{"id":104797,"date":"2025-12-22T11:30:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T11:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/104797\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T11:30:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T11:30:09","slug":"l-a-restaurants-thought-it-couldnt-get-any-worse-then-2025-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/104797\/","title":{"rendered":"L.A. restaurants thought it couldn’t get any worse. Then 2025 happened"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In late October the owners of one of the city\u2019s best pizzerias<\/a> took to social media, begging for help: Ronan needed an immediate influx of customers to stay afloat, and even ordering one cocktail or piece of merch could help.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a COVID baby as a restaurant owner, but this is no less serious than that, and it\u2019s probably harder because the relief isn\u2019t there,\u201d co-owner Caitlin Cutler said in an interview. \u201cIn 2025 versus 2024, when you think it couldn\u2019t get worse, it got worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year restaurateurs said that the state of the hospitality industry was untenable<\/a> due to the loss of business from the entertainment-industry strikes<\/a>, cost-of-labor increases and repayment of COVID-era back rent and loans. In 2025 fires, ICE raids, neighborhood curfews and tariffs added to the strain on Los Angeles restaurants.<\/p>\n

In early 2025 Cutler and her husband, Daniel, received a $10,000 grant and a $50,000 loan with deferred payments, which they figured would buoy their cash reserves through the end of the year and possibly into 2026. But only months later, summer\u2019s ICE raids and a steep decrease in tourism triggered an unexpected decline, wiping out the funds. Now they\u2019re unsure how to even pay the loan back.<\/p>\n

\"Ronan <\/p>\n

Ronan co-owner Daniel Cutler holds his daughter while preparing pickup service on March 16, 2020, the day after Eric Garcetti announced that all restaurants in Los Angeles must close due to the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

(Allison Zaucha \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kaleidoscopic,\u201d said Jot Condie, president and chief executive of the California Restaurant Assn. \u201cEvery potential issue is conspiring against the restaurant industry. … The industry is really in a very volatile position.\u201d<\/p>\n

A confluence of setbacks led to dozens of restaurant closures this year, including some of the city\u2019s most lauded and legendary places: Papa Cristo\u2019s,<\/a> Guerrilla Tacos<\/a>, Here\u2019s Looking at You<\/a> and more.<\/p>\n

Longtime restaurateur Sang Yoon announced in early December the shocking closure of Helms Bakery, the iconic Culver City bread purveyor revived by Yoon in late 2024. He cited a number of factors, but chief among them were affordability as an operator and inconsistent consumer spending.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe forces that we don\u2019t control might be bigger than the ones we control,\u201d Yoon said. \u201cWith very few exceptions, there\u2019s few people doing OK. [There\u2019s] kind of a malaise in town. It feels like L.A. really lost a couple steps. Late-night is gone. People are closing earlier. \u2026 It just doesn\u2019t feel right. I grew up here, and it\u2019s probably the weirdest it\u2019s felt in my whole life. And I\u2019ve been through a lot of weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

The California Restaurant Assn. represents more than 22,000 members, including restaurants, food trucks, bars, catering companies, breweries and ghost kitchens. This year Condie noticed \u201ca Richter-scale shift in the attitudes of L.A. restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n

The association annually surveys hundreds of California restaurateurs on their experiences and perceptions of the industry. The outlook in Los Angeles was particularly bleak.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, the San Francisco restaurant owners are very pessimistic,\u201d Condie said, \u201cand with L.A. restaurants, it\u2019s usually the other way around. There\u2019s a lot of people, the weather\u2019s great, there\u2019s year-round outdoor dining. Now, it\u2019s the opposite. They\u2019ve traded places, and I haven\u2019t seen anything like this in our surveys in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the L.A. restaurateurs surveyed, 84.8% said traffic is down compared with last year.<\/p>\n

