These are the Malibu and Altadena restaurants damaged or destroyed by L.A. fires
- Share via
- In Malibu, the Palisades fire damaged or destroyed iconic restaurants such as Moonshadows and Gladstones, as well as many businesses within Palisades Village.
- The Eaton fire has devastated Altadena’s restaurant community, claiming long-standing food spots such as Fox’s and Café de Leche.
Wide swaths of L.A. County lay scorched after devastating fires. Long-standing restaurants that once defined the coastline were partially damaged or completely destroyed, including Gladstones, Moonshadows and Reel Inn in Malibu, as well as a growing number of Altadena restaurants.
Some don’t know whether they’ll be able to reopen.
Last month, a lease between the Reel Inn — an iconic seafood spot located at Topanga State Park in Malibu — and state officials came to an end, owners Andy and Teddy Leonard said. The couple hoped they could negotiate a new lease and planned to meet with state officials last Friday.
Then came the fire.
‘It’s like Armageddon.’ Restaurant owner describes fire that burned Moonshadows, Reel Inn and others
The Reel Inn, Cholada Thai, Canyon Bakery and more restaurants have been devastated by the sweeping Palisades fire.
The blaze destroyed the roadside seafood restaurant that sat at the corner of Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway for nearly 40 years. The Leonards now fear the state won’t let them sign a new contract.
“We’re afraid they won’t let us rebuild,” Teddy Leonard said. “It’s very scary.”
Coverage of the fires ravaging Altadena, Malibu, Pacific Palisades and Pasadena, including stories about the devastation, issues firefighters faced and the weather.
The Leonards said they’re mostly concerned about their workers — several of whom have been with them for more than 30 years. The restaurant crew helped get them through the hard times of the COVID-19 pandemic, Teddy Leonard said.
“We went through all of that, and they did it with such grace and a sense of humor,” she said. “They are the ones I’m most worried about right now.”
The couple started a GoFundMe to help support their staff for at least three months or until they can hopefully reopen.
The Eaton and Palisades fires destroyed or damaged several restaurants, leaving many workers without work and income. Community funding aims to help.
“It’s so they can figure out what’s next,” she said. “A lot of them have never worked anywhere else in their lives.”
The legendary restaurant — decorated with Christmas lights and serving seafood in a funky setting — was more than just a place to eat. It was a place where diners became engaged, celebrated the birth of their children and marked wedding anniversaries. “Generations believed it was their spot,” Teddy Leonard said.
Cami Colbert, who lives within walking distance to the destroyed Reel Inn, drove down Pacific Coast Highway on Wednesday afternoon, surveying the aftermath. Although her home survived, she was devastated.
“We’ve been here since 1972. We’ve never seen anything like this,” she said. “We lost everything, the Reel Inn, the Malibu Feed Bin, Cholada, Rosenthal — even Wylie’s bait shop, a historical place.”
Open since 1999, Cholada Thai was also destroyed by fires. A representative for nearby Rosenthal Wine Bar & Patio, a tasting room tucked right off PCH, confirmed that the wine bar fell victim to the fires. Across from Rick Caruso’s Palisades Village shopping center, Cafe Vida and Casa Nostra were reduced to little more than ash. Nearby, Caffe Luxxe also burned down, according to one of their Instagram posts.
A couple miles away, the fire destroyed Vittorio’s, an family-owned italian restaurant that had been around for 40 years, according to an Instagram message to the Times.
On Friday, Vittorio’s owners Vanessa Pellegrini Henriques and husband Charlie Henriques surveyed the rubble that was once their restaurant. They promised to rebuild.
“We are a small business with 16 amazing employees and their families who have been left shattered. We are heartbroken, but we are NOT broken,” they restaurant posted on their Instagram account. “We will come back from the ashes.”
Gladstones, however, appears to have made it through the fire with minimal damage. Jonathan Cutler, who works with Gladstones, told The Times, “There was a very small burn that impacted an outside storage area. Thankfully, the restaurant is in good shape.”
A GoFundMe was started for Gladstone employees impacted by the fires, Cutler said.
As winds accelerated Tuesday evening, fire spread to Eaton Canyon above Altadena and Pasadena, leaving Lake Avenue decimated with scores of businesses and homes burned to the ground, including Café de Leche, Minik Market and Rancho Bar. Minik Market has started a GoFundMe campaign with funds supporting outstanding payroll and rebuilding efforts.
