As Los Angeles magazine reported, Tom Sopit had been standing quietly outside Employees Only on Santa Monica Boulevard. Sopit, the managing partner, said in the report that he had heard guest after guest mourn the place, and that people had been "really great, very supportive." The last drinks at 7953 Santa Monica Blvd. were poured Sunday, September 27.
It's the fourth well-known West Hollywood room to go dark since July. Covered one at a time, each closure reads like its own sad story. Seen together, the four have something in common, and so do the places that opened or grew this year. The rooms closing carry the heaviest version of the business, with a kitchen, a full staff and table service. The rooms opening are built to carry less.
Four Rooms, One Season
| Venue | Address | How long it ran | Closing date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connie & Ted's | 8171 Santa Monica Blvd. | 13 years | July 1 |
| Drake's Hollywood | 8747 Melrose Ave. | About three years | Week of July 20 |
| The Belmont | 747 N. La Cienega Blvd. | 26 years | End of August |
| Employees Only | 7953 Santa Monica Blvd. | Almost a decade | September 27 |
For three of the four closures, the people running the business explained publicly why they were closing, and their reasons overlap more than they differ.
As Eater LA reported, Connie & Ted's owners pointed to a slow recovery from the pandemic's limited-capacity years, on top of rising labor and goods costs. They said the combination had made running the restaurant "untenable." Belmont owner Dylan Leong told Los Angeles magazine that rising taxes, labor costs and what he called a general lack of support from the city led him to close. "Hopefully someday L.A. can get it together to support small businesses," he said.
Sopit's list was the longest. He cited inflation, the cost of goods, rising minimum wages and a change in how people drink, including GLP-1 users simply consuming less. He also named the drop in film-production work around Los Angeles. "The film industry has completely left our city, so those budgets have disappeared," he told Los Angeles magazine. Eater LA reported that he called the whole thing "death by a thousand cuts," with vandalism that damaged the bar's air-conditioning unit among the smaller ones.
Drake's is the exception. Its Melrose location closed abruptly, and when WeHo Times and Eater LA reported the closure, no reason had been given. The brand's Houston and Dallas locations were still operating.
The Model Under Pressure
In Los Angeles magazine, Sopit's most revealing comment was about the business model, not any single cost. He described Employees Only as one of many closing businesses around the city that run on a traditional full-service model. Even after adjusting to changes in restaurant culture, he said, he couldn't find a long-term fix. At some point, he said, rising costs can't keep being passed on to guests. "I'm hoping that the new era of restaurants and restaurant operators will find ways to operate in a way that makes sense," he added. "I'm sure someone's going to figure it out. I unfortunately did not have the answer for it."
Look at the cost list again with that in mind. Labor, food costs and lighter drinking all hit hardest at a place that pays a kitchen crew, a floor staff and a bar team at the same time. A full-service room that also depends on bar revenue takes the hit on every side. That describes a tableside steak tartare cocktail bar, a seafood restaurant and a karaoke bar known for generous pours and crab legs.
What Opened Carries Less
The businesses that opened or expanded in West Hollywood this year look different, and the difference is structural.
SweetWater WeHo soft-opened June 5, the first day of WeHo Pride weekend, at 8869–8871 Santa Monica Blvd. at the corner of San Vicente Boulevard. Owner Berni Gambino combined the former Z Pizza and 8oz Poke spaces into a single 2,363-square-foot room. It has bars along the north and south walls, a central dance floor and a front patio. It serves cocktails, mocktails, wine and beer, and no food. Entertainment is drag, comedy and karaoke. Gambino told WEHOonline she had spent roughly two years looking for a space. She described the bar as lesbian-owned and lesbian-leaning but open to everyone, and noted that The Palms Bar closed in 2013 after nearly five decades. It's a nightlife room without the cost of a kitchen, which is the model Sopit said he couldn't find.
First Of All at 8200 Santa Monica Blvd., in the former Marco's space, grew into dinner the careful way. Restaurateur Mike Fahim, whose other restaurants include Beachwood Cafe, Sotta and Sidewalk Grill, built its following on breakfast, brunch and lunch first. In September it added a dinner menu from executive chef Arturo Quesada and a full bar from bar director Ryan Holden. WeHo Times reported that most entrées run $20 to $34 and cocktails are $15. Dinner is served Wednesday through Sunday, 5 to 10 p.m. That's a daytime room adding nights once regulars already knew where to find it. First Of All sits one block west of Crescent Heights, on the same eastern stretch of Santa Monica Boulevard as Connie & Ted's and Employees Only.
The SunCienega Success Lab at 8501 Sunset Blvd. is lighter still. It offers free workspace for qualifying West Hollywood entrepreneurs and small businesses: six workstations, three shared offices, a conference room and a lounge, meant to support three businesses a year. It's a small program, but it goes straight at the overhead problem that came up in every closure.
The one large full-service project in the pipeline is moving slowly. PUBLIC, Ian Schrager's 137-room hotel at 8300 Sunset Blvd., has announced three food and drink venues. They are Louis, an all-day bakery, cafe and diner, plus Pool Bar and Pool Deck. Its opening slipped from spring, then from July 15. As of a September 15 Hollywood Reporter profile, the launch was still described as fall 2026. A hotel can support full-service dining with room revenue behind it, which a stand-alone bar on Santa Monica Boulevard can't.
The Empty Addresses
Connie & Ted's space had been listed for lease since November 2025. As of WEHOonline's June report, no new tenant had been announced, and a tiki concept there was only an unconfirmed rumor.
Some of these spaces have turned over before. 747 N. La Cienega was Cafe Maurice before it was The Belmont. From 1971 to 1987 it was The Garden District, a restaurant and cocktail bar that advertised in the gay newspaper GAY in 1971 and showed up again and again in gay travel and nightlife guides through the 1970s. People who remember it describe an outdoor café in the early years and a piano-bar atmosphere later on. Whatever goes in next will be at least the fourth business to operate there since 1971.
Employees Only's Final Week
Employees Only was the last of the four to close, on September 27. Los Angeles magazine reported these recommendations and final-day plans:
- Sopit's picks. They were the steak tartare, prepared tableside, and what he called the "very underrated" burger, which came with a Cali-style sauce emulsified with bacon.
- His favorite cocktail. It was the Ready Fire Aim, made with mezcal and hellfire bitters.
- Final-day plans. The bar had planned a "big industry party" for Sunday, September 27. Employees Only memorabilia, including the neon sign out front, was to be auctioned, with all proceeds intended for the staff.
Sopit told Los Angeles magazine that the auction was meant to help the staff "transition to new jobs, or transition to whatever else they're going to be doing afterwards."
Where That Leaves the Boulevard
For people who live here, the change shows up in routines. The regular Sunday karaoke night at The Belmont is over. The spot for a seafood dinner near Crescent Heights is gone. In their place, the new options run leaner. There's a dance floor with no kitchen at San Vicente, a brunch spot now open for dinner five nights a week, and a hotel that has been almost ready since spring. SweetWater is open Wednesday through Friday from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 2 a.m.
Watch what comes next at 8171 and 7953 Santa Monica Blvd. over the next few months. Those two will show whether operators still want to run full-service rooms on this stretch, or whether Sopit's "new era," described in Los Angeles magazine, will look more like SweetWater and First Of All.
Chris Ryder has lived across Los Angeles for about 30 years and keeps up with changes like these block by block, because they shape what daily life on a street feels like. If you're weighing a move within West Hollywood, or just want an honest read on how your corner is changing, Paraclete Real Estate is glad to talk it through, with no pressure and no agenda. Book an appointment whenever the timing suits you.
