With the orange Home Depot signs shining overhead, the southern edge of Figueroa Street in Cypress Park is better known for building supplies than boutiques. But at Figueroa and Avenue 28, the opening of Finster Studio, a vintage furniture and home accessories store, next to Footsies bar and across from Maintain skate shop has helped attract those searching for hipness instead of hardware. Cypress Park resident Sharon-Kate Sancer, a former photo producer and prop stylist, opened Finster, named after her Doxie Terrier mix, in December to pursue her longtime interest in vintage items and get out of a long commute.
Sancer said she was attracted to the location partly because Footsies “has a following of the same kind of customers we would draw.” Finster has also attracted customers patronizing other nearby businesses.
“I think [Maintain] customers have found us from spotting us across the street, and I hope vice-versa,” Sancer said in an email. “And I can’t neglect mentioning El Atacor #11. We’ve had many new customers walk in from being over here for their potato taco fix!”
[Read More…]
Workers have been gutting the interior of the former Alamar jewelry store, one of the many Cuban businesses that once thrived in Echo Park. Is there a new store or cafe coming to the 1800 block of Sunset Boulevard that is home to Masa restaurant and The Echo nightclub? Nope. The former Alamar store and an adjacent storefront will be filled by the social services agency El Centro Del Pueblo, which owns the building and is headquartered around the block on Lemoyne Street.
El Centro had already been using one of the Sunset Boulevard spaces and now looks to double the space. “We are renovating our office space for clinical mental health and family preservation services currently provided by El Centro,” said Executive Director Sandra Figueroa.
The once low-key strip of storefronts at the northeast corner of Sunset Boulevard and Micheltorena Street has in recent years attracted some upscale tenants, including Lark Bakery, The Hive Salon and Stark waxing studio. Now, the one-story building across from the Micheltorena Elementary playground is preparing for new and expanding businesses.
The former dry cleaner at the corner has been replaced with the new studio – and future store – for handbag designer Clare Vivier, who already shares a storefront around the corner with jewelry designer Kathryn Bentley. Meanwhile, the narrow storefront next door is being converted into what neighbors say will be restaurant. The restaurant owners could not be reached but apparently they plan to feature grilled cheese sandwiches on the menu.
[Read More…]
View Larger Map
Chango Coffee is a scruffy Echo Park coffeehouse that has served as a magnet for neighborhood hipsters. Susina Bakery & Cafe is known for its high-end baked goods served out of a glossy Beverly Boulevard storefront. Now these two very different cafes have merged after the owner of Susina took over Chango at the first of the year, according to an employee working for Susina owner Jenna Turner. The cafe will soon stay open until 7 p.m. but it’s still too early to say whether the Chango name will remain and how the menu might change, said the employee.
“It’s definitely not going to be Susina II,” he said of the cafe at the corner of Echo Park and Delta avenues. “We are cleaning it up and keeping it funky.”
[Read More…]
It’s been only about three months since Domenico’s Italian restaurant on Silver Lake Boulevard closed its doors but a renovation of the space (pictured) by new occupants is already underway. What will replace Domenico’s in the small storefront across from La Mill? That’s not clear but Dustin Lancaster, owner of Bar Covell in Los Feliz, has applied to take over the Domenico beer and wine license, according to California Alcohol Beverage Control agency. Lancaster knows Silver Lake well. Before opening Bar Covell last year, Lancaster spent more than three years working the bar at Cafe Stella, according to the L.A. Weekly. An associate of Lancaster said details of the Silver Lake venture will available next year.
The salt and pepper shakers sit atop blue tables, and a yellow and orange banner outside invites passersby to stop by for Happy Hour specials and karoke. But the tables at Echo Park’s La Botana (formerly Nuvia’s) have remained empty and the karoke machine silent since late October, leaving nearby merchants to wonder what happened to the Sunset Boulevard pupuseria and Mexican restaurant. The phone goes unanswered and unopened mail has piled up in the doorway.
“It’s been closed since Halloween,” said one merchant in an email.”I thought it closed for the holidays. But, it’s been a month now and there aren’t any signs up, no closing party, nothing … ”
The restaurant, formerly known as Nuvias, had undergone changes in recent years, broadening its menu beyond pupusas and adding alcoholic beverages to the menu. Online records indicate the restaurant’s alcohol license is still owned by the previous owners.
The Sunset Boulevard building that housed the former La Parrilla Mexican restaurant in Silver Lake has been purchased by nightclub owner Steve Edelson. The purchase leaves Edelson, who also operates El Cid and Los Globos, with potentially three Sunset Boulevard clubs and restaurants within a mile of each other. An associate of Edelson confirmed that his group has purchased the building at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Westerly Terrace.
The two-story, triangular shaped building, which had been listed for sale earlier this year for $1.4 million, is located within a block of Los Globos, which Edelson purchased earlier this year. La Parrilla closed late last month after about 20 years in operation.
The Eastsider is seeking more details about what plans Edelson has for the building, which includes 10 apartments on the second floor in addition to the restaurant.
Echo Park
Grocery store owners to open restaurant
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
The owners of Cookbook, Echo Park’s upscale grocery store, are now planning to open a new restaurant a few blocks away. The yet-to-be-named restaurant is now under construction in a brick building on Allison Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. Cookbook owner Marta Teegan, who appeared tonight before the Echo Park neighborhood council’s planning committee, did not want to disclose too many details about the place except to say it will be “a small neighborhood place with tasty food.”
Teegan plans to operate Cookbook, which opened in August 2010 on Echo Park Avenue, and the new restaurant simultaneously.
[Read More…]
While Silver Lake’s former Tantra restaurant reopened on Monday as Naya, another neighborhood restaurant a few blocks away has apparently closed its doors. Passersby and customers of La Parrilla Family Restaurant found the doors to the longtime Mexican restaurant – which once hosted performances by a “Mexican Elvis” – closed last weekend. The doors of the restaurant at Sunset Boulevard and Westerly Terrace have remained shut since. Meanwhile, on Silver Lake Boulevard, a black security gate has been stretched across the stark-white facade of Domenico Ristorante, an Italian restaurant that closed last month after being hailed as the new “neighborhood darling” when it opened in early 2009. It’s not clear why both restaurants are closed, but some other restaurateurs say the weak economy is not helping matters.
“We are feeling the economy,” said Nadine Trujillo, who owns Alegria on Sunset Boulevard.
[Read More…]
A new restaurant is in the works for a renovated brick building on the border of Echo Park and Angeleno Heights. It’s not clear what kind of restaurant will open but the owners have pulled building permits and have asked the city permission to serve beer and wine at a proposed restaurant located at Allison Avenue and Sunset Boulevard. The 1,250-square-foot storefront, now an empty space covered by a large piece of plywood, is located in the same building as Novak, a new salon that opened in May.
The online permits do not reveal the ownership of the new restaurant. Do they have another vegan–gastropub-wine bar in mind? Or is it time to bring Indian or Middle Eastern cuisine to Echo Park?
L.A. Web Awards 
Best of L.A. 
The Eastsider publishes stories and news from the northeast corner of the City of Los Angeles and neighboring East Los Angeles. Who is the Eastsider? Where does the Eastsider roam? 