Last summer, news broke that the iconic Los Angeles restaurant Gladstone’s—one of few dining spots directly on the beach—was going to be shuttered, torn down, and replaced with a new venue designed by famed architect Frank Gehry with star chef Wolfgang Puck creating a new concept.
It was exciting news for some, but tragic for others. Anyone who grew up in LA has a memory of Gladstone’s, whether a wedding, high-school dance or as the perfect sunset-watching spot along the famed Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. Still, many had dismissed the somewhat weather-beaten 50-year-old restaurant as a tourist trap with mediocre food.
“One of those places that’s so terrible, you wonder how it’s still open,” wrote one reviewer on Yelp last year. “Literally just clam chowder and views. That’s all.”
At first, it seemed like the end of an era. The roughly 60 employees, many of whom had been there for years, believed their last day would be Sept. 15, 2023. Initially, said Jim Harris, then the restaurant manager, “We just thought we’d take the winter off and go snowboarding.”
But then, a hail Mary.
Gladstone’s didn’t close.
In fact, it’s very much still open, with a new menu and a band of employees and affiliates who are hell bent on shaking off the tourist trap reputation and bringing customers back—at least for as long as they have left in that location, and perhaps longer.
It’s a story that will likely seem crazy to many in the industry. Why throw so much money and effort into a doomed restaurant?
But it’s fundamentally a story about friendship, protecting a legacy and, well, a certain amount of chutzpah.
“People have spent their lives working here. It’s such an iconic property,” said Harris. “It was an opportunity, to create our own business. But was also an opportunity to be part of history.”
Gladstone's in Malibu, where Sunset Boulevard meets the Pacific Ocean. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
The beginning of the end
The Gehry-Puck project had been in the works for some time. But the beginning of the end for Gladstone’s came in April 2023, when the owner Richard Riordan, the former mayor of Los Angeles, died.
Riordan’s stake in the restaurant was part of his estate, which largely was donated to a charitable organization. That nonprofit could not run a for-profit business, so the door opened for the proposed Gehry-Puck development to get started. Already extended, Gladstone’s lease was scheduled to end in August, and Harris and the team were told the restaurant’s last day would be Sept. 15.
Gladstone’s, however, is not a typical restaurant.
The land where it sits is under the purvey of the state Coastal Commission as part of Will Rogers State Beach. It’s managed by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors, which also controls concession permits for the three-acre site. Riordan had negotiated below-market rent in exchange for granting the county rights to the name and trademark.
One day in August, Harris was approached by two county officials. Would he be interested in taking over the restaurant until it was time to tear it down?
It could be years before the Gehry-Puck team work through the complexities of building on a state park and on the busy Pacific Coast Highway, they told Harris. They offered a two-year lease with a year extension. The first six months of rent would be deferred to get the seasonal restaurant through the winter.
But Harris had to decide fast. They had three weeks to renew the liquor license, and they’d have to write a new concessionaire agreement. Some key employees had already left. “A lot of smart people had to move heaven and earth to make it happen,” said Harris.
Harris said he knew it was crazy, but Riordan had been his friend and a mentor. There were people’s jobs on the line. To leave this beautiful property empty would potentially open it up to taggers, vandals, thieves—or worse—which would be heartbreaking.
For Harris, it was also a business opportunity. If he and the team could revitalize Gladstone’s, the county had other properties where the concept could potentially move when the wrecking ball comes.
“If we can nail the product at this point, then we can write our own ticket,” he said.
A symbol of LA
Within about three weeks, Harris formed an LLC called the Gladstone’s Legacy Group, with Harris and two partners providing financing and a small group of employees as managing members under the name Gladstone’s Legacy Restaurant Associates.
One of the partners is Philip Gay, a restaurant industry veteran who was once CEO of Grill Concepts Inc., parent to the Daily Grill and Grill on the Alley brands. Gay has managed Gladstone’s finances for about eight years. He described the restaurant as part of the fabric of his life here.
“When I came to Los Angeles in the early ‘80s as a single guy, after an afternoon at the beach, I’d always end up at Gladstone’s with a Long Island Iced Tea,” said Gay. “Then, when I got married, it was Sundays there with my daughters.”
Last year, Gay was in Africa on a safari when he got the call from Harris about the Hail Mary proposal. He agreed right away, even though he said he wasn’t sure what he was agreeing to.
