A longtime Santa Monica seafood restaurant shutters, a Fairfax Thai restaurant closes, and more closures to know this month
Los Angeles’s restaurants continue to face difficult headwinds, starting in 2020 with the onset of a global pandemic and exacerbating with the Hollywood labor strikes in 2023, which led to an industry-wide slowdown that’s continued into 2026. From the lingering effects of the Hollywood strikes to rising costs (labor, rent, ingredients, etc.), many factors continue to strain restaurant owners operating on razor-thin margins. Los Angeles restaurants also continue to struggle with the impact of the 2025 fires, including slow business and devastating property loss, as well as the ongoing effects of ICE enforcement. Here are notable restaurant closures for the beginning of 2026. For more closure news, read our past closure coverage.
Blue Plate Oysterette — Santa Monica’s Blue Plate Oysterette shuttered on January 4 after 16 years on Ocean Avenue. A statement from the restaurant attributed the closure in part to rising business costs and declining tourism in the area…