Most respondents said they wouldn\u2019t be raising prices to offset losses, for fear of driving even more customers away. To compensate and drive down costs, 36% of L.A. restaurants surveyed said they are reducing hours of operation, while 25% said they\u2019re trimming down their menus, and 13% said they are closing additional days.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got more restaurants and way less spending in restaurants, so the piece of the pie that everybody gets is much, much, much smaller,\u201d said Condie. \u201cWith that in the background, it\u2019s like every other issue that\u2019s conspiring against restaurants in L.A. is more intense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those who are opening new restaurants are trying to stay optimistic, and some are streamlining their business plans. Michael Fiorelli and Elizabeth Gutierrez swore they would never turn their pop-up into a restaurant, but they took the plunge anyway and run Fiorelli Pizza with the mantra \u201cless resources, more resourceful.\u201d <\/p>\n

Here are some of the largest ongoing factors that shook the L.A. restaurant industry in 2025.<\/p>\n

January fires<\/p>\n

Nearly one year since the Jan. 7 fires<\/a>, the communities of Altadena, Palisades, Topanga and Malibu are still reeling and rebuilding. Even surviving businesses across the county report decimated sales in the first months of the year, citing the fires.<\/p>\n

Some of the city\u2019s most famous and locally loved restaurants burned<\/a>. Some restaurants reopened in new neighborhoods \u2014 such as the Palisades\u2019 Flour Pizzeria & Cafe, which now resides in Brentwood \u2014 while others, such as the Reel Inn<\/a>, have yet to reopen.<\/p>\n

The weeks following the fires saw steep declines in sales as L.A. residents left the city or remained inside. Some chefs and restaurateurs, including Guerrilla Tacos founder Wes Avila, petitioned City Hall<\/a> to launch a campaign that would encourage supporting local restaurants during the fallout.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually I try to stay out of local politics,\u201d Avila said in February, \u201cbut this is something that\u2019s super important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Immigration raids, downtown curfews<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s federal immigration raids<\/a> hit industries across Los Angeles. In food service, according to Alba Velasquez<\/a> of Los Angeles Food Policy Council, immigrants comprise 66% of workers in L.A. County, and 79% of them are Latino. The ICE-raid initiative \u2014 and ensuing protests<\/a> \u2014 began in June but continues today, still hurting consumer spending, restaurateurs say.<\/p>\n

Some declined to share their experiences on record for fear of inciting more sweeps. One local restaurateur, who requested not to be named, lost two key employees this summer: His head of kitchen prep self-deported to Mexico after his home was raided, as did a dishwasher, who left after his brother was arrested during a raid at a bus stop.<\/p>\n

Long-term employees who know the ins and outs of a restaurant can be hard to replace. In addition to the emotional loss, the restaurateur said he and other staff covered their tasks indefinitely.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is burned out,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s not enough rowers in the boat to keep the boat going. Everyone is over-stretched, overreached and overworked.\u201d<\/p>\n

For restaurants downtown, the temporary curfews in June halted business at peak dinner hours. Others \u2014 notably in Little Tokyo<\/a> \u2014 saw looting and property destruction during several days of anti-ICE protests.<\/p>\n

While business has steadily improved since the summer, French-Japanese bistro Cam\u00e9lia, one of the city\u2019s top restaurants<\/a>, hasn\u2019t rebounded to its early-2025 revenue. In July and August Cam\u00e9lia lost 60% to 70% of its expected business.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if we do have a busy fourth quarter,\u201d said co-owner Courtney Kaplan, \u201cI don\u2019t know that we\u2019re going to make up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Courtney <\/p>\n

Courtney Kaplan and Charles Namba, co-owners of Ototo, say their sake bar in Echo Park felt consumer effects from the summer\u2019s immigration raids and downtown curfews.<\/p>\n

(Mel Melcon \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

When the curfews began Kaplan and her partner, Charles Namba, offered happy hour and a temporary lunch service, pivots that helped keep the restaurant afloat and the staff employed. The curfews\u2019 residual effects hit their Echo Park restaurants, Tsubaki and Ototo.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is just one thing layered on top of so many other things that are going on,\u201d Kaplan said, \u201cthat I don\u2019t think that any neighborhoods are necessarily immune from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tariffs and inflation<\/p>\n

