Downtown Los Angeles' Restaurant Row

How a single restaurant started a train of development.

In 2009, Bottega Louie opened on the corner of Grand Avenue and Seventh Street in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. Since then, Seventh Street has earned the name “restaurant row” and serves as a helping hand in the economic development of the downtown area.

“It’s almost like success breeds success in those clusters,” said the Director of Economic Development at the Downtown Center Business Improvement District (DCBID), Nick Griffin in reference to the economic cycle that the opening of Bottega Louie started.

According to the DCBID employee who focuses on key sectors of downtown’s economy, the area’s demographics for both residents and working professionals are significantly skewed towards younger, wealthier people. According to Griffin, it’s this type of customer that many downtown restaurants target.

“You tend to have young creative professionals who have disposable incomes and they have a lifestyle that’s conducive to restaurants,” said Griffin. “They’re not staying home and cooking but they’re going out.”

According to Griffin, it’s this demographic of professionals that draws restaurateurs to the area.

“It’s this reinforcing loop where restaurants open up because that type of demographic is here. But the more cool restaurants that are here, the more of that type of people the restaurants pull to the area,” said Griffin.

The “reinforcing loop” is visible in what many have called the “Bottega Louie effect.” When the popular restaurant, Bottega Louie, opened in 2009, foot traffic on Seventh Street increased and according to commercial real estate veteran Hal Bastian, it was that foot traffic that provided him with proper ammunition to convince other restaurateurs to set up shop in the area.

The interior of Bottega Louie features a clean, modern style.

The History

Bastian, who had an integral hand in the process of developing downtown L.A. into what it is today, said the social life in downtown wasn’t always as prominent as it is currently. “When I got to downtown in 1994 you could walk out at 7 p.m. and there were tumbleweeds rolling down the street,” said Bastian.

In the early 2000’s, the commercial real estate veteran attended an International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) event at which he was promoting the downtown area to retail developers.

“This guy named Bob Chase came up to me and he represented Daily Grill,” said Bastian. “He said to me, ‘Downtown L.A. sucks’ and I said, ‘You’re right and it’s changing.’ And I helped the Daily Grill deal and that was the first of my work.”

After brokering some of his first deals and just two years after landing the Daily Grill deal, Bastian took a trip to Memphis, Tenn. where he saw firsthand, the popularity of Beale Street. “It’s an area of Memphis that has a lot of hospitality. And I said I want to do something like that in downtown L.A. And I did,” said Bastian.

From that point on, Bastian worked to not only promote retail development in downtown L.A., but also to create a part of the city that replicated the hospitality-rich street in Memphis.

So seven years ago when the owners of Bottega Louie stepped into Bastian’s office, he knew exactly what to say to get his restaurant row started.

“I said three things,” said Bastian. “One, this restaurant you’re describing belongs in downtown L.A. Two, it belongs on Seventh Street because I’m building a restaurant row on Seventh Street. And three, I said it should be on the corner of Grand and Seventh. And it was.”

Restaurant row runs from 7th street and Figueroa Street to 7th street and S Olive street.

The Result

Currently, over 20 restaurants and bars occupy a four block length of Seventh Street, which is why many have nicknamed the popular spot “restaurant row.”

“It definitely has a huge impact because it’s an entry way to downtown," said Griffin in reference to restaurant row. "It really creates a sort of center point between the commercial and office properties of the financial district and bunker hill, and the more residential development that’s happening in South Park."

According to the 2015 Downtown LA Retail Report” from the DCBID, over 700 restaurants, bars and retail amenities have opened between the years of 2008-2014. Additionally, from Q2 2014 to Q2 2015, the building vacancy rates in downtown L.A. have decreased by 0.5 percent.

Source: Downtown Business Center Improvement District's "2015 Downtown LA Retail Report"

“Even when something closes, something pops open,” said 27-year-old Historic Core resident Nick Campbell. “Things are always happening, which is something we really like about downtown. It’s weird to feel like we were in here at some point and we really like it, and now it’s growing into something we don’t even recognize anymore.”

While the success of restaurant row cannot be directly attributed to the continual economic development of downtown, according to Griffin, the hospitality industry has certainly made its mark.

“Generally speaking the food and restaurant business has been a sort of integral part of downtown’s evolution,” said Griffin.

A Sunday Morning on Restaurant Row

A look into the eateries on Seventh Street and the visitors that frequent there.

A Timeline of the Development of Restaurant Row

How Hal Bastian started as the Director of Economic Development at DCBID and eventually earned the nickname, "Mr. Downtown," for his involvement and dedication to the improvement of the downtown area.