This doesn't happen too often: A once-prominent chain restaurant that's been closing down locations in recent years is opening up a new location, taking over for an indie restaurant, in an indie-centric 'hood. Hamburger Hamlet is taking over the Avocado Grill space in Larchmont.
From Larchmont Buzz:
The owners of the building at 217 North Larchmont have confirmed that they have signed LA casual dining original Hamburger Hamlet to a multi-year lease. The gourmet burger joint is currently renovating the space and will open for business on the Boulevard sometime this Spring.
"Right now only two Los Angeles locations remain for Hamburger Hamlet. One in Sherman Oaks, the other in Pasadena," points out Eater LA, who also remind us thatlast year one of the oldest remaining HH locations on Sunset Boulevard shut down, and "Brentwood called it quits four years prior, and Hollywood closed up shop one year before that."
There are also two HH locations on the east coast, in Maryland and Virginia.
But is a chain--even a smaller-than-previously one--what Larchmont wants? The neighborhood has moved in the past decade to include more local, national, and international chains, forcing some smaller mom-and-pop shops to move out. "This move to a smaller, neighborhood oriented venue could signal a new approach to how [Hamburger Hamlet does] business," points out Larchmont Buzz.
The Avocado Grill shut down in December 2011. It had mixed reviews on good ol' Yelp, from people who called it a "Fancy Baja Fresh" and the "weirdest place ever," and said they served "a fairly sorry excuse of what [I] imagine [M]exican food to taste like." Oh, and, uh, this: "I'm pretty sure that rubber bands are not appropriate spices for corn chowder soup."
Larchmont, are you excited for your new Hamburger Hamlet?