In a year marked by economic concerns, tariff trade wars and rising utility costs<\/a>, nearly every restaurant and chef interviewed named steep price hikes for coffee, butter, beef and more..<\/p>\n

. <\/p>\n

At Long Beach bakery San & Wolves, which opened at the beginning of the year, guests queue for plant-based Filipino pastries, pan de sal and turon. Owners Kym Estrada and Arvin Torres source many of their ingredients from the Philippines.<\/p>\n

\"San <\/p>\n

San & Wolves co-owner Kym Estrada carries a tray of cookies on Wednesday, Oct. 29 in Long Beach.<\/p>\n

(Juliana Yamada \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

In June, as vendors braced for tariffs, the restaurateurs started to see prices increase, and they couldn\u2019t easily find their usual coconut milk \u2014 an ingredient in nearly every item at their bakery. In July Trump declared a 19% tariff on goods from the Philippines. The price for a case of coconut milk rose to as high as $20.<\/p>\n

In May they were paying $109 for a 50-pound bag of their preferred Filipino brand of desiccated coconut. It became unavailable from June to August, and when it reappeared in September it cost nearly $200 for the same amount.<\/p>\n

Filipino frozen ube, which they ordered every few weeks, was detained by the FDA and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol over the summer. Toward the start of 2025 their Philippines-grown Barako coffee beans cost $70 per 5-pound bag. In the second half of the year the price increased to $90.<\/p>\n

The costs have whittled away at their profit margin in the last 10 months, and Estrada is unsure how to offset them without raising her prices. Estrada doesn\u2019t want to further alienate her Filipino customers, who might not understand why her pastries already cost more than at a traditional, nonvegan bakery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if things start to double up,\u201d she said, \u201clike they did with the desiccated coconut, then I think we\u2019ll have to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decline in tourism<\/p>\n

Over the summer L.A.\u2019s international tourism fell 8%<\/a>, according to California\u2019s tourism board, equating to more than 170,000 fewer global tourists than last year.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s bars, restaurants and other small-business owners are feeling it. Most restaurateurs interviewed by The Times noted tourism felt slower than usual.<\/p>\n

Le Coupe owner Craig Walker said sales and traffic at his viral Melrose Hill fried chicken shop<\/a> fell 20% in 2025 from 2024. He characterizes his year as \u201ca roller coaster with more lows than highs\u201d and cites a decline in tourism as a chief factor.<\/p>\n

With more than 50,000 followers on social media and copious videos of fried chicken that drips with honey sauce, Le Coupe has drawn guests from Sweden, Germany, Brazil and beyond. Many stop to make video content about their trip to the online-famous chicken stand.<\/p>\n

But this year Walker said those visits came to a trickle.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The bone-in fried chicken from Le Coupe comes drenched in chile honey with a side of ranch. <\/p>\n

(Jenn Harris \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

The chef\u2019s also seen his business dip in online sales. This year, he said, with more restaurants struggling and offering delivery discounts like \u201cbuy one, get one\u201d deals, it\u2019s harder to compete than ever before.<\/p>\n

One major setback can cost the restaurant months of revenue. When music festival Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival rescheduled due to flooding, Walker lost roughly $8,000 in food, equipment rentals and signage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve gotta absorb this blow and try to catch myself like a boxer in a ring,\u201d Walker said. \u201cI just got to get up because I got knocked out, and I got to continue on. But we\u2019ve taken a lot of blows this year, and it has been extremely difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The road ahead<\/p>\n

Some local restaurateurs expressed cautious optimism for the coming years, hoping for more spending and tourism due to the 2026 World Cup<\/a> and the 2028 Olympic Games<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some are reaching out to legislators, asking for financial aid or pitching new programs that could help independent restaurants. Alba co-owner Cobi Levy saw several restaurants close around his Italian hot spot in August and wrote to West Hollywood\u2019s mayor and council members with a clear premise: \u201cWeHo is dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

