A popular Mexican restaurant on Los Angeles’ iconic Sunset Strip has closed after more than a decade in operation.
Pink Taco abruptly closed its doors for the final time on Monday, and the first most customers knew about it was when they saw a sign on the door that simply read, “Sorry, we’re closed.”
“Effective September 16, 2024, Pink Taco – Los Angeles will be closing its doors. Thank you to all of our West Hollywood guests. You will be greatly missed,” the sign read.
It remains unclear why this Hollywood classic, located opposite the famous celebrity hotel Chateau Marmont, closed its doors after 12 years.
The restaurant first opened on Sunset Boulevard in 2012 after being founded by Harry Morton in Las Vegas in 1999.
Pink Taco, on Los Angeles’ iconic Sunset Strip, has closed after 12 years in West Hollywood
Pink Taco’s three remaining locations in New York, Boston and Washington DC will remain open.
Pink Taco boss David Miller told Eater Los Angeles that the restaurant was forced to close after failing to find “favorable terms” with its landlord to continue the lease.
Miller told the publication there are no immediate plans to reopen at another location, but the restaurant remains “optimistic about returning to the market in the future when the opportunity arises.”
In its heyday, the restaurant became a celebrity hangout, hosting guests including Nicole Scherzinger and Shenae Grimes.
Many restaurants have struggled in the years since the pandemic due to inflation, rising rent and labor costs.
This comes after another famous Mexican restaurant also closed this month.
Mezcalería Oaxaca in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood announced it will close its doors on October 1 after 21 years.
The famous Mexican restaurant loved by Anthony BourdainFirst opened in 2003, it featured the first mezcal-focused bar in the country.
It’s not just Mexican restaurants that have been struggling after the pandemic, as are struggling with rising food and labor costs. There have been a number of closures and bankruptcies.
The highest-profile company to file for bankruptcy was Red Lobster after its $20 unlimited shrimp purchase contract cost it millions of dollars.
Popular Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo filed for bankruptcy in August, just days after abruptly closing 13 underperforming locations.
World of Beer Bar & Kitchen was named one of the fastest growing restaurant chains in the U.S. in 2013.
Mezcalería Oaxaca presents the first bar focused on mezcal in the country
The restaurant closed abruptly earlier this week.
It also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August, saying it owed suppliers as much as $50 million.
National upmarket supermarket and coffee chain Foxtrot said in early April it would close all its stores with immediate effect, leaving staff and customers stunned.
Businesses are struggling with falling sales as Americans eat out less after two years of steep price hikes.
Earlier this summer, two neighboring Italian restaurants closed after serving the Bay Area for a combined 120 years.
Pezzella’s Villa Napoli family restaurant in Sunnyvale and Fiorillo’s in Santa Clara closed June 22.
Pezzella’s Villa Napoli has been owned by three generations of the same family for 67 years and is famous for its Italian-American dishes.