“We’re in the restaurant business and we do crazy things. And crazy things happen,” said Gay. “If we can get a last hurrah of people to come and enjoy the experience, then we won’t be throwing money away.”
Harris jokes that they knew they’d need outside investors. So they went outside the front door. Voltaire and wife Lisane Menezes, who operate the restaurant’s parking lot, also joined the partnership. It was personal for them, too. They had come to the U.S. from Brazil in the 1980s, and their first jobs had been parking cars at Gladstone’s.
Jim Harris (right) and Legacy employees who have taken over operations. | Photo by Lisa Jennings
It’s important to note that Harris and the Legacy crew are not trying to stop the Gehry-Puck project.
“We personally support the development that’s coming next—if it comes. It might or it might not,” said Harris. “I think a Frank Gehry building here could be the symbol of Los Angeles for the next 100 years.”
But to understand why Harris is so passionate about the property requires some history.
The restaurant first opened in 1972 as Gladstone’s 4 Fish at a different location. Robert J. Morris first opened it in Santa Monica Canyon, but it moved to the current spot on the beach in 1981. The building had previously been a movie studio in the 1950s called Inceville, known for Westerns.
In the mid-1990s, Gladstone’s was acquired by Riordan, and at one point (2008) the more-than 700-seat restaurant was one of the highest-grossing independents in the country, with revenue of $14.6 million, according to Restaurants & Institutions.
In 2009, the operation of Gladstone’s was taken over by SBE, the hospitality company owned by Sam Nazarian, who at the time was operating some of the city’s most glamorous venues, like José Andres’ Bazaar at the SLS Hotel (which has since closed). But Riordan re-assumed management in 2014, and operated the restaurant until his death last year.
The former mayor famously was not a fan of seafood, but he just loved the restaurant and was a regular fixture there, often seen enjoying a cheeseburger and pina colada.
Riordan’s imprint on the restaurant is evident with two large murals along the walls in the main Sunset room. One is a painting of Riordan sitting on a bench, reading to his grandchildren. The other shows a sunset over the stunning coastline. Both were painted by Riordan’s son-in-law. It’s unclear what will happen to the murals when the tear-down begins.
Riordan hired Harris seven years ago. He comes with deep experience running a high-volume restaurant on the beach. He spent 15 years working at Duke’s in Malibu, another high-volume beach restaurant run by TS Restaurants Corp.
There, he started as a chef and Harris said he is happy to be back in the kitchen, working with executive chef Juan Aquino. Alex Peniston is general manager, and Ramar Green is director of food and beverage.
The Wagyu with Romanesco sauce on the new summer menu. | Photo courtesy of Gladstone's Legacy Group.
The team has reworked the menu for the summer, with dishes like a classic Maryland crab cake, sea scallops with a bright asparagus risotto, grass-fed Wagyu with a Romanesco sauce—all with vastly upgraded ingredients. The goal is to be accessible to the community and tourists, but a step up from previous offerings.
“It’s not the cheapest place on the beach,” notes Harris. “Lobster is expensive. We’re not making a lot of money on it. But we are making a lot of money on pina coladas, and we try to balance it out that way.”
But first, the challenge is getting the word out to both locals and tourists that Gladstone’s is, in fact, open. Many saw the news about the impending closure, but never heard the restaurant was still alive.
“We get calls daily. ‘Hey, are you open? I thought you were closing. What’s the deal?’” said Harris.
That has hurt business, and so has the region’s wet, wet winter. Gladstone’s has always been a seasonal venue. Last summer when the restaurant seemed doomed, six events were cancelled, costing the venue roughly $100,000. By the time the Legacy group came to the rescue, it was too late to rebook.
The future
The Puck-Gehry project will reportedly include a full-service restaurant, which has not yet been named. The venue will include a separate deck for public use, with a Puck outlet offering food and drink. Puck told The Los Angeles Times that the location is “so iconic that really, for me, it’s the last iconic place I will do.”
Developer Tom Tellefson also told the LA Times that Gladstone’s was “a tired memory,” and that people were “disappointed with the existing Gladstone’s relative to what it was.”
Harris sighs when reminded of that comment.
“Wolfgang personally has been very kind to me, very warm. He’s given me his take on what this restaurant could be and he’s so smart, so good with spaces,” said Harris. “I’m rooting for him, and if we can help facilitate that when the time comes, we will.
“But in the meantime, we’re just going to mom and pop and do what we do,” he said. “And hopefully it works.”