Before the Eaton fire, Altadena and north Pasadena had seen a new generation start new restaurants and food shops and revive old ones. Many of those small businesses were destroyed in the flames. But not everything is gone. There is hope for rebuilding not just structures but a community.
“We are lucky to be alive and praying for those not so fortunate or [those] who may have lost their homes,” said Jamie Woolner, co-owner of Pizza of Venice, who confirmed the pizzeria was lost to the devastation. The pizzeria had long captivated diners with its unique pizza box with the slogan: “Enjoy your delicious moments!”
First opened by Paul and Edie Fox in 1955 and family-run for more than 60 years, before it was sold to Paul Rosenbluh and Monique King in 2017, homey Altadena diner Fox’s verified on Instagram that the restaurant was destroyed by fires. The diner has started a GoFundMe to support its staff.
The Eaton fire devastated Altadena. Black Angelenos are mobilizing to protect its future.
In a direct message on Instagram, Perry’s Joint, a Black-owned sandwich shop that first opened in 1993, confirmed that its Pasadena location is still standing but broke the news that cozy soul-food spot the Little Red Hen Coffee Shop was destroyed. A GoFundMe campaign was launched to help the restaurant rebuild.
Side Pie, deemed one of the best pizzerias in L.A. by Times restaurant critic Bill Addison, confirmed on Instagram that its location was burned, with just a charred shell of the restaurant remaining. The pizzeria has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise funds to rebuild.
‘Fire raining down in the streets’
Café de Leche’s Altadena location would have celebrated its ninth birthday this week. Instead, it perished last Tuesday night in the Eaton fire.
The coffee roastery and cafe is operated by husband-and-wife team Matthew and Anya Schodorf, the latter of whom fell in love with coffee watching her mother prepare cafe de leche using colador de tela in her native Nicaragua.
In Altadena, their second location, they built a community gathering hub — and the local chain’s most profitable location. The owners saw the fire in the hills on Tuesday night but assumed the cafe would be fine, that it was a safe distance from the burn. But they hadn’t factored the wind into the equation.
Before leaving, they wet down the patio, collapsed their umbrellas and overturned the outdoor furniture, assuming it would all be there the next day. They took nothing of importance from the cafe.
On Wednesday they tried to return to serve coffee and pastries to the community and first responders, but as they drove through west Altadena, the owners were greeted by “fire raining down in the streets,” said Matthew Schodorf. They couldn’t get anywhere near Cafe de Leche and were forced to turn around.
Then their daughter heard that that firehouse behind the cafe was itself on fire.
“I was like, ‘Oh, that’s not a good sign,’ ” Matthew Schodorf said. “Then we started hearing that the water was running dry.”
In the afternoon he was able to return and found everything surrounding the Altadena cafe had perished: the hardware store, a pottery store, a smoke shop, a new mini-mart. The karate studio across the street was still in flames.
Still, the Schodorfs said they are undaunted. The family plans to rebuild, or host pop-ups in the street in front of their burnt location to raise the funds if need be. In the meantime, they created a Gofundme to raise money for their six employees who worked at the shop, and placed some of them at their other cafe locations. Customers can still visit other Cafe de Leche shops in Highland Park, Hollywood and Pasadena, and can also buy bags of coffee beans in store and online.
“We’re gonna serve that community,” Matthew Schodorf said. “That community was created, and we will rebuild it.”
But some restaurants seemingly in the path of destruction have so far remained unharmed by fires. Bernee, opened just last month by the husband-and-wife team behind Los Feliz’s popular all-day restaurant All Time, is one of them. In an Instagram story posted to All Time’s account, patrons were reassured that Bernee will reopen eventually.
In Altadena, Mariposa Junction confirmed on Instagram that one of its buildings was damaged by fires but another still stands. In the same complex, Amara Kitchen was also lost to the Eaton fire; the cafe has started a GoFundMe to support its employees.
Times staff writers Jeanette Marantos, Daniel Miller and Connor Sheets contributed to this report. This story is developing and will be updated as more information is confirmed.
Eat your way across L.A.
Get our weekly Tasting Notes newsletter for reviews, news and more.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
