly 7,000 structures, scorching almost 3,000 acres of land. While the restaurant was damaged by smoke and ash, the structure initially withstood the wrath of the fire, with staff anticipating a mid-February reopening.

The team was five weeks into smoke remediation when subsequent mudslides, caused by heavy rainfall on the fire-scarred hills, flooded the restaurant with thick mud and debris in February. That forced all progress made to be reset. Duke’s announced it had laid off 126 of its employees and would temporarily close its doors until it was safe to reopen via an Instagram post.

“Living in Malibu, or having a business in Malibu, you definitely have a perspective of natural disasters,” Chavez said. “It’s just part of what it means to be here.”

More than a decade earlier, Duke’s experienced a flash flood during dining, during which 30 patrons needed to be evacuated. The restaurant closed for almost three weeks.

“There’s nothing you can do to stop that amount of water, that amount of mass that’s coming in,” he said of the previous disaster. “And this was way worse.”

Pre-disaster hardship

But even when the weather cooperates, doing business in Malibu is no easy enterprise. “Business in Malibu is always really fickle,” Chavez said. “We’re a seasonal town. We’re weather driven. You need warm, sunny weather for people to drive, either through the canyons from the valleys or down PCH from the 10 and the majority of the Los Angeles area.”

Chavez added that the majority of the restaurant’s sales come during the summer and warmer months. Prior to the fire and mudslides, he said that they had faced “a tough couple of years,” mainly due to extensive construction on the PCH.

“I’m sure (the construction work) has been much needed in many areas, but that really impacts business for us,” he said. “If there’s traffic, people don’t come because it takes too long.”

But that’s just the beginning of the challenges Duke’s and other restaurants along PCH regularly face, said Mitchell Hernandez, a partner and co-founder of El Segundo-based real estate brokerage Beta Agency, which specializes in Westside commercial leasing.

“On a micro level, this trade area is already struggling to find enough workers due to its remote location where employees may have to commute over an hour (to get to work),” said Hernandez. “Moreover, macroeconomic challenges such as high labor costs, rising food prices and above-average occupancy expenses further reduce profit margins.”

Recovery in motion

While getting slammed with mud and losing out on nearly seven months of sales was surely not at the top of Chavez’s goals going into the new year, he noted there have been some silver linings to come out of the circumstances.

“We do have really, really good insurance and we’re able to recoup all of those pieces that are really important for us,” he said. “Being a restaurant of our tenure and age, you’re never going to just get a full kitchen overhaul. You’re going to replace things as they break, and do what you need to do, but so to get a brand-new kitchen, or even components of the restaurant refreshed, you have to look at that in a positive light.”

Chavez said that the Ventura County and Los Angeles County fire departments, along with the Malibu Pacific Palisades Chamber of Commerce and the health department, have been working hard to push Duke’s and other restaurants in similar positions through permitting and get them back on their feet. It took two months for workers to drain all the mud from Duke’s before the building was then able to pass a moldability test. Now, the problem is rebuilding.

“We’ve just been hitting delays in fabrication, shipping of custom stainless (steel) and furniture and all the things that we’re going to need to operate, so we’re breaking (the reopening) into two phases,” Chavez said, suggesting tariffs likely played a role in this hold up.

Phase one will be the opening of Duke’s barefoot bar and patio at the end of July, with the main dining room and main entry to hopefully follow in early August. The restaurant already has a couple of events lined up for late July — including a wedding and a Pepperdine event — that it is committed to hosting, which is why the team is pushing for the strict timeline, said Chavez.

“The interesting part about the fire and almost being through that smoke remediation — if we had passed through that, gotten clearance and tried to open by end of February, PCH was still closed for another two months,” Chavez said. “It didn’t reopen until Memorial Day, so that would’ve been three months of just construction and bypassing resident past traffic. That would’ve been really difficult to get through.”

While Chavez acknowledged he likely wouldn’t be able to bring back all of the employees they were forced to let go, mainly from some being temporary or seasonal workers, he’s committed to rehiring the core group and looks forward to adding new faces to the team.

“We had six employees who were directly affected and lost their homes, and then a handful of others that obviously were affected in a couple different layers of association,” he said. “We’re doing what we can for them and trying to just get back on track so that we can not only be a place for the community but be a place for our crew to come back to and call home.”

Business outlook

With so many Malibu and Pacific Palisades residents still gone, despite authorities lifting the remaining evacuation orders, and others not wanting to return at all, the choice to reopen now was certainly not a light one.

“Palisades and Malibu are going to take a while, there’s just no way around it,” Klein said. “People have to be patient. As tough as it is, it’s devastating to retailers.”

Overall, Klein and Hernandez both noted that now is a great time for Malibu retailers to be jumping back into business — stating retail is among the healthiest markets in Los Angeles and a Malibu rebound will come with time.

“(Malibu) March sales cratered by 75-80% year-over-year,” Hernandez said. “Since PCH reopened fully at the end of May, sales in June were down 15-20% year-over-year, representing a drastic improvement in just 90 days.”

“I think it’s a good time for people to be jumping in because I think landlords are sensitive to everything that’s going on so they’re more willing to get in the trenches with retailers and make deals,” Klein added. “Business has definitely picked up again…I just think, as with anything in life you get hit with, you get knocked down and you get back up again.”

“I know how hard the restaurant business is, especially in a seasonal location,” Chavez said. “I think all year we’re kind of hearing about these iconic restaurants in Los Angeles closing. The (Original) Pantry (Cafe) closed, Papa Cristo’s closed…Twenty-nine years in Malibu is a really long time…You take pride in that…We want to continue to be an institution here.”

As part of Duke’s reopening, Chavez said they reset their phone system a couple of weeks ago to allow for outgoing messages that provide customers with an update on the restaurant. The new phone line is also open to receiving voicemails. So far, it’s been flooded with calls, he said.

“I can’t tell you how many voicemails we’ve got,” Chavez said. “It’s great to see the community reaching out, trying to make reservations, trying to figure out when we’re opening…On social media, (there are) really touching comments and just tons of appreciation and love. It’s definitely motivating.”