His email included proposals such as installing \u201cbusiness liaisons\u201d to help restaurateurs navigate the city\u2019s permit process and other red tape. <\/p>\n

Levy said in an interview that his own year-plus of Alba\u2019s opening<\/a> delays cost his team an estimated $2.7 million, not including the loss of potential revenue.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A negroni with a monogrammed ice cube at Alba in West Hollywood.<\/p>\n

(Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

L.A. restaurateurs warned Levy that operating in Los Angeles can be more costly and require more permitting than he\u2019d experienced in New York City. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize it was talking about orders-of-magnitude more difficult,\u201d he said, \u201cand it really put us in a bad place.\u201d By working with the city he said he hopes to build a more streamlined, equitable path for restaurants to open, and to remain open.<\/p>\n

Michael Fiorelli swore he would never open his own restaurant. Overhead costs were too great in Los Angeles, and he\u2019d worked for outwardly successful restaurants with sales of $8 million a year that still lost money.<\/p>\n

In November he debuted a pizzeria in Beverly Grove anyway.<\/p>\n

He and his business partner, Elizabeth Gutierrez, had previously left full-service restaurants behind to launch a mobile pizza oven in a Venice community garden<\/a> last year. They served 200 pizzas a day, often exposed to the elements, prepping their dough in a commissary kitchen and transporting it to Venice. Getting creative with less, they said, is what enabled their success.<\/p>\n

\"Fiorelli <\/p>\n

Michael Fiorelli and Liz Gutierrez serve blistered pizzas from their mobile pizza oven in the Cook\u2019s Garden in Venice in 2024.<\/p>\n

(Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard people say the restaurant business is over, it\u2019s done,\u201d said Fiorelli. \u201cWe might not see it the way it was again, but the restaurant business isn\u2019t over, we can\u2019t accept that. … There\u2019s another way to do it and do it proudly and do it well.\u201d<\/p>\n

During their search for a more private new commercial kitchen, Fiorelli and Gutierrez stumbled upon a closed, 750-square-foot restaurant space, which they could rent as both a prep kitchen and storage. They signed the lease, and within the month learned the community garden was planned to be demolished this year.<\/p>\n

Despite their plans to avoid a bricks-and-mortar, they used their prep kitchen as a restaurant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe learned so much in the garden on how to operate only with what we need,\u201d Fiorelli said. \u201cWe were like, \u2018We can do this without all of that stuff and we can still be successful.\u2019 I\u2019m not defining success by how much money we\u2019re making. We can still run an operation we\u2019re proud of, we can still confidently employ people and know that they\u2019re going to get their paychecks every week, and we can still serve really good food.\u201d<\/p>\n

With counter service, a set menu, casual setting and tables that double as prep space, they stripped the need for uniforms, frequent menu printing, professional photographers, linens, a cleaning crew and more. Every employee cleans the space, every employee takes turns washing dishes, every employee preps ingredients and cooks.<\/p>\n

\"Two <\/p>\n

Fiorelli Pizza owners Elizabeth Gutierrez, left, and Michael Fiorelli in their Beverly Grove restaurant.<\/p>\n

(Stephanie Breijo \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people told us, \u2018The garden is a cute dream, but it\u2019s not going to get you guys financially anywhere,\u2019\u201d Gutierrez said. \u201cI do think that we need to get away from what we think is the standard, because now more and more people need to get creative.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In late October the owners of one of the city\u2019s best pizzerias took to social media, begging for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104798,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[387,1409,3802,2624,24739,56777,131,133,132,63,56779,1929,56778,5589,5931,5277,72],"class_list":["post-104797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-business","tag-city","tag-fire","tag-june","tag-l-a-restaurant","tag-l-a-restaurateur","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-other-issue","tag-price","tag-restaurant-industry","tag-sale","tag-summer","tag-tourism","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}