The The Sunset Boulevard location of Rosa Mexicano, a popular Mexican restaurant chain based in New York, has shuttered.
“The neighborhood is much more kind of evening entertainment-driven than culinary,” said Tom Dillon, the company’s president and CEO.
Dillon said that the location, 8570 Sunset Blvd. at Londonderry, did brisk late-evening business. However, he said, there was not enough foot traffic in the area during lunchtime hours or during the early evening. Most Rosa Mexicano locations have a steady stream of business throughout the day, he said, but at the Sunset location there wasn’t a steady enough stream of patrons to sustain the business.
Rosa Mexicano, which describes its menu as “contemporary Mexican cuisine rooted in authentic flavors,” has another L.A. location, 800 W. Olympic Blvd. at Cottage, that is still open.
The restaurant’s Sunset location isn’t the only business in the nightlife-heavy West Hollywood area to face a dearth of foot traffic during daytime hours. It has particularly been an issue for businesses in the stretch of Santa Monica sometimes called “Boystown” because of the many gay bars in the area.
I ate here a few times and found the food to be both boring and overpriced… two things I never crave, so I suspect that’s why the concept didn’t work.
The food here was terrible. Los Angeles has far better Mexican options all across town than to settle for what a New York chain considers upscale. I ate here once and didn’t care to return. Too expensive and too overdone. I imagine I am not the only local with this sentiment.