It has been an institution for 45 years, but now
the Rose and Venice is closing its doors.
FOX 11 Susan Harrison as she's live there in Venice
as the countdown is sadly on for this local landmark.
Susan, I was there recently.
It was packed.
It was the hot spot.
I can't believe this news.
Me, too.
I say the exact same thing, You know, And there
are very few people around here who can remember a
time when the Rose wasn't here.
People came for reliably good food.
And back in 2015, the Rose hired Chef Naroni.
So he kind of made this place a little buzzier.
But every rose has its thorns.
But did you hear They're planning to close?
No, you can't be serious, she just said.
They've been here for 45 years, 45 years serving Venice
all day.
But despite the delicious chef driven food and pastries, these
are their famous cinnamon rolls.
You know, they'd have a bakery here.
They're making everything.
This is white chocolate with lemon.
The restaurant announced its intent to close December 15th.
So I wanted to give my goodbyes.
It's sad, but there's like 10 times more restaurants than
when it opened.
Not just the competition, but also the changing way people
are dining out or not.
And the bill would come like, whoa.
The Row survived the pandemic by expanding outdoor spaces, but
now with people working remotely, they might not be willing
to battle traffic and find parking to frequent restaurants like
the Rose.
We're running 5 restaurants and then all of a sudden
overnight we're back to one.
Chef Walter Manske's Republique was once again named in the
top five restaurants by the LA Times, but over the
last year, she said goodbye to his other restaurants.
Petty Cash, Taqueria Manske, Be Sick, Let and Sorry Sorry
store.
It's been a real challenge and a real struggle.
Restaurants like the Rose pledged to pay their people a
living wage.
Add in the overall cost to run a restaurant.
All of the staff are always super nice and friendly
and they had really great food.
So yeah, it was just like a institution, you know.
Long time Venice residents mourn the Roses passing but say
it's in good company.
Many of the places, China, which is no longer there,
over there, all the iconic sort of, I guess you
know what we would call Venice, locals would call the
iconic.
Local places are all sadly being gentrified.
Still, other locals remain optimistic.
I'm excited something new will come and it'll be better.
That's what we do We're Venice.
Well, in recent days, the roads apparently survived on just
walk insurance and tours, and that's just not enough to
sustain the restaurant.
Meantime, as far as a new tenant, well, it's a
huge place.
So that coupled with the challenge of running a restaurant,
it might be a while before there's a new tenant
we'll be waiting.
Reporting live in Venice, I'm Susan Hirasuna, FOX 11 News.