UPDATE: So the Wild Hare will become the York...partner Ryan Ballinger contacted Eating LA to tell us that the York will hopefully open in June. Ballinger says the menu will be simple and fresh, with a signature burger and a few uncomplicated entrees. The wine program will be eclectic and affordable. Ryan is also involved with yet another cocktail bar opening on York...not sure what it's called.
And lots of restaurants want to move into Eagle Rock...the L.A. Times featured the still-in-tastings-mode Larkin's, while the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council recently heard plans for the Fat Dog Lounge at 1581 Colorado Blvd. with a full bar. Neighbors seem to be concerned about whether proposed restaurants will degenerate into nightclubs or remain the upscale restaurants that are originally pitched to the city. Looks like it's considerably easier to open something over on York.
Even the New York Times thinks NELA is hot...a recent article spoke glowingly of skyrocketing property values in the area, but didn't mention the lack of amenities such as quality grocery shopping, movie theaters or restaurants that aren't Mexican, especially in the Mt. Washington/Highland Park areas.
13 comments:
Re: NELA grocery shopping: I have to point out that Super A Foods on York rules! Sure, it doesn't have all the fancy schmancy amenities that, say, a Whole Foods has. But I value a low-priced selection of quality meat and produce over a juice bar any day.
Now if only we could get a movie theater and a bookstore... but I digress.
Bah where were all those places when we used to live in Eagle Rock?
mt. washington is an exclusive (mostly) hilltop community....when your down below it's glassell park, cypress park etc........so restaurants etc. in mt. washington is a moot point.....
there are no nice restaurants/lounges etc. in highland park because they would not survive.....
it's an extremely dense working class/latino/chicano neighborhood w/a smattering of hipsters etc.......it's not silverlake or even echo park.......
eagle rock is another story.......but highland park is gonna stay the same.......
I mean if the wild hare could not make it........and it was basically a bar! the food was good.......but the people that would patronize the types of places you are referring to are scared of the neighborhood at night......plain and simple....
Actually, alot of us in Eagle Rock really want these businesses here. We need them. Many of us have moved here with the hope of establishing a great revitalized community. And getting rid of alot of the crap--like vandalism, bad street conditions etc. WE want some night life and some restaurants that stay open past ten. Please, restaurants, don't be discouraged by the fight the old gaurd is giving you--we want you here.
I believe the other place on York homeboy is involved in is gonna be called Johnnie's......and it's just gonna be a bar......no frills.
As fast as Eagle Rock is developing, Highland Park will be gentrified within five years. I really don't think anyone who lives in Los Angeles for more than a few years is genuinely scared to go into poor neighborhoods.
If we could just get that cult to move out of the Eagle theater, we'd really be in business.
I have read on msg. boards that people liked the Wild Hare but would not go back because the neighborhood was "rough".......
Some people are still scared to go to Langer's.......
Make sure to check out Highland Perks. Hope they don't move elsewhere once it becomes successful. Just like Senor Fish and the Cuban place that used to be on York but now relocated to Eagle Rock.
as a girl in her early 20s who has just moved into a 1 bedroom on York and 50th...i LOVE my neighborhood! i adore living in Highland Park (and I've done the Silverlake thing, the loft thing, all that...) I am well aware of the history of the neighborhood, but have felt nothing but safe and welcome since moving in.
I rarely leave HP/Eagle Rock and find all the local (new and old) shops really charming. I think its about time that York (the street) was given a facelift-- there are lots of neat buildings along there and so many failing businesses. I was a dedicated patron of The Wild Hare and they closed because it wasnt run properly and the space wasnt used well. i'm looking forward to having a few rad places within walking distance...nicer places WILL survive in Highland Park, cause-- like it or not-- its set to become the next Silverlake or Echo Park...sure it'll take several years, but HP is a beautiful neighborhood with great Craftsmans and lots of history...it deserves to be supported.
highland park isn't silverlake or echo park because it is a high density latino community? what the heck do you think echo park was 5-10 years ago?
the fact is that the surge in property value, esp. on mt washington, demands new services in the neighborhood, services that have been lacking because it is viewed as a poor minority neighborhood, not because the community won't sustain them. highland park's problem is redlining, not density.
and i'm SOO tired of hearing that crap about how working class latinos immediately mean that nothing good will be in a neighborhood. you sound like somebody from park slope.
What a loud to dismiss a neighborhood by its ethnic and social make up is in a word crazy. I have lived here in Highland Park for four years know and welcome the new business opening up. To declare this neighborhood dead to a social and economic rebirth with the influx of new people because in your words "it's an extremely dense working class/latino/chicano neighborhood w/a smattering of hipsters etc.......it's not silver lake or even echo park.......
eagle rock is another story...but highland park is gonna stay the same...but the people that would patronize the types of places you are referring to are scared of the neighborhood at night."
Have you ever thought to think the Wild Hare wasn't run properly or to factor in the fact that your statement(s) can be construed as a bit races? Why wouldn't anyone regardless of his or her ethnic make up want any king of upward mobility here? Are they inherently inferior or less able to support it.
Who said anything about there being something wrong with it?
Not me, I love it just the way it is.....
I don't want it to be Echo Park or Silverlake.......
The house prices had been surging for years.....houses are not selling nearly as briskly as a year or so ago.......they sit on the market for months and sell after price reductions......
What services are "lacking"?
I've been here for twenty plus years and never saw a problem....it's all these new folks that are moving in and deciding it's lacking in services....
I still don't see Highland Park sustaining a Steak & Cocktail Lounge or things like that....
Highland Park has supermarkets for staple items, Galco's for beer & wine.......a number of great little restaurants.......bakeries......
Yoga center.....great library, outdoor spaces/parks, a skatepark....Ramona Hall Community Center where children & adults can learn everything from Karate to drums to piano to Folklorico.....
What exactly is it "lacking"?
Did not say that because of working -class Latinos that the neighborhood could never be anything........it already is and has been something for a long time.....
OK, everyone, thanks for commenting! I think I'll close the comments up now because this isn't really the place to discuss the pros and cons of gentrification or to throw around those inevitable accusations of racism...it's just a restaurant site, guys!
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