L.A.’s Recent Eatery Closures Reflect U.S. Trend

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L.A.’s Recent Eatery Closures Reflect U.S. Trend
Red O

Red O, Bouchon, Fleishik’s, Bar Food, Nate ‘n Al Delicatessen.

A couple of well-known restaurants have closed, while the famous deli’s fate remains unknown.

Those are some big names—here are some numbers:

The number of restaurants operating nationwide decreased 2 percent to fewer than 650,000 from fall 2016 to fall 2017 – the steepest numerical dip in 20 years, according to a new report released in February by Port Washington, N.Y.- based market research firm NPD Group Inc.

Los Angeles County was in line with the national trend, down 675 units, or 1.7 percent, of its total restaurant count.

Independent restaurants in particular suffered during the period studied, according to NDP, losing 3 percent of their total nationally and 3.3 percent locally, about twice the rate of the L.A. market overall.

Independent and chain locations each make up about half of the total number on both the national and regional level.

Restaurant traffic has remained stagnant nationwide for the past five years, according to NPD restaurant industry analyst Bonnie Riggs.

Anecdotal indicators suggest that digitally-enabled food trucks and meal delivery services account for some of the decline, although a note from Riggs in the recent NDP report cited a litany of other challenges, including “labor shortages, increased health care costs, rising food costs, steep rents and the expectations of today’s consumers,” Briggs said in a draft note accompanying the report. “Some are downsizing, some are shutting their doors. Others are turning to delivery apps to grow revenue.”

Among those recently closed, or expected to shut their doors, is Chef Thomas Keller’s Bouchon in Beverly Hills, which shuttered in December.

Keller, the founder of Yountville-based restaurant group Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, said he closed after being unable to come to a lease agreement with the restaurant’s landlord, the City of Beverly Hills.

Other high-profile spots made the same decision to close.

Upscale Mexican restaurant Red O on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood planned to close on March 2, an employee at the Melrose location told the Business Journal last week.

The sit-down was Chicago Chef Rick Bayless’s first Los Angeles venture when it opened in 2010, according to Eater LA, which first reported the news. Bayless went on to open locations on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, La Jolla and Newport Beach, which will continue to operate, according to the Jeffrey Davis, director of sales and marketing for Red O Management.

Both Fleishik’s, a playful take on the Jewish deli opened on Beverly Boulevard by Chef Eric Greenspan in March last year, and Santa Monica gastropub Bar Food on Wilshire Boulevard, shut down in recent months without announcement.

The closures are notable in that out-of-town celebrity chefs, including Keller and Bayless, have flocked to Los Angeles in recent years as the area’s dining scene has gained prominence nationally.

There’s been an outcry over the possible shuttering of Beverly Hill’s Nate ‘n Al Delicatessen, established in 1945. The deli’s owners didn’t respond to a request for comment.

New restaurants are still opening, however. A new upscale diner by restaurateur Jeremy Fall, Easy’s, is scheduled to open in the renovated Beverly Center mall this spring. Cal Mare, a seafood restaurant from San Francisco-based Michael Mina, just opened at the mall.

Mexico Wants Angelenos

Mexico is aiming to sell Mexican-Americans on the idea of exploring their heritage in hopes of driving up tourism, according to Melanie Garvey, a spokeswoman for the Mexico Tourism Board.

The board’s secretary of tourism visited Los Angeles last month as part of a larger tour around the United States.

Travel and tourism contributed $76.7 billion, or 7.4 percent, to Mexico’s gross domestic product in 2016, according to a report from the World Travel and Tourism Council, and is expected to generate $106 billion, or 7.9 percent, of gross domestic product by 2027.

The L.A. Tourism & Convention Board, meanwhile, recently began airing ads of its “Everyone Is Welcome” marketing campaign on Hulu. The campaign is geared particularly toward visitors from Mexico. (See story on page 3.)

Mexicans make up the largest group of international visitors to L.A. County, according to the board. However, last year the county saw a 2.8 percent drop in the number of Mexican visitors to 1.7 million, despite hosting a record 48.3 million visitors overall.

Staff reporter Caroline Anderson can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8329